'Shhhhh, shhhhh, you're okay, baby', Taylor whispers through the darkness, her six month old baby in her arms, bright blue eyes blinking back at her through the darkness.
'What's up, bubba, huh? You miss daddy too, right? I know, bubs, I miss him as well. But the sooner you go to sleep, the sooner he comes home. He comes home to us tomorrow', she continues to babble, gently rocking back and forth in the soft glider chair, stroking her hand along the baby's back.
Despite her best efforts, Ada starts to grumble again, and Taylor wearily adjusts her nightgown so she can feed her. The baby latches on hungrily, despite only being fed a mere 30 minutes ago, and Taylor sighs. 'You must be going through a growth spurt, huh bubba. You need lots of food to grow big and strong, I know that'.
Her endless chatter, coupled with a full belly, eventually sends the baby back to sleep, and Taylor gently lays her back into her crib, tiptoeing out of the nursery back to her own room. She's bone tired, exhausted from almost a month of parenting on her own, and she could almost cry when she sees her six-year-old, Willa, laying on Travis' side of the bed.
'Willa baby, what are you doing out of bed?', she whispers, seeing the little girl is still awake, clutching on to Travis' pyjama shirt he must have left under his pillow.
'Couldn't sleep. Too excited to see Daddy tomorrow', she whispers back, her eyes glinting, and Taylor can only smile as she slips into bed beside her, pulling her daughter against her chest.
'I know, baby. But we've got to get some sleep, okay? Daddy will be here in the morning, if we just go to sleep'.
Surprisingly, she complies, tucked contentedly into her mother's arms. Unfortunately for Taylor, though, her mind is now wide awake, her thoughts drifting to the week ahead.
Willa's biological father, her ex-boyfriend Joe, was back in the US, and he'd requested to see her tomorrow before he went back to London. Taylor was reluctant - she had full custody of Willa, as per their agreement, and Joe's interest in her fluctuated so much she only saw him a couple of times a year, if that.
They had broken up when Willa was 3, their relationship, by that point, so toxic that when Taylor had woken with a fresh bruise across her cheek and Willa clutching on to her arm, she'd had enough, sweeping out of London and back to the states. Joe had - surprisingly - accepted it, dropping them both easily, moving on to another woman, creating another family, while she had to pick up the pieces of the mess he had left behind.
And she had, helped in no small way by a certain NFL player she'd been introduced to over two years ago now. They'd fallen in love quickly, marrying a year later, and Taylor felt more settled and happy now, with Travis as her husband, and with the arrival of baby Ada Grace Kelce, than she had in her entire life.
Until, Joe had reared his head again.
Since she'd married Travis, he'd been causing them problems every few months or so, running to the press about how Taylor was replacing Willa's father, how Travis had banned him from their house - all malicious lies, but ones that stuck, no matter what PR management Tree could pull off. But he was still Willa's father, and she never wanted to cut him out of her life, despite what Joe might think. So here she was again, gearing up to have him back in Kansas City for the day.
The thing was, she hadn't told Willa yet - and that was a problem, because she needed time to get used to the idea. Willa was always reluctant to spend time with Joe, her little brain associating him with fighting and yelling and her mom being upset. Every visit she resisted, clinging on to Taylor or Travis instead, until they prised her fingers off their clothes and encouraged her to spend time with Joe.
