The days went by surprisingly smoothly, and before the family knew it, they had been living in Canada for a whole month. The whole family was getting more used to living in Canada day by day and Taylor had even warmed up to the apartment building, but not by much. Lucy had even made a little friend in the building with another little boy her age who lived only a few doors down. To say the least, Travis was a bit on edge when he found out Lucy's new friend was a boy.
Travis had taken the boys to the park while the younger two napped and Taylor stayed behind to watch the girls.
Taylor stood in front of the mirror in her and Travis's bathroom that was connected to their shared bedroom. She was only wearing a bra and underwear while she looked at her body from various angles.
Taylor looked down at her abdomen with a frown. She took the extra skin into her hands, squishing it. Taylor hated how much body issues she always got after having a baby. Even though she loved her new baby so much, the way she mentally perceived herself was always affected after birth. She had lost much of her baby weight but to her, she still felt like she looked 9 months pregnant.
Silent tears fell down her face as she looked at herself, hating how ugly she looked. At times, her insecurities would grow so bad after a baby that she would wonder how Travis even loved her if she didn't look like how she did pre-baby.
No matter how many times Travis told her how beautiful she was, it didn't help with the fact that she hated how she looked. After four kids, her body had been through it.
Suddenly, a knock sounded from the front door. Taylor drew herself out of her depressed transe and quickly splashed her face with water, drying her cheeks off. She threw on her clothes with haste as she made her way to the locked front door. Of course, she checked through the little peephole in the door to make sure it wasn't some psycho because one had wound up at their door a few weeks back.
"Hi Abby", Taylor smiled. The people at the door were Abigail, a neighbor who only lived across the hall, and her little 4-year-old son Cole who had his hands behind his back. Cole had curly black hair and mixed-colored skin. He was truly adorable with his curious brown eyes. While Taylor had never asked, she presumed that Cole's father was not active in his life as she had never seen or heard of his father.
"Hi Taylor. Cole here was wondering if Lucy wanted to play", Abigail said, putting her hands on Cole's shoulders.
"Awe, I'm sure Lucy would love to but she's napping right now. Since it's the end of summer and things have been kind of hectic lately we're trying to get her to take consistent naps more often for when she starts Preschool this fall", Taylor explained.
"Oh, I completely understand. I miss the days when this one would nap for me", Abigail agreed. Both moms spoke the same language when it came to motherhood struggles.
Taylor let out a polite laugh. "Oh, trust me. We're just trying".
"Can you wake Lucy up? I got her a present", Cole explained.
"Oh, did you now. What did you get her?" Taylor asked.
Cole smiled sheepishly and revealed the bouquet of flowers that he had been hiding from behind his back.
"Awe, that's so nice of you! I'm sure Lucy will love them", Taylor smiled. She was glad that Travis wasn't home or he might have lost it, even if the boy was only 4 years old.
"Mommy?" Lucy called, carrying her special blanket around as she looked for her mother.
"Hi baby", Taylor said, picking the little girl up and bringing her to the front door.
