Our Small Miracle - Adopted by Taylor Swift

Part 23

Taylor's POV

Travis had thankfully found a great place to stop and I had managed to change Harper into some fresh clothes, this time deciding to put her in a pull up just to be safe. We managed to clean up her car seat as best as possible however we still got a towel out from the back of the car to put on it and stop it getting her wet.

While we were already out of the car we decided to try get some lunch for us all as we agreed Harper needed to try to sleep after lunch and we didn't want to leave it too late either. We walked into a food court that was nearby and looked at the options. Both mine and Travis' faces dropped when there wasn't a McDonald's for her. Harper would only eat chicken tenders or pasta and there wasn't either of those options.

Me and Travis both had some pizza and we tried to convince her to eat it but she just refused and started up another meltdown. I picked her up and placed her in my lap handing her a frie which she gratefully took while sobbing. I saw her reaching for my drink too which I also handed her just for her to throw on the floor. "Okay harper no we don't do that."

I tried to keep calm but Harper was whining way too much and getting very hard to control. I gave her the rest of my fries but it wasn't going to be enough she needed a proper meal from somewhere. "Harper are you feeling frustrated? Do you need to go outside with me and calm down?" I asked her.

She nodded a little, her lip quivering as she reached for me to pick her up. As I did she burst into tears, clinging to me. Someone was clearly tired and hungry. I sighed and hinted tj tracks that I would be back before taking her outside for some fresh air. "What's wrong sweetie?" I asked her, getting nothing but a wine back.

"Harper, use your words." I told her softly as I pulled her away from me to look her in the eyes. She just started crying even worse. Pulling out my phone I quickly called Travis. He picked up immediately.

"Hey we gotta eat in the car, she's getting really hungry and tired I think. She's just very clingy and she's whining and she won't speak which normally means something is upsetting her." I told him and before I knew it he had come to meet me outside with all of the food. I tried to get Harper into the seat but she was refusing. She started kicking and screaming to not go back in claiming it wasn't comfy and it was hurting to sit there so long.

I made sure to acknowledge her feelings but held her down while Travis buckled her in. Unfortunately Travis had to suffer a few kicks which only made him mad. When she didn't stop he began to shout, for the first ever time he raised his voice at her. "Don't kick me again, I mean it!" He warned before slamming the door shut and getting in the drivers side.

I made sure to just stay silent while Travis calmed and when I noticed a McDonald's I pointed to it, signaling we needed to stop. Thankfully haroer had stopped crying after she got yelled at however she was whining a lot and I didn't need to listen to it any more. We picked up some chicken nuggets for her and then pulled into a store where I ran in and got a more comfortable car seat for her, one that would have per positioned so she is laying back more.

Collectively we made the decision to put her rear facing as then she could just sleep and not have to get distracted by the windows or anything. She didn't seem to like this at first, however when I tucked her in all cozy and handed my phone to her she seemed to calm down easily. I sat beside her for part of the car ride gently brushing my hand through her hair in order to slowly coax her to sleep and had another hand laying lightly on her stomach so she knew I was there.

Eventually she was out like a light and once climbing to the front I felt myself drifting off too. I kept jolting myself up every now and then to keep myself awake but when Travis noticed he smiled and just put a hand on my thing. "Go to sleep baby, I'll be okay driving you need some sleep she's worn you out." He told me.

I looked over at him and he nodded a little encouragingly as he reached his arm to the back seat and passed me a couple of blankets. I just smiled and got myself comfortable, laying my chair back a little since no one was sitting behind me anymore. We had switched Harper to the other side so that if she did want to be forward facing I could see her easier but also because it meant that I could then lay my seat back a little.

I woke up almost having a heart attack as I felt Travis swerve extremely quickly and the loud beep of the horn startled me from my quiet slumber. I looked around, ensuring we hadn't been hit and thankfully we were still cruising along. Travis had one hand on his heart trying to take a deep breath before pulling over. "Honey are you okay?" I asked him as I reached over to grab his hand.

"Two cars just collided in front of me and one came spinning towards me. I just about missed it with that swerve. Sorry I didn't mean to wake you." He told me, clearly panicking and not really feeling as confident as he had been. I held onto his hand and guided him through some deep breaths.

"It's all okay, we're okay and there's a reason why we didn't get hit okay. We're all good and safe, no one is hurt. You swap with me and just take some time to calm, okay?" I told him. He nodded a little and I clipped his seatbelt swapping with me and taking a big sigh as he clipped his belt in. He was clearly shaken up by the situation as I could see his legs bouncing with anxiety.

"Are you going to be okay if I start driving or do you need a minute?" I asked him, placing a hand on his leg to prevent it bunching, gently rubbing my thumb backwards and forwards to comfort him slightly. He turned to me clearly terrified and I took the hint. I just handed him the blankets that I had wrapped around me and allowed him to cover himself and lay back a little. I also handed him some water and told hin to take slow sips and just have a moment to breathe.

Eventually he was ready to go however harper was not. She woke up suddenly crying saying she wanted to watch peppa. I informed her that she had my phone but she then admitted that she lost it. I huffed and turned around to look for the phone on the floor, however it had clearly fallen onto the ground and under a seat somewhere. Nowhere that anyone could reach from their seats.

Remembering the little tv screen we had bought I quickly moved it off the back of the back of the passenger seat and onto a seat where she could view it before reading okay on a film. She smiled a little and lay there watching it happy and content. I turned to Travis and gave him a small smile, receiving an anxious one back before I set off driving. "You will have to keep an eye on her while I drive because I can't have her distracting me." I told him and he nodded.

I drove for about 4 hours while Travis lay back. I noticed him gradually relaxing more and more until he finally fell asleep. I put on a bit of music and sang along for a little bit to occupy myself and keep my mind alive.

Eventually I heard a little voice from the back of the car. "Mama, bottle?" She asked quietly. I had almost forgotten that she wa even with us, Disney plus must have really kept her entertained unless she had fallen asleep. She must have known Travis was asleep, she won't bother him but any time I try to sleep I'm desperately needed. Not cool harper.

"I'm just driving baby, it's getting close to dinner time, are you feeling hungry?" I asked her and she hummed a little and I heard her stomach growl answering my question for itself. I smiled a little.

"Okay darling mama will get you a bottle once you've had dinner, as soon as daddy wakes up I'll pull over and find us something to eat okay? Good job for being so patient and well behaved." I told her. She just went quiet for a moment. Eventually she began to whine but it is just how she expresses her feelings when she doesn't know how to say it.

Thankfully not long later we all pulled over for dinner and ate in a restaurant that thankfully had chicken tenders for her. We were coming toward the last stretch and hopefully it would be as smooth as it had been while I drove. If so then we would eventually make it to Tennessee for about 2 am. At that point it's pointless to actually go to my moms house so we planned to just sleep in the car on her driveway and go in when we wake up. I just needed harper to sleep the rest of the way.

A/N

What do you think?

Who should drive the rest of the way?  Tay or Trav?

How do we think the rest of the journey is going to go?

I hope you like this update, please leave comments I always wake up and read them when I post at this time (3am 😭)

Feel free to leave any requests here!