New York Surprises (Tayvin - AU)

Part 21

"Once upon a time in a land far, far, away a prince and a princess met" A girl said to her captive audience.

"It wasn't THAT far away... like just being accurate." A boy, sitting on the opposite sofa, said looking up from his book.

"This is MY story, so I can tell it as I wish." She retorted.

"It's not ACTUALLY your story... but whatever.... Corrupt their brains, why don't you." He replied with a smirk.

The girl glared at the boy before taking a deep breath and turning back to her audience consisting of a small curly haired girl and an even smaller boy.

"So where was I.... oh yeah! The prince and the princess met and fell in love. The only problem was that they soon had to go home and didn't see each other for a whole 6 years!" She continued the story, adding drama to every part and making her audience gasp. "But like every good fairy-tale story, they soon found their way back to each other. They had two children who were the best, obviously. The prince and the princess then got married and became the queen and the king, with their two children taking their rightful positions as princess and prince. They lived happily ever after, the end." She finished talking.

"I love you Lia! You tell the best stowies!" The little girl said, smiling up at the older girl on the sofa.

"You're welcome little buddy." Lia told her, as she stood up from the sofa holding out her hand for the smaller girl, "Let's go get a snack. I think there are some apple chips in the kitchen."

"Yummmmmm!" The little girl squealed.

"Can you get me some too?" The older boy asked from his position on the sofa.

"Get your own snacks Jay, I'm not your servant." Lia told him, rolling her eyes.

"I'm still older than you, Eliana." He replied, smirking from behind his book as she huffed out of the room towards the kitchen.

"Mom? Where are the apple chips?" Lia asked her mother as they went into the kitchen.

"Um... I think dad left them in the top snack cupboard when he made them." Taylor replied, looking up from her computer, "Hey Bea! Was Lia telling you a story?"

"Uh huh! It was about a princess and a prince and then they lost each other and found each other and yeah." Beatrix told her mom as she climbed up on the bench Taylor was sitting on.

"Was she now... That sounds like a great story!" Taylor replied enthusiastically, winking at her older daughter who was looking over at them as she got some snacks out of the cupboard.

"When will daddy be home?" Bea asked with big puppy dog eyes.

"Well... I think he said 6... so that's in about 4 hours' sweetie." Taylor replied, looking back at her computer.

"Okay! Let's go take the snacks to Jay and Fin." Bea told Lia as she slid back off the bench and walked back to the living room, dragging her older sister behind her.

Lia and Jay were growing into teenagers, having celebrated their 12th birthdays a few months earlier. They had just been let out of school for their summer vacation a week ago, so their house was a little hectic most days at the moment. Next week they were heading off to the same summer camp their parents had first met at 18 years earlier, but this week was family time.

After Adam and Taylor got back in touch, their relationship went from zero to a thousand within a few weeks. Adam knew he needed to keep a hold of her and, with the help of their crazy 5-year-old twins, proposed to Taylor inside a tent in the middle of her living room, when they finally got around to rearranging their 'indoor family camping' night. They were married the following New Year's Eve, exactly half way between their birthdays, at a country house just outside the city, surrounded by their closest friends and Taylor's family. Adam had thought of contacting his family again and trying to mend bridges since he reconnected with Taylor, but every time he thought about it he felt sick to his stomach imagining what they could do to him and his family. He was happy with his life and didn't want anything to ruin it. Adam and Taylor decided to find a new place to live, considering they had been living in Taylor's apartment since soon after they had gotten engaged, although Adam had basically been living there before then too. They decided to rent a 4-bedroom duplex apartment, which meant that both Lia and Jay could have their own rooms as they got older, as well as having a guest room. The apartment also had an office space, meaning Adam and Taylor had someplace they could go to work away from the kids.