A Place In This World - Adopted By Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Chapter 18

"Taylor? It's Stephen. Can you guys be at the courthouse tomorrow at 11am?"

"I'll have to talk to Travis when he gets home, but we'll figure it out and we'll be there. What's going on?" Taylor asked nervously.

"The police have Eric in custody. He agreed to sign away his parental rights. Taylor, do you understand what I'm telling you?" Stephen asked.

"I... I'm not sure..." Taylor began, trying to process the new information.

"Avery is now legally cleared for adoption. By this time tomorrow, you and Travis will be her parents," Stephen explained. 

"Oh my gosh. I can't believe this! I need to call Travis! We'll be there, I promise. Thank you, Stephen!" Taylor rambled, her thoughts racing faster than she could possibly keep up. 

After going over a few details of the documents they would need to bring, Taylor ended her call before heading into the house. Travis should be getting home from practice in the next few minutes and she couldn't wait to share the good news with him. She was already thinking about the best way to tell Avery, and decided to start baking a cake to surprise her after dinner. 

By the time Travis got home, Taylor had the cake in the oven and was cleaning up the mess she had made in the kitchen. He quietly wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her into a hug and smiling as she melted into his touch.

"Hi baby," Travis greeted, leaning down to kiss Taylor's head, "I missed you today."

"Mhm, I missed you too," Taylor replied.

"Where's Aves? She's usually waiting for me when I get home," Travis asked.

"She's over at Maddie's. I have to go pick her up in about an hour. But it worked out really well, because we have something to surprise her with after dinner," Taylor explained, a huge smile spreading across her face.

"We do?" Travis asked, confusion etched across his face.

"We do. Stephen called earlier. The police found Eric and he signed away his parental rights. We have an adoption hearing tomorrow morning," Taylor explained.

"Wait, for real? This is all going to be official? We'll be her parents?" Travis asked, tears brimming in his eyes.

"We're gonna be parents, Trav. Really and truly," Taylor answered, wiping tears away from her own eyes.

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Later that evening, Travis was cleaning up from dinner while Taylor put the finishing touches on the cake. Avery was busy in the living room, setting up Mario Kart just like Travis had asked, hoping to keep her distracted while they got the surprise ready. Taylor had decided to decorate the cake with a simple message: "Can we adopt you?"

A few minutes later, they called Avery back into the dining room. Taylor stood nervously in the doorway from the kitchen, watching as Avery sat down in her seat and Travis began to explain that they had a big surprise for her.

"Are you and Taylor having a baby?" she asked excitedly.

Taylor felt her breath catch in her throat as Travis quickly explained to Avery that the surprise wasn't a new baby. Avery was clearly confused, not having any idea what was coming. Taylor carefully brought the cake into the room and placed it down in front of Avery. She stood back next to Travis as they both waited for Avery to read the message.

"Wait, is this for real? You really want to adopt me?" Avery asked.

"We really do, girlie," Travis replied.

"And if you're on board, we have an appointment with the judge tomorrow morning to make it all official," Taylor explained.

"Really? We get to be a real family?" Avery asked.

"Sweetie, we already are a real family. This is just some fancy paperwork to make it all official," Taylor replied.

"I can't believe it. This is the best day ever!" Avery announced excitedly, hugging both Taylor and Travis.

"Alright, Aves. How about we eat some cake and play a few rounds of Mario Kart before its time for bed?" Travis suggested.

"Deal. But I get to pick the course this time! You always pick the easy ones!" 

A/N: Just a quick update tonight because life has been insanely busy the past few weeks but I promise there's more coming soon! But this one's for my favorite reader (You know who you are 😜)