Love's Charade

thirty five - travis

November 30th
35 weeks pregnant

"Travis." I heard my name being quietly called from the next room and immediately got up, alerted by the weak sound of my fiancé's voice.

"What's up sweetheart?" I asked when I went into the nursery and saw Taylor sitting on the ground, some of the decorations we'd bought for the walls strewn about around her. She was crying, tears running down her cheeks. "Oh, hey sweet girl." I crouched down next to her, wiping gently at her cheeks, but with every tear I wiped away, another replaced it. "What's going on?" I murmured.

"Something doesn't feel right." Taylor sobbed, placing a hand on her stomach. Panic rose up but I forced myself to give her a calm smile. If I freaked out, she would too.

"What doesn't feel right sweet girl?" I rubbed my thumb against her cheek gently, trying to sooth her. Taylor had been terrified her whole pregnancy about something going wrong, and I'd done my best to console her, but in reality her fear had rubbed off onto me. I'd never blame her, but I was a little scared.

"I don't know." She whimpered. "I kind of feel like I'm having contractions, but they don't feel exactly like Kira said they would."

"Okay." I nodded. "Let's get you into bed and I'll call Kira. She said you might have false labor and that's probably all this is."

Taylor nodded, tears tricking slowly down her cheeks as I helped her up. As much as I was trying to assure her that everything would be fine, I knew there were a few things against us. A twin pregnancy - especially for a first-time mother - was always going to be riskier. And since Taylor had miscarried once before, it raised her chances of miscarrying again. She was on strict instructions not to exert herself, and I had a feeling that after today, Kira might confine Taylor to her bed until the babies were ready to be born.

Murmuring encouragements, I helped Taylor down the hall and into our bed. She lay back, and I could see how much effort she was putting in, trying not to cry. I sat down next to her and she grabbed my hand, squeezing tightly as I took out my phone and called Kira. Taylor lay quietly as I explained the situation, and then I passed my phone to Taylor when Kira asked me to. She whispered answers under her breath for a minute, and then hung up the phone and put it aside.

"She's coming." Taylor sniffled. "She said it's most likely false labor like you said but she needs to do a quick check. I might not be able to have a home birth depending on how this goes." She seemed distraught by that idea, and my heart ached. I knew how much she didn't want to have the babies in the hospital. Taylor was wary of places in public, and when you added the babies in, she was terrified. She desperately wanted to have them here.

"Hey." I said soothingly, stroking her cheek as she started hyperventilating. "Breathe sweetheart, come on." I took an exaggerated breath, and Taylor tried to copy me. "Good." I murmured once she seemed to have calmed down a few minutes later. "Now, I need you to close your eyes." Taylor swallowed but closed her eyes obediently, her hand still gripping mine. "Think of a safe place." I said quietly. "Can you do that?" Taylor nodded. "Tell me about your safe place."

"On the grass, in the back garden." She whispered. "At sunset. You and me. We're just lying in the grass."

"Keep going." I urged. "Tell me everything."

"It's right after we found out we were having girls, right after you asked me to marry you." Taylor said. "You have cake on your face and all over your clothes, and so do I, but we don't care." She took in a deep breath. "The stars are just starting to come out, and you point them out to me, telling me you're wishing on every single one of them for me to be happy. I can smell the grass, and I can feel your arms around me, and I know I'm safe." Taylor let out a sigh, opening her eyes and looking at me. "Thank you." She whispered. "I feel better."