May 2028
'Tay baby, are you okay?'
Travis peeks his head round the door to their bedroom to see his wife still curled in the same spot on the bed he'd left her an hour ago. She doesn't respond, he can only hear a whimper that has him running to her bedside faster than he can think.
'Tay, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong sweetie', he encourages her, moving her hair back from her forehead, feeling it with the back of his head to find her sweaty and feverish.
'I don't feel good, Trav', she mumbles, her face half buried in her pillow. He pulls back the bedclothes to see she's lying with her legs pulled up into her stomach, and he gently pulls them down to see if his hunch is correct.
'Baby I think you have an infection in your scar. Can I see please?', he asks softly, and she nods her head, tears beginning to fall.
He pulls back her pyjama shirt, seeing that he was indeed correct, and the scar and the area around it was red and angry, the skin inflamed, one end slightly open. 'Oh sweetie, why didn't you tell me? When did this happen?'
'You were with the kids. I don't know when it happened. Maybe during the night. Wait, where are the babies?', she suddenly tries to sit up, wincing when the movement causes a wave of pain to pass through her body.
'Wow Taylor, take it easy. The boys are downstairs, and I already rang Britt to come and take the girls for the day. We're going to the hospital'.
'But Trav I can't be apart from my babies', Taylor sobs, burrowing her face fully in the pillow, before Travis pulls her closer, holding her carefully.
'Taylor baby, we'll bring the twins with us. They're only five weeks in any case, they'll have to let them stay with us. But you're sick right now, and you're doing none of the kids any good by trying to push through it. I'm going to go downstairs, get the girls ready, and when I come back we'll go to the hospital, okay?'
'Okay', she mumbles against his chest, and he gently sets her back down on the bed, pulling be covers over her once again.
He runs downstairs, almost taking them two at a time, with an outfit for both girls in hand. 'Okay Mia, I need you to be a really big girl and take your pjs off for me, okay? And put your clothes on? Daddy will leave it all out for you just here', he tells her, laying her outfit out on the couch. Luckily, she takes the instruction well, getting herself dressed with little help while watching Bluey on the TV screen and munching mouthfuls of toast.
'C'mere princess', Travis catches Annabelle as she runs around the room, venturing dangerously close to the twins, who were sleeping soundly in the large bassinet set up in the corner. He pulls her onto his lap and gets her changed too, and he's brushing Mia's hair when Brittany comes in, Travis having left the door on the latch for when she arrived.
'Hey Trav, hey girls, are you ready to come with me?', she asks, hugging Annie as she toddles over to her, swinging her up onto her hip.
'How is she, Trav?', Britt asks quietly, not wanting to startle the girls, while Trav battles to put Mia's curly hair into a ponytail.
'Eh, she's not good Britt. She's overdone it and the scar has opened, but I don't know when it happened. I woke up at 5am and the twins were crying and she was in the bathroom, vomiting. I got her back to bed and sorted the kids out, but she looks awful', he tells her, his face contorted with pain, silently asking for her opinion.
