Never Grow Up (A Sequel)

Goodbye

TW: Death (sorry!)

The blood-curdling scream will live with him forever. The noise, embodying his wife's sudden grief, pierced through their house, his ears, his heart.

He'll never forget it.

That's all he can think, sitting on the uncomfortable plastic hospital waiting-room chair, staring blankly ahead as his hand becomes sweaty, Taylor gripping on to it tightly. Her muffled sobs are indications that she's awake, alive and feeling right next to him, but he feels numb.

All he can hear is the scream.

And then - he can see it all. Relieve it, over and over, a loop in his head. Like he can press play and pause and rewind and fast forward, every detail engrained, even though it only happened an hour ago. An hour? It felt like more. Or less. He wasn't sure.

'Mr and Mrs Kelce?'

The doctor's voice makes him snap his head up in the direction of the door, and given the look on his face, he knows what he's about to say. He looks a friendly man, older and greying, but his eyes tell the story. He's about to break his wife's heart.

'Mrs Kelce...'

'Please, call me Taylor', she manages, her voice cracking, and suddenly Travis is able to feel the stabbing pain of Taylor's nails digging into his arm, clinging to him like her very life depended on it. He turns, pulling her close, tucked in under his shoulder, bracing him and her for impact.

'Taylor, I'm very sorry to tell you, that we did everything we could, but your father passed away. I can bring you to see him now, if you'd like'.

And there it was again - the scream. The tears. Taylor's body crumpling against him as she sobbed, hands scrambling for purchase against his shirt.

'Shhh baby. I've got you. I've got you', Travis whispers, over and over, except he's not exactly sure if it's comforting. What do you say to someone whose dad has died, out of the blue?

It felt like some strange nightmare. The day before was thanksgiving: everyone had come to their house, given Travis had had a game. They went, the Chiefs had won, Taylor had cooked dinner - despite his protests she should take it easy, and hire someone instead. They'd spent the day with their whole families, on both sides, and it was wonderful. The kids had a great time, playing with their cousins, and Charlotte was passed around like the precious little parcel she was, her very first ever holiday.

Today, this morning, most of their families had left: Jason and Kylie back to Philly, to celebrate with her parents; Austin and Sydney back to California; and Ed back home to Philly, too. Andrea was planning to stick around for another few days, Scott too. They hadn't spent a lot of time in KC since Charlotte was born, so Taylor had told them to stay, they could travel back next week.

It had been a slow, lazy day: Travis had some training in the morning, and when he got back they all had breakfast together, Donna coming back over from her own house to join them again. They lounged around the house the rest of the day: watching movies and eating leftovers, playing some board games, before they all ventured out for dinner at Scott's favourite KC steakhouse. They'd all laughed at Theo's insistence on sharing Travis' food, listened to Melody's rambling stories, and encouraged Maddie to tell them more about her new school. Scott had sat beside Gracie, the two always close, and analysed the game the day before with Travis.

It had been perfect. Until it wasn't.

They'd gone to bed, the whole house, Andrea and Scott occupying the two spare bedrooms on the ground floor. Charlotte had woken around 2am, her usual feed time, and Taylor had lifted her up, fed her, burped her and rocked her back to sleep, then slipped her robe on and ventured down to the kitchen, having forgotten her water bottle - and breastfeeding always making her as thirsty as she could be. Travis had heard her leave the room, knew she'd be back shortly. But she wasn't.