REPOST - [ camp discovery ] - a tayvis short story

outtake two.

JUNE 21, 2013

15:07

"So, Daddy, do you have a girlfriend?" Kylie heard Taylor ask Travis from the edge of the shore. She and Jason had been sitting there watching all of the kids play in the water. Lake Day was always a fun day at camp. It gave all the campers an opportunity to get to know kids outside of the cabins that they were in.

"Nope, free as a bird," Travis answered, and Kylie raised an eyebrow. From her understanding, Travis had a girlfriend. He was dating a girl named Kayla. No one in the Kelce family liked the girl.

"Why is he lying to her?" Kylie asked Jason, almost a little panicked.

"He's not dating her, apparently. He always says he's just having fun when me or our parents ask about her," Jason explained. "Besides, I like Taylor more, and I'm sure my parents would love her if he were to ever bring her home and say they were dating." Jason knew his brother well enough to know that the number of times he brought Kayla already meant they were nothing more than a few drinks and tiddling in sheets. Travis had only brought one girl home to meet his parents, and she had been his longest relationship to date.

"Hasn't she met your mom, though?" Kylie asked. She knew that meeting their mom was a big step for both Travis and Jason when it came to the women they were seeing. It took Jason almost a year into their relationship to formally introduce her to his mom. Both boys were momma's boys to the max, and they refused to expose their mother to anyone they were not serious about.

"It was an accident. Trav was out somewhere with Mom, and they ran into Kayla." Jason informed.

19:15

"Tree!" Kylie said, running into the cabin. "Tree, come see!" Tree raised an eyebrow as she followed Kylie out of the cabin onto the porch area.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Tree said with a laugh as she noticed what Kylie and Jason had found so entertaining to still be standing out on the porch after it started to pour down rain. "If I didn't know any better, I would really think I had amnesia when I gave birth to this girl." Tree said, shaking her head as she watched Taylor and Travis standing out in the rain, having a full make out session. Watching them reminded her of herself and her now husband as camp counselors.

"What does that mean?" Jason asked, looking at Tree as he leaned on the banister of the porch.

"Lance and I did the same thing one rainy camp evening," Tree admitted. She and Lance met as camp counselors on these same grounds. The camp had been in her family for many generations and year after year, she would come here and open the place up, welcoming campers from all over the country. It had been her safe place when she was younger, and she was happy to make it so many other kids safe places for many years to come.

"I didn't know you two met at camp," Kylie said.

"We did, and it's really funny to watch me and him in them," Tree said. Of course, they didn't have any kids, but she could totally see a little bit of Lance in Travis and a little bit of herself in Taylor.

19:20

"Mommy and Daddy are kissing!" Michael said, running into the cabin and doing a little dance in the middle of the floor.

"Ain't no way," Ross said, getting up from where he was sitting on his bunk. He walked over to the door, peeking out. "Oh, damn," he whispered to himself, seeing the sight of Taylor and Travis. "My boy got what he wanted."

"In the rain?" Lance asked, walking over to the door himself and looking out, seeing the same thing as Ross. "Wait until Tree hears about this one." Lance couldn't help but laugh as he thought about himself and his wife as camp counselors. They were the Taylor and Travis of their time. It was funny how history repeated itself. "Tree must have had this girl and given her up for adoption without telling me." Lance laughed at his own joke, sparking curiosity in Ross.

"Explain yourself," Ross said as they eased back into the cabin, just as they noticed Travis and Taylor separating from each other and beginning to walk towards her cabin.

"When we were counselors, we did the exact same thing as those two," Lance revealed to Ross.

"Did you guys meet as counselors?" Ross asked.

"We did; best years of my life, if I'm being honest," Lance admitted.

"Mommy and Daddy, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," The words came from Michael's mouth just as Travis was walking into the cabin, soaking wet. "First comes love! Then comes Michael! Then comes marriage!" Michael sang, putting his own twist on the childhood classic, while the other boys in the cabin laughed at his silliness.

"The comes Michael," Ross sad as he laughed at the little boy. Travis stopped there, dripping water on the floor, as he hit his face with the palm of his hand, his face turning beet red. Just like he noticed Tree, Kylie, and Jason standing out on the porch watching, he was almost sure Ross and Lance witnessed the moment he and Taylor shared, given Michael was singing about it.

"I'm going to go take a shower," Travis said.

"Take a cold one, son," Lance joked.