Never Grow Up (A Sequel)

Four Months Later

'Charlie, stop screaming please. Theo, pick up that toy, I'm not going to tell you again! Someone is going to break their neck. And Melody, please, enough with the sass. Let's just get through the day, okay? It's a big day for daddy and we are all going to be on our best behaviour'.

Taylor sighs as she scrubs her eyes with the back of her hand, running it through her hair before looking down at the baby in her arms.

'And you, little miss, where was that sleep we agreed on last night?'

She smiles when Sophia looks up at her, reacting to her voice. It had been a long six months since the arrival of their youngest child and her diagnosis after birth. Unable to interact with Sophia like she had with her older children, Taylor openly admitted that she had been struggling. Sophia's care was demanding, coupled with a disconnect - and a fear for her future - that she had felt was holding her back from jumping feet in first and embracing motherhood for a sixth time.

She'd tried to hold it in, tried to work through it herself, but that had all come to a screaming halt the day after Christmas, when Travis had gently started to talk to her about it while she fed the baby, both of them ready for bed, the lights dimmed. She'd cried, for the first time since October, fell apart in his arms, and he'd held her, encouraged her. Reassured her, and they had come up with a plan that would work for all of them.

She'd gone back to her therapist, then, and while she could admit she was suffering a little from postpartum depression, she was more resolute in her effort to fight it, to lift the black fog she felt had settled around her since the doctor had called with Sophia's diagnosis and their lives had changed. She was on her road to recovery, learning how best to help Sophia, and the other kids too. Her mom had been staying more regularly, which gave her peace of mind when it came to the kids being looked after, allowing them both to concentrate on what was the most important - their family.

The real turning point came last week, though, when - one day before Travis had to leave to fly to San Francisco for the Super Bowl - they had an appointment with Sophia's specialist doctor, and she was fitted with her first ever pair of hearing aids. Taylor had been shocked that they even made them for babies that tiny, but medicine was well ahead of anything she could imagine, and she had sobbed when they'd placed them in Sophia's ears - the headband around her head to keep them both in place - and she had called her name, and the baby had turned to look at her, her mouth in a gummy grin.

Travis had cried too, cradling the baby in his arms, and Taylor had marvelled the rest of the day at how Sophia was following their voices, taking in the sounds of her brother and sisters. She could only stand to wear them for so long, which was fine - they were working on increasing her tolerance, and as she grew, it would get better. But they were on the right track.

So Sophia was wearing her hearing aids for a little while this morning, Taylor knowing that the stimulation of wearing them later in the day - in a stadium, no less - would be too much for her, and the baby was enjoying interacting with her mom, snuggled up in her arms. The house was chaos, though, their LA abode filled with people and children all milling around to get ready for the day, Travis down in San Fran at the team hotel. They were due to be at the jet in less than an hour and while she had her make up done, her hair was a mess, and the kids were nowhere near ready.

'Maddison!', she calls up the stairs, her moody eldest daughter appearing after a moment, dressed in a robe but with a Kelce jersey clutched in her hand. 'Can you please help your nana get your brother and sisters ready?'

Taylor's voice leaving no room for argument, she nods, stomping downstairs to give Andrea a hand, tackling Charlotte while Theo has wrangled into his own outfit by his nana. Taylor took the opportunity to sit down for Jemma, her hair stylist, who swept her curly hair into a fancy ponytail in record time, allowing Maddie to get her own hair done, too.

By some miracle, the whole loud and messy bunch of them make it to the plane on time, and the short journey is spent referring fights between Melody and Theo, Charlotte kicking off for good measure, and Taylor feels exhausted by the time they're in the car on the other side, being whisked straight to the stadium. She leans over Sophia's car seat when they arrive, slipping her hearing aids into her own purse, before lifting the baby out of her seat and strapping her into the carrier close to her chest.

They're in an empty parking lot, no photographers near them yet, so she takes the opportunity to wrangle the kids together for a photograph with her, before turning around to them all, five sets of eyes concentrating on their mother.

'Okay, guys. This is a big day for daddy, and I want you all on your best behaviour. No more squabbling, no arguing, no fights. We're here for daddy, and we want him to do well, right? So we're going to be good. That means doing what I tell you, or nanna or papa tell you, and sitting nicely to watch the game. No sass. Okay?'

They all nod, even little Charlotte, perched on Maddison's hip. 'Okay. Kelces on 3, ready? 1...2...3...' On the count,  they break their huddle, and Andrea, Ed and Donna help her to get the kids up to the suite in Levis Stadium. Brittany and the Mahomes clan have the adjoining one, and they catch up before the game begins, settling into their seats as the team emerges from the tunnel and the game begins.

Taylor can't quite remember feeling so nervous, the Chiefs behind right into the third quarter, her red manicure almost chewed off as she watches Travis pace up and down the sideline, his frustration evident. They're only a score behind, but the 49ers head up the field to score a field goal, and her stomach twists again. That is, until Shake It Off blasts over the speakers, and her blood begins to boil.

They were very obviously using her connection to the team to get under their skin, and she's angry. It isn't the first time it's happened, but it certainly hasn't happened in a while, and she's seething as she watches the opposing fans grin with glee at the song, jeering Travis and his teammates. What they don't realise, however, is that something like that is just the motivation the guys needed, and she claps the hardest as they score on their next two drives, taking the lead for the first time at the start of the fourth quarter.

In the end, they win by two scores, Patrick and Travis hoisting the Lombardi above their heads again. Taylor cries with relief on the field, Sophia in one arm and Charlotte in another, the kids gathered around her side. She cries for her husband, happy tears that he'd reached the pinnacle of his career once again, the year he'd decided to give it all up. She cries for herself, too, for getting through the hardest football season she's ever experienced, for making it to the end with her baby girl and her kids and her husband all still by her side, stronger than ever. And she cries for her kids, for the fact that their dad made it through, that he'll always be their hero.

Donna clutches her arm around her tightly, smiling knowingly at her daughter-in-law when she notices Taylor's tears, and she can only manage a smile in return, words caught in a mumble in her throat. Travis is coming towards her, then, cameras following, and he forgoes his traditional first hug with Donna to wrap her in his arms, tears she can feel running down his face, too.

'We made it, baby. Everything we've been through, everything we've done, we made it. I love you so much, Tay. I fucking love you so much, girl, you have no idea', he sobs into her shoulder, and she can feel Donna - or Brittany, maybe - lift first Charlotte and then Sophia from her arms, allowing her to wrap her own around her husband.

'I love you, Trav. I'm so fucking proud of you, my boy. I love you so much'.

He pulls back, pressing a messy kiss to her lips, while they smile at each other, feeling like they're the only ones left on the field. Suddenly, their love story flashes before her eyes: meeting when they were so young, becoming parents to Maddie and Gracie, their awful separation, their reunion and everything that came after, including four more amazing children. She can't help but feel so grateful for this life she's been living that she surges forward once again to kiss Travis hungrily, her arms squeezing his middle.

'This has been the best life, Trav. I'm so excited for our next chapter'.

'Me too, Tay. You already know, babe'.

The End.