Taylor x Travis: In Every Life

you'll get there

Travis' POV

I never thought I was the family kind of guy. I mean, sure, I wanted kids eventually, but I never thought that it would be something that came around four months after I turned eighteen.

Taylor and I had been dating for about a year, and we'd said we loved each other, and god I was crazy about her. But things had been tipped upside down when she'd shown up to my house holding a positive pregnancy test, crying, terrified. I'd consoled her, said we'd do whatever it took for her to be happy, even get rid of the baby. But Taylor had refused. She was pro-choice, but she'd insisted she could never get rid of a baby herself unless it was extreme circumstances.

So as two newly turned eighteen-year-olds, we had to adjust to the idea that we had a child on the way. Since Taylor's Dad and her brother had left town after her parents divorce, I moved in with Taylor and her mother to help her through everything. My parents didn't approve of us keeping the baby, but Andrea was really supportive. I stayed with Taylor in her bedroom, and we switched out her single bed for a double to fit both of us. 

Throughout Taylor's pregnancy, we tried our best to get ready for the baby. Taylor read pregnancy books to me, I worked as many hours as I could to save up money, buying everything we might need. Andrea helped a little with the money, but only a little since we didn't want her to do too much. 

And then suddenly, on the twenty-seventh of August, at three in the morning after almost forty-eight hours of labor, Taylor gave birth to our baby daughter. She was screaming, covered in all kinds of shit I didn't even want to know about, and tinier than I ever thought possible. Taylor burst into tears as the baby was placed onto her chest.

"It's a girl!" She gasped, looking at me. "Travis, she's so little!"

"Yeah, yeah I see her." I mumbled, staring in awe at my girlfriend holding my daughter. This hadn't felt real at all until this very second, but suddenly I was a father.

Taylor cuddled the baby close, crooning to her as I stared, frozen. A few minutes later, the nurse helped Taylor and showed her how to breastfeed, and then the baby was sucking hungrily at her nipple and Taylor was giggling at the feeling. She looked up at me when the baby was done, clocking the expression on my face.

"What?" She whispered. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just..." I swallowed. "This feels so weird. She's a person."

"Yeah dummy, she's a person." Taylor rolled her eyes. "Come here." She motioned. I didn't move. "Travis!" She insisted. "This is your baby too, so come here!"

Tentatively, I edged forwards until I stood next to the bed. Taylor lifted her arms so that I had no choice but to take the baby, and so I took the tiny, squirming girl in my arms and cradled her to my chest like the books had told me to. Staring down at her, I let out a breath of surprise when her eyes open and she gazed up at me. She had my eyes, my pale green shade like I was looking in a mirror. The sight made me feel like I had some kind of connection to this baby, that maybe I could finally accept she was mine.

"So...what do we do now?" I asked.

"We take her home." Taylor said. "Take care of her. You know, because she's our daughter."

"Right." I mumbled. "Sorry."

"You'll get used to it." Taylor rubbed my arm. "It really means a lot that you stuck by me Travis, because I know most guys would have run in your situation. So it really means the world that you stayed."

"Of course I stayed baby, I love you." I looked up at her and she smiled, mouthing the words 'I love you' back at me. 

"We need a name for this little one." Taylor crooned, stroking the baby's head where it rested against my arm.