[ discovering you ] - sequel to camp discovery || a tayvis story.

outtake ten.

JULY 23, 2013

8:41 PM

"Katrina Paine!" LaToya White said into the phone the second Tree answered. The pair had been friends for years since high school to be exact. They weren't best friends, but they were still close despite time and life trying to pull them apart at times. 

"What did I do this time, Toya?" Tree asked with a laugh, hearing the seriousness in the voice of her friends. 

"So you weren't going to tell me that you had a daughter and a grandson all of a sudden?" LaToya asked. Tree could almost hear the woman's hands being placed on her hips and the look she had on her face. 

"Technically, I don't yet," Tree replied as she walked outside of her house and into the backyard. The summer breeze hitting her skin made her let out a content sigh. She hadn't told anyone about Taylor's adoption yet. She wanted to make sure everything was completed before she said anything. "The paperwork is still being processed," she said, sitting down in one of her backyard chairs. 

"I tried to get some dirt out of Kylie today, but she wouldn't budge. When did all of this happen?" Latoya asked, knowing that Tree would go into detail about her side of things without telling her all about Taylor, which she was fine with. 

"I forgot that Taylor said Trav was bringing her to the school with him today," Tree said, shaking her head. "Kylie is very protective of Taylor and Michael."

"She has every right to be. I noticed a few quirks, so to speak, in Taylor. She needs someone to be protective of her." LaToya said, nodding. The woman plopped down on her couch, turning down her television so she could hear every word that Tree would potentially say. 

"The autism?" Tree asked, crossing her legs. 

"So she is autistic?" LaToya asked. "I asked Kylie is the baby was."

"She's not diagnosed; I know that for a fact, but I noticed it since she was about 8 years old when she was first at camp. She can play the guitar by ear, she flaps when she's excited, and she used to spin in circles a lot. I haven't noticed her doing it around the house, but I'm sure she does it in some capacity."

"She was spinning in Trav's desk chair earlier," LaToya pointed out. 

"That's Tay. That's who she is. I don't know about Michael. He has a few things, but I think it's more ADHD than autism. His behaviors remind me more of Travis than Taylor, but I'm also not sure if his behaviors are more trauma-based or not."

"It's both Katrina. He has both."

"You're the expert," Tree said with a laugh. She wasn't going to argue with the woman who had been an educator for over twenty years. She had students come in and out of her classroom daily. 

"I watched that little cutie pie sit and read a book against Kylie for about 30 minutes, suddenly get bored with it, and start running around the classroom and climbing on shit that I didn't know was climbable."

"He thinks he's Spiderman," Tree told her, laughing at the thought of Michael climbing on things in Travis's unfinished classroom. "He doesn't really climb on things at home. Maybe it's because he has several outlets for his active body. Lance got him a trampoline the first week he was with us."

"I wonder how his behavior is in school, because if its anything like I witnessed today, he's going to be hanging out with Jason a lot for climbing all over shit." Latoya stated.

"From what I gathered from Tay, he's a pretty good student, but he was having the most issues after the incident," Tree replied. 

"Incident?" LaToya asked. This was the part Kylie was scared to say, because she didn't feel the need to tell Taylor's story. 

"I'll just say, she ended up in the hospital for around a month at the hands of someone she was in a relationship with, and Michael was the one that called 911," Tree replied, trying to say as little as possible, while still giving LaToya enough details to piece it together for herself. 

"So, we have to murder someone? I think I've watched enough Snapped to know how to do it successfully and not get caught," LaToya told Tree. 

"I think the boys have him getting what he deserves while he's in prison," Tree admitted. 

"Prison justice. I do love prison justice. How much are they sending the guys in there? I'll be willing to chip in because she seems like a very sweet girl, and knowing that she had shit parents and a shitty relationship that could have killed her just isn't fair to her or that sweet baby boy."

"She is the sweetest girl, and he is the sweetest boy, and I love having them here. I'm so happy that after all these years, she found a way to get back to us," Tree said. There hadn't been a day that went by when she wasn't thankful that Taylor had resurfaced at camp this year. "I think deep down I always knew she would come back; I just didn't expect it to be with a seven year old little boy that she got pregnant with at camp."

"Speaking of that, how did you let that happen?" LaToya asked. 

"Listen, Taylor and Travis snuck out of their cabins on the last night of camp while everyone was asleep," Tree started. 

"You guys didn't have someone patrolling the grounds all night to make sure nothing like that happened?" 

"No, but it's our plan for next year because Taylor and Travis caught another little couple in their same little hiding spot this year," Tree responded, which caused LaToya to laugh. "Hopefully, Michael is our first and only camp baby."

"That camp baby is a momma's boy and a grandma's boy. Or should I say a Honey's boy?" LaToya asked, getting a laugh out of Tree. 

"Yes, I am aware. If he's not with Taylor, he is with me. Somehow today, Kylie kidnapped him for the day, but he loves her too." Tree laughed. 

"How does he react to Travis and Lance?" LaToya asked.

"He loves them; it's evident that he does, but I think he's a little distant when it comes to them because of what happened with Taylor and the guy she was with." Tree noticed how Michael was. If Taylor, herself, or Kylie was around, he would go to one of them before he went to Travis or Lance. He gravitated towards the women in his life more than the men. The man he seemed the most comfortable with was Ryan. "The man I've seen him the most comfortable with is Ryan, but I really think that is because Ryan was there during the whole ordeal."

"Who the hell is Ryan?" LaToya asked, confused. 

"Ryan is the fiance of Taylor's best friend, Blake. Who we have also informally adopted. So we have two daughters and a grandson."

"Blake is a girl?"

"Yes, Taylor and Blake have been friends since childhood. Now that Taylor has moved here, Blake and her fiance will be moving in as well in a couple of weeks. She comes from a pretty shitty household as well."

"You always did collect stray cats," LaToya said. 

"Always have, always will," Tree replied. "I think you'll love Blake. She's going to school to be a pharmacist." 

"That explains why Michael was talking about switching between Tylenol and Ibuprofen when Parker mentioned having a headache." 

"Oh goodness, what did he say?" Tree asked, rubbing her forehead as she laughed. 

"I don't remember exactly, but it was part of the reason I asked about the autism because there was no way in the world a seven year old could repeat that information after only hearing it once or twice," LaToya replied. 

"He is a gem. They are all little gems," Tree said with a laugh.