Timeless: Tayvis Oneshots

birthTAY

13th December 2025

"Hi honey!" Mom swept me into a hug when I opened the front door, and I blinked in surprise to see her standing behind it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I hugged her back. It had been so long since I'd seen her, but I didn't even know she was in the city.

"Well I know Travis is stuck away right now and I didn't want you to be all alone on your birthday." Mom told me as I shifted to the side to make room for her to come in. "This is one to celebrate."

"No." I wrinkled my nose. I'd been dreading this day for weeks. And I'd expected to spend it all alone; Travis was stuck in Kansas City at the moment at a funeral for a family member of one of his teammates, and I was stuck in New York with back to back studio sessions and interviews and photoshoots. Everyone wanted to talk to me now that the tour was over, and I hadn't been able to go with him. I'd been on my own for almost a week now.

"Yes." Mom bustled through to the kitchen as I closed the front door and twisted the locks shut. "I brought you your favorite cake and we're going to find some candles and make this feel like a birthday."

I sighed to myself as I followed her, deciding not to fight  too much on this. Mom adored birthdays, and went out of her way for every single one of them. Honestly, I should have been expecting this. The apple hadn't fallen far from the tree after all. I loved peoples birthdays as much as she did.

Mom and I ended up baking cookies, putting the cake in the fridge for later. We watched Thirteen Going On Thirty as we baked, a movie we'd loved for years and one that felt even more fitting than usual today. And even though I still didn't accept the day, I had fun, and I was glad Mom had shown up. I had gotten quite lonely this last week even though I had the company of the three cats, since Travis had been so busy we'd barely even texted. He called me for five minutes before he went to bed, but that was about all I got to hear from him. I couldn't wait until he was home.

Mom and I ordered dinner in instead of cooking, eating it on the couch as we watched another movie and talked over the whole thing. I'd forgotten just how much I loved spending time with her since we hadn't had time to just hang out in almost two years.

"This is such a fire hazard." I told Mom as we stood at the kitchen counter, watching as she tried to light thirty five candles sticking out of the cake.

"Yeah but it'll look really cool." Mom insisted. "And I want to see if you can get them all in one go." I just laughed at her, shaking my head as I bit back on a sarcastic comment. My mother was not the right person to say that in front of. I'd been about to joke that I was actually pretty well practised at blowing, but that kind of humour was reserved only for Travis. "Okay, go!" Mom finished lighting them all and grabbed her phone, starting to take a video.

Leaning forwards, I blew hard and extinguished almost all of them, but a couple round the edges stayed flickering. Mom clapped me on as I blew them out, squeezing my eyes closed to make a wish. There was only one thing in the world that I wanted, and I wished hard for it.

"What'd you wish for?" A soft, familiar voice whispered in my ear as arms wrapped around me from behind, pulling me backwards against a strong chest.

"Another cat." I lied as my shoulders relaxed, turning around in Travis' arms to look up at him. He just chuckled at me, tucking two fingers under my chin.

"Happy birthday baby girl." He murmured, pulling my chin up so he could kiss me softly. I leaned into him, tears welling up in my eyes as I squeezed them tightly closed. He was here. He was home. "I love you." Travis whispered against my lips when we finally parted.