June 2027
Fuck.
Travis groaned as he rubbed his eyes, turning in bed to check the time as the cry of his youngest daughter pierced through the air. 3.13am.
Annabelle had slept through the night since she was 12 weeks old, so when it was the baby waking him and not Mia - who always liked to party at odd hours of the day - he always quickly getting up, stumbling over his feet, to reach her.
Entering the nursery, he could see her teary eyes, runny nose and red cheeks, squirming around in her crib as she cried out for one of her parents.
'Hey baby girl, it's ok. Daddy's got you', he whispered into the room, crossing the space in two strides to lift her into his arms.
He could tell she was teething, and pretty hard too, the dribble soaking her onesie. He rocked her in his arms, holding the back of her head close to him, but she squirmed and fussed against him, not satisfied by his efforts.
'I know you want mommy, but you'll have to make do with me for now, princess. We'll see mommy soon', he whispers in her ear.
Taylor was currently in LA, performing on the last week of her tour, and he had stayed at home with the girls the last few days in favour of bringing them to the final night, allowing Taylor to enjoy the experience, spend time with some friends and just have a few days to herself. They'd travelled all across the US together the last few months, but Travis had also had some business in KC this week, so it had worked out for all of them.
Except for the fact that Taylor had decided she didn't like being apart from them at all - FaceTiming Travis every other hour, checking on him and the girls, and swearing she wasn't going to agree to be separated from them again.
Taylor wasn't the only one - while Mia mentioned mommy throughout the day, she was content with Travis' attention, but Annie had always favoured Taylor, and was letting Travis know. She'd always been the easy baby: slept well, napped well, drank a bottle when Taylor wasn't around to fed her, laughed at her sister.
That had all gone out the window this week: she'd woken every single night, at various times; had taken hours to settle; refused to drink a bottle without putting up a fight; pushing her food off her high chair tray; and just yesterday - throwing blocks at her sister, causing a meltdown from Mia.
Travis was handling it, but had kept it under his hat, refusing to tell Taylor about the sudden switch in Annie's behaviour, not wanting her to feel any more mom guilt than he knew she was feeling. Plus, he was pretty confident he could handle it - heck, she looked after them both on her own when he was away with football, so it was the least he could do.
But just now, as he looked down at his seven-month-old sobbing in his arms - partly because of her teething and partly because he just wasn't who she wanted - he could feel his resolve not to involve his wife wavering.
Taking a deep breath, he collected her favourite blanket (a purple knitted number made by Grandma Donna) from her crib along with her pink bunny rabbit, tucking it under her chin the way she likes it. She grabs onto its ear, rubbing it over her face, and Travis smiles at her attempt to calm herself and the comfort she finds in the soft toy (and the three spares of the same one they keep... just in case).
He makes his second walk with the baby in his arms down to the kitchen of the night, preparing a bottle in an attempt to get her back to sleep. He'd left milk Taylor had pumped out of the freezer, so it was ready in the refrigerator in a bottle to be heated, proud of himself for thinking ahead.
Once it was ready he decided to go ahead and go straight back upstairs, giving in to having a little bed invader for the night. As he settled onto his side of the bed and offered Annie the bottle, she continued to fuss, overtired and hungry, unable to concentrate on what would help her.
