You drew stars around my scars

Oh, here we go again

Taylor had tried to settle Emmeline into a routine but quickly found out it wasn't as easy as slotting the baby into their pre-existing lives.

Mornings were chaotic now, Emmeline often woke around 5.30am for the day, needing a feed and to be changed. She wouldn't settle to go back to sleep after this and Taylor often took her downstairs, prepping Jessica's breakfast and waking the teen up for school. Taylor would then feed and change Emmeline while Jessica got ready.

Monday morning the new school week came around and like usual Taylor woke Jessica up, the teen was groggy and grumpy. She plodded downstairs slowly, feeling unusually irritated with the constant crying of the baby. As she reached the bottom step, Taylor looked up – smiling gently "Hey buddy – breakfast is in the kitchen, I just need to finish off pumping and I will be right in, OK?"

Jessica looked over at Taylor, rubbing her eyes tiredly and shrugging "yeah, whatever", she moved into the kitchen and saw her cereal, fruit and juice sitting waiting for her. She quickly realised that if Taylor was pumping she wouldn't be able to move properly until it was done – she quickly moved over and grabbed the bowl – tipping the cereal away then pouring the orange juice down the sink. She moved back to the table quickly – putting the empty bowl and cup in front of her before slowly making her way through the fruit.

5 minutes later Taylor came in, smiling widely at the teen "good job buddy!", Jessica avoided eye contact and carried on eating slowly "you look tired Tay, did she not sleep again?"

Taylor moved over, kissing the top of the teens head "nah – she was super unsettled. She sounds like she is a bit sniffly though so I might ring the doctors today. Did you hear her?"

Jessica shook her head "no, slept through". It was a lie but she knew Taylor would worry about her getting enough rest if she admitted that the baby had woken her with the screaming multiple times.

Jessica quickly finished off the fruit, showing Taylor her empty bowl. Taylor smiled and nodded – signalling the teen could go upstairs and get ready for the day.

Jessica sprinted upstairs, happy with the outcome. She was taking full advantage of Taylor's distraction at the moment. Often the baby was unsettled in the mornings so Taylor couldn't supervise breakfast times as closely. Jessica was able to dispose of her food regularly – dramatically cutting her calories down.

When Jessica was ready she came back downstairs, playing with Emmeline for 5 minutes before they had to leave. Taylor grinned widely as she took in the sight of the two girls together. "You all ready to go sweetheart?"

Jessica looked up "yeah – let me just grab my bag while you put her in the car seat"

Taylor picked the baby up gently "you sure you don't need me to make you a lunch today?"

Jessica shook her head quickly "No it's fine. It's pizza day."

She had managed to convince Taylor that it was more sensible for her to eat school lunches while they were trying to slot into this new routine. Although she initially had her doubts, Jessica could always tell her exactly what she had eaten so eventually Taylor relaxed into it. She was too exhausted to question it too much and was glad she didn't have to find another 10 minutes every morning to make the teen's lunch. Jessica wasn't eating the lunches though. Sometimes she would take photos of her friends food, sometimes she would get her own but throw it away. She used lunchtimes to do schoolwork – getting ahead on her homework to fill the time. She was keeping her grades high and was careful not to alert Taylor to the changes in her food intake so she managed to get away with it.

Her school day went by quickly and soon enough she was back in Taylor's car on the way home again. As they walked through the front door, she groaned dramatically "ergh I have sooo much homework to do", Taylor smiled kindly at her "go and get it done then you can come down and chill with me after dinner." Jessica grumbled but headed upstairs, what Taylor didn't know is that it was a total lie. Where Jessica was using lunchtimes to do her homework, she was way ahead – there was no work to do. But she now had an hour before the blonde called her downstairs. She quickly got changed and began her exercise regime, popping a youtube workout on that was designed to maximise calories burnt. When she felt exhausted enough she stopped and had a quick shower before heading downstairs. Taylor was feeding Emmeline again, Jessica sat next to them, stroking the baby's head gently. Taylor smiled softly "you look tired baby..." Jessica looked up at her, frowning slightly "it's just been a long day..."