Growing Up |TAYVIN (Sequel To AWRFT) *discontinued*

24. Let's Make A Fresh Start

*Taylor's POV*

It's almost 9pm, and Adam still hasn't come home. I have no idea what trouble he could have gotten himself into, or what he was doing, and I had purposely stayed off the internet all day, just because I knew that the media were probably dissecting our private lives right now.

I put the boys to bed about an hour ago, and Ellie and I were currently just sitting on one of the couches in the living room, having cuddles.

"Are you okay, Mommy?", Ellie asks quietly, looking up at me, from where she's sitting on my lap.

"Mmm hmm", I say distractedly, staring at the living room door, waiting for Adam to walk in from the hallway, even though I didn't even know if he was going to come home tonight.

"Mommy?", Ellie asks again, patting my shoulder, and snapping me out of my daze.

"Sorry, honey, what were you saying?", I ask, kissing her forehead.

"Nothing", she whispers, laying back against my chest. "Is Daddy coming home, soon?", she asks.

"I'm not sure, El", I mumble.

"Okay", she whispers, dropping the subject.

She was only a kid but she always knew exactly what to do.

"Mommy?", I hear a little voice coming from the hallway, and I stand up quickly, thinking that it's Adam for a split second.

"One of the boys is up. I'll be right back, honey", I say to Ellie, and leave the room.

I see Luke standing at the top of the stairs, rattling at the baby gate, with tears rolling down his cheeks.

"You're okay, honey. What happened?", I ask, climbing to the top of the stairs, as I open the gate and lift him into my arms.

"Sleepy, Mommy", he says, wrapping his arms around my neck and hiccuping.

"How did you even get out of your crib?", I ask, walking towards the open door of his bedroom.

When I enter the room, the light is on, and I see Noah sitting on the floor in his pyjamas, nonchalantly playing with some of Luke's toys.

"Noah Isaac Amel Wiles, I should've known you had something to do with this", I say, trying not to smile as I raise my eyebrows at my 3 year old, whose messy blonde curls were still tangled from the short amount of time that he had spend in bed.

"I heard Luke talking to himself so I wanted to come and play", he says innocently, as he manoeuvres a toy train around on a train track.

"He always talks when he's trying to fall asleep, you just have to ignore him. It's bedtime, Noah, and you know the rules, baby. You don't come out of your room unless you need to use the bathroom or unless you need Mommy and Daddy", I say sternly.

"We're not tired", Noah says, looking at me cheekily.

"Well you seem to have succeeded in your mission to keep your brother up all night", I say, with a sigh, knowing that Luke would now want to sleep in my bed.

"Can we watch a movie?", Noah asks, looking up at me sweetly, before getting off his feet and wrapping his arms around my left leg.