Whiskey, On The Rocks

twenty four

tw chapter

Travis

I knew Taylor was struggling. Of course she was. She'd gone through a lot; she was pregnant, living with me, and she'd fallen out with her best friend to a 'stupid and fucking useless argument' as Taylor liked to call it. I had Rhys keeping an eye on her mentally as well as physically when I wasn't around, but I made a point of not being away from her for too long.

She still didn't go through those doors back into my world of work, and maybe she never would, but I knew if she was ready, one day she might. I wasn't going to so much as bring it up until she did. And Taylor wasn't unhappy. She loved the idea of being a mother, and over the weeks as she started to get more of a bump, Taylor spent a lot of time doting on the baby. I often came home and found her talking to her stomach, singing, one hand resting below her belly button.

"Kitten? I called out when I got home late one Friday, feeling awful that I had. I tried so hard not to be late but sometimes people just really couldn't wait to start shooting people up on the street.

"She's in the kitchen." Rhys told me from where he stood at the end of the hallway.

"Thanks." I nodded. "You take the weekend off. I'll be with her."

Rhys inclined his head at me and walked towards the door as I moved past him and shed my jacket and shoes. When I went down to the kitchen I saw Taylor standing in front of the open pantry, tears rolling down her cheeks, a hot water bottle in her arms like she was practicing how to hold a baby. I blinked at her, pausing for a second as I tried to decide what to make of the sight in front of me.

 "Kitten, baby?" I asked once I'd approached, reaching out to place a hand on Taylor's shoulder. She looked at me, her bottom lip trembling. "Hey, hey what's wrong my little kitten?" I whispered, offering her my arms. Taylor turned against my chest and I hugged her shaking body close, pressing my lips tenderly to her hair. "What's going on?" I asked again.

"It's stupid." She mumbled. I lifted her chin, and Taylor swallowed when she looked up at me. "I'm really hungry." She whispered. "But everything we have makes me want to throw up and all I feel like eating is something from that restaurant across from the bar."

"Okay, it's okay." I soothed. "Kitten, if that's all you can stand to eat, that's what we'll go and get. Remember the doctor said you'd start getting cravings like this around eight weeks." I reminded her, placing a hand on her tiny two month baby bump. "Why don't you get your shoes and I'll call and make sure they have a table."

"Thank you." Taylor mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I know it's stu..." She started to say, but I cut her off with a light kiss, short, and Taylor sighed when I pulled back. "Okay." She sniffed.

Satisfied that she'd seen my point, I called to the restaurant and booked a table. Taylor reappeared two minutes later, changed, her face washed clean of tears. She gave me a little smile to say she felt better and I smiled back, wordlessly getting her shoes and kneeling down to put them on for her. We left the house, and it didn't take too long to drive to the restaurant.

"Table for two, under Kelce." I gave my name at the hostess stand and we were immediately taken to a cozy booth, given menus, and left alone to decide. "Okay here for a minute kitten?" I asked Taylor once the hostess had left. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Yeah." Taylor nodded, so I moved away from the table. Going back up to the hostess stand, I glanced over to make sure Taylor wasn't looking.

"Is everything okay sir?" The hostess asked in a cheery voice when she looked up.