'Emma, you gotta...'
'Oh my god!'
'MOM!'
'Emma Andrea Kelce, you better not have a boy in this room, I swear to god!'
Taylor freezes in the doorway, her hands covering her eyes as she breathes deeply, trying desperately to scrub the image of her baby girl that was just burned into her retinas... forever.
'Mom, I...', she can hear her teenager start, rustling sounds indicating there's shirts being put back on, at least.
'Emma, whatever you're trying to say to make this better, don't. Just get Josh out of here before I have to call your dad. Come downstairs and we'll talk after he's left'.
With that she turns, shaking her head, before she heads downstairs, greeted with another mess: eight-year-old Theo and five-year-old Madeline in the kitchen, juice spilt on the floor, two-year-olds Poppy and Isaac covered as well.
'And just what is going on here?', she calls out, stopping Theo's giggling as Poppy's wails get louder, and the boy has enough sense to look sheepish, immediately dropping the - now empty - carton of apple juice.
'Theo spilt juice, mommy', Madeline helpfully informs her, and Taylor shakes her head, sighing, before scooping Poppy up into her arms, bending down again to grab on to Isaac, too.
'Don't be a tattletale, Madeline. Theo, what were you doing?', she replies, sharper than she means to, and Madeline's bottom lip trembles, tears escaping as she runs from the room, helpfully tracking sticky juice across the house.
'Jack asked me to get some juice but I spilt it. And then Poppy sat in it and Isaac did the same and they thought it was funny. It was an accident mom, I swear. I'm sorry', he trails off at the end under Taylor's gaze, his eyes casting to the floor, and she relents, bending down to look at him.
'Thank you for telling me, T. And for apologising. Now I need you to clean it up'.
'But Jack...'
'No 'but Jack' anything. I'll deal with your brother, once the twins are cleaned up. And you have to hurry, we need to leave soon. You want to still go and watch daddy's game, right?'
Theo nods eagerly, suddenly very interested in cleaning, and Taylor shakes her head, turning to go back upstairs, one twin still on each hip. She's murmuring softly to Poppy, still whimpering into her shoulder, when she stops at the sight of her 17-year-old still in the doorway with the boy she'd just caught in her bedroom.
'Emma, I swear to God, if you don't hurry up and get him out of my house!', she yells, her voice raising, setting Isaac off in her other arm. 'Oh baby boy, I'm sorry, it's not your fault', she reassures, bouncing them both gently, before turning back to the now red-faced, sheepish Emma. 'Close the door Emma, and come help me with the twins. I'm not asking'.
She does as instructed, one last wave to her boyfriend, before following Taylor upstairs to the main bathroom and helping her run the bath, dunking the twins in the tub to get rid of the stickiness that was covering every inch of them. They work together silently, and once the twins' hair is washed, Taylor instructs her to stay there to watch them, while she goes in search of Madeline.
As she thought she might, she finds her in Travis' study, snuggled against the blanket he kept on the couch in the corner. Her eyes are red and watery, and she's sucking her thumb, glancing up quickly when she sees her mom walk in.
'Maddy May? I'm sorry, baby', Taylor says as she walks over, sitting gently beside her and brushing her red curls away from her face.
'Mommy was mad at Emma and Theo, and I shouldn't have shouted at you, sweetie. Can you forgive me?', she prods, and Madeline nods her head, allowing herself to be pulled on to Taylor's lap and cuddled close.
