New York Surprises (Tayvin - AU)

Part 16

TAYLOR POV

"Taylor, our meeting has been rescheduled to 4pm, can you still make it?" My boss asked me, walking past my desk just after lunch.

It was Tuesday afternoon and I was in the middle of doing research for a new music podcast the station was starting which was showcasing up and coming artists from around the city. 4pm meant that I wouldn't be done before 5.30 or 6 at the earliest and the latest the kids could be in after-school club was 4.30. But I couldn't miss this meeting, it was important. This meeting was basically going to determine the future of the station. It had recently been bought by a larger station, hence the new marketing we were trying to get started, and they had done a review of our station a few weeks ago to see whether it was still profitable.

"Yeah, I'll be there." I replied.

What was I going to do with the kids? I had 3 hours to figure this out before the meeting. Karlie... she could pick them up right?

*SOS. Meeting got changed and I can't pick up J and L. Can you pick them up and take them home for me?* I texted Karlie, setting my phone down to wait for her response while I finished up the work I was doing.

It only took about 5 minutes for her to reply.

*Really sorry. Out of city on an assignment. Hope you find someone! K xo*

So she couldn't pick them up.... I wracked my brain for someone else who I thought could pick them up and who I trusted to look after them for a couple of hours.

The only person my brain was coming up with was Adam, but would he be okay with doing this? I guess the only way to find out is to ask....

I decided to call him, as it was more direct and he would need all the details about where to pick them up and what they usually do. After he left on Friday night we had communicated a little, mainly me sending him pictures of the kids at the park and baking cookies, but hadn't actually spoken or seen each other. He had been working all day both Saturday and Sunday, and Monday is when the kids have swimming classes after school so we were busy.

I listened as the phone rang a couple of times, waiting to see if he picked up.

"Hello?" Adam answered the phone.

"Hi Adam.... Um.... It's Taylor." I said, suddenly feeling really nervous.

"Hey Tay! How are you? Wait is something wrong?" He replied, going from easy going to worried in the space of two sentences.

"I'm fine, everything is pretty okay, don't worry! I just, um, have a major favour to ask..." I said.

"Uh...sure, what is it?" He asked, sounding slightly confused as well as relieved that everything was okay.

"Well a really important meeting got pushed back till 4, which is when I am usually picking up the kids and it won't finish till about 6 and the kids have to be picked up by 4.30 at the latest, and Karlie is busy and I can't leave the meeting..." I started rambling, as I always do when I'm nervous.

"Are you asking if I can pick up Jay and Lia?" He asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah, basically...." I replied, letting out a long breath as I listened to silence at the other end. "You still there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here. I was just thinking. Yeah that should be fine, I can pick them up at about 4 and then they can come to the restaurant with me until you can pick them up.... If that's okay with you of course. It's just that I can't get out of my shift at this point." Adam said, sounding hesitant.

"That's fine, like absolutely 100% fine. Thank you so so so much! You are my hero!" I said, only hearing myself after I had said it.

"Am I now?" Adam said, chuckling, "So, what is their after school routine or whatever?"

"They usually have a small healthy snack after school, they don't have allergies, and either go to the park, watch TV- 20 minutes max- or do their homework and play games until supper, which is usually about 6 or 6.30, so I should be able to collect them before then. They go to Allensy Elementary, around the corner from our apartment, and you just go to the reception and they will collect them from after school club for you." I told him.

"Or you guys could just all stay here for dinner? I mean if it's easier and everything..." Adam said

"You know what... that would be great! I'll let you know when I'm on my way. If you have any problems just text me. I will call the school and let them know you are collecting the twins." I told him, "I have to get back to work now, but thank you so much for this!"

"No worries! I'm looking forward to it.... I need to get used to this whole fatherhood thing, right?" He replied, making me laugh slightly before I said goodbye.

I breathed a major sigh of relief when I got off the phone. Firstly, it wasn't too awkward to speak to him after Friday, and secondly he was literally saving me today.

ADAM POV

When I got off the phone with Taylor I took a deep, calming breath. I could do this right? I could handle my two kids, who I still barely knew, for a few hours.

I looked at my watch and realised I had a couple of hours still until I had to be at the school to pick them up. They needed snacks.... What do 5 year olds like to have as snacks? And Taylor said healthy, so cake or chocolate was out of the question. I looked around my well stocked kitchen and tried to put myself in the mind-set of a 5-year-old. Pretzels were good and so were apple chips. So I got busy making apple chips and mini pretzel and cheese melts.

Soon it was 3.30 and I decided I needed to head off to make sure I got to the school by 4, even though it was only a 15-minute walk from my apartment over to the elementary school the kids were at. It's better to be early than late, I need to make a good impression. Luckily the weather was good for the end of February, so I was planning to take them to the park.

As I walked into the school I realised I was shaking slightly, so before I entered the reception area I took a couple of deep breaths. 'They are only kids; they can't do anything bad to you. Just be yourself.' I told myself as I went in.

"Can I help you?" A woman sitting behind the desk asked.

"Uh, yes, I think. I'm here to pick up James and Eliana Swift." I told her.

"Okay, so you must be Mr Wiles? Could I just see ID?" She asked.

I nodded and pulled out my driver's licence.

"I'll go and get the kids for you then." She said smiling, having looked at my licence and confirmed who I was. "Just take a seat, we won't be a minute."

I sat down on one of the chairs and waited. Soon I heard the sound of footsteps running down the hall and the woman from reception calling out to tell them to slow down.

Lia burst into reception first and stopped which abruptly, making Jay bump into her.

"Mr Adam? Why isn't mommy here? Is she okay?" Lia asked me.

"Yeah....um.... your mom just got stuck in some meetings so shw asked me to collect you guys. Is that okay?" I asked them both crouching down to help them get their jackets done up.

"Do you have snacks?" Lia asked, scrunching up her nose and looking at me sceptically.

"I sure do!" I said, holding up the bag of snacks I had been keeping in my pocket, "I was thinking we could go to the park and then we are going to go hang out at the restaurant for a little bit. How does that sound?"

"Cool!" Jay said, grinning at me.

"Okay." Lia said, smiling at me and taking one of my hands as Jay took the other automatically. It all suddenly felt so right.

"Thank you miss." I said to the woman at reception as we left the office area and walked towards the front doors of the school and off to the park.