"Okay!" Travis stood I'm the middle of the kitchen, hands on hips and a wide smile on his face. "We are shopped and stocked and now it's time for chefs TnT to cook up a storm. What does the baba want for dinner?"
Taylor was sitting at the kitchen table, bum on one chair, feet on another her hands resting on her barely swollen stomach.
"They want banana bread baked specially by their daddy "
"Their daddy??" Travis looked at his girlfriend in confusion "I thought this was a joint enterprise. TnTs kitchen or whatever"
"The baby recognises how tired this T is after all the shopping she did"
"Taylor you did the choosing I carried everything, I pushed the trolley, I loaded the car..."
"Oh I'm sorry Travis are you the one carrying an entire human being in your womb?" She knitted her eyebrows together and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Taylor, that 'entire human being' is the size of an avocado"
"Yes and the avocado is very hungry and they want banana bread made by their daddy's very own hands"
Travis clenched his jaw and feigned a look of frustration.
In truth he was loving this, having Taylor back to her happy, fiesty self, living together, shopping in the grocery store like a real family, it was everything he had ever dreamt about, everything he had missed out on after his father had died.
"Okay, Okay, what the baby wants the baby gets... both of them" he dropped her a wink and then started rummaging through the newly stocked cupboards. "You Google the recipe I will create the masterpiece, the best banana bread to ever be cooked, coming right up"
********************
"Aw baby!" Taylor and Travis both peered down at the cremated creation that lay in front of them.
Taylor held a hand over her mouth, attempting to hold in her giggles.
"You distracted me!!!" He pouted
"Mommy has got to eat too" she winked and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand knowing no food had passed her lips since breakfast
"Yeah, Yeah, go down on the chef and then laugh at the disaster it causes I get it" he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and frowned down at the chared mess. "I wanted it to be so good"
"Oh it was so good" she replied innocently and he rolled his eyes dramatically "Travis?"
"Yes my love?"
"The baby still wants banana bread and they are getting very impatient" he dropped a kiss to her forehead whilst he chuckled and then reached for his car keys.
"What the baby wants the baby gets... both of them" he repeated whilst exiting the apartment and heading back to the same grocery store from which they just came.
Grinning widely and feeling happier and more free than she had in a long time, Taylor went to the living room where she picked up a fashion magazine she had bought whilst shopping and then dropped down on to the couch, stretching out her feet and just enjoying a few moments of quiet, just her, her baby and a load of over dressed, over paid, celebrities.
Just as she began to settle down she heard the table next to her begin to vibrate and a familiar fear flooded her chest.
Callan...
Daring to sneak a look at her phone she saw it wasn't an unknown number for once, in fact a photo of Taylor, her mother and Austin smiled up at her
"Mom!" Taylor gasped and picked up the phone and accepted a much needed call from her mother. "Mommy I miss you!" She gushed
"Taylor, my darling , I miss you too. So, so much. How are you? How's the baby? How's Travis? Is he taking care of you both?"
Taylor laughed as her mother spewed question after question at her, the distance between them unusual and uncomfortable for them both.
Taylor had always been a mommy's girls, even when Scott would travel for business or Austin went away to study, Taylor and her mom would always be left together, their bond was beautiful and unbreakable and this time apart was weighing heavily on them both.
"I'm great, the baby is great, Travis is amazing as always. We miss you though"
"Oh Taylor, I wish it didn't have to be this way"
Taylor immediately felt tears sting her eyes at her mother's words.
"What is dad saying?" She unconsciously held her breath as she waited to hear if her father's temper had cooled any but unfortunately her mother's silence told her all she needed to know.
"He'll come around Tay"
"You keep saying that and he just keeps on hating me" the first tear dripped fromTaylors eyes as she remembered how her father had spent her lifetime loving and protecting her and now here he was rejecting her, pushing her as far away from him as was humanly possible.
"He doesn't hate you Taylor, he just hates the situation but he will come around, he loves you my darling girl"
"Well it doesn't feel like it. My baby needs a grandpa, Travis' dad doesn't have a choice, my dad does and he's choosing to reject us" she sniffed loudly and dropped the magazine down onto the fluffy cream carpet.
"Please don't cry baby"
"How can I stop?! I'm 18 and pregnant and having to do it without the first man that ever loved me"
"He still loves you!" Mrs. Swift cried, her own tears effecting the strength of her voice as Taylor heard her father's voice in the background.
A few muffled sentences later and they were saying their goodbyes followed by promises that she would visit soon.
Taylor dropped her phone to the sofa and was just about to surrender to the sobs tugging at her chest when she looked up and saw a brown haired boy with the warmest, most beautiful green eyes standing in the doorway holding a banana bread above his head in triumph.
"Baby..." he whispered as he rushed to her and as she threw herself into his arms she found her tears fading away. The wetness dried by the love she felt radiating from the man holding her, their child and a banana bread in his arms.
