Whiskey, On The Rocks

twenty three

Taylor

Travis' embrace was warm under the heat of the shower, and I felt a lot better as he held me. Eventually, he pulled back and cupped my face in my hands, his lips touching my forehead and lingering there. I sighed as my hands reached out and rested on his waist, nudging against the dressing.

"How's it feeling?" I asked.

"It's fine." Travis assured me. "Healing. You did great kitten."

I nodded, looking up at him. Travis smiled, moving to shift my hair off my face before kissing the bridge of my nose, my lips, my chin. Then, as I watched, he sank down onto his knees in front of me. For a second I thought he was going to go down on me, but I quickly realized he wanted to see the baby. Travis pressed his lips to my stomach below my belly button, his hands cupping my waist. I just looked at him as his eyes closed and he sighed, his breath tickling my skin.

"You are so loved little baby." Travis whispered, and my heart pulsed, flooding with warmth at his soft, gentle tone. "Your mommy and I love you so much, and things might be a little crazy sometimes but we live a little bit of a crazy life." He chuckled, and I smiled, one of my hands reaching down to touch his shoulder. Travis kissed my stomach again. "But no matter what happens, we will always protect you and love you the most in this world. You are our little surprise miracle, and I hope you get every feature from your mommy." He looked up at me, his eyes softening. "Your beautiful mommy."

"Stop it." I breathed, tears in my eyes. Travis rose to his feet and kissed me, kissed me hard but tender, holding me close so that my chest pressed up against his. I lifted my arms around his neck, tilted my chin up to respond as he very gently pushed me back against the wall of the shower. My body was trapped there and I clung to that feeling, that security of knowing Travis was right there. I kissed him as much as I could.

Then I started to cry. Tears started to roll down my face and Travis pulled back immediately, not saying a word but taking me and hugging me again. I held on tight to him, not exactly sure why I was crying. 

"I'm sorry." I sniffed. 

"For what kitten?" Travis asked, and then I laughed.

"I don't know." I admitted, looking up at him, and Travis smiled fondly at me.

"How about we get you warm and dry huh kitten?" He rubbed my arms. "Have something to eat." I wrinkled my nose and Travis kissed it. "Just something small." He suggested. "Just a few bites."

"Okay." I sighed. I probably did need to eat. Travis was just looking out for me.

We got out of the shower and Travis wrapped me in a towel, rubbing my body dry before he took the hairdryer and turned me around. I looked at myself in the mirror as he ran his fingers through my blonde strands, drying them carefully. It was still so strange to me to have someone treat me the way Travis did. No one would have ever dried my hair for me, or done any of the little things that Travis did.

My hands circled my stomach as I stood there, fingers gently stroking the curve beneath my belly button. I'd already had it, the little part that stuck out a tiny bit, but I liked to think it was a little bigger because of the baby. It probably wasn't yet, but it was nice to think about. I was still in awe that I was pregnant. 

"So." Travis murmured as he turned off the hairdryer. "Do you think baby will be a boy or a girl?"

"Hmm." I rubbed my stomach as Travis wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin down on my shoulder. "I think maybe a girl, but I'm always bad at guessing so they could be a boy."

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes." I said with certainty. "I want to know as soon as I can." Travis smiled, turning his head to kiss my neck softly.