Team Reid

The Galley

She can't help it.

She really can't. I mean, there's been this side of her since she was a child, arranging all her coloured crayons in order of the rainbow or aligning the stickers on her sheet in a straight line. Her friends called her OC but she couldn't really get her head around the term – wasn't it normal for people to have structure or a sense of normalcy and organisation in their lives? She shudders at the thought of people who live their lives without some kind of order.

It wasn't that she was an introvert and it definitely wasn't because she wasn't spontaneous because she's done many things in her life out of the blue, and she enjoys going with flow of things sometimes, and I suppose she's sort of learnt to accept that things go the way they're meant to.

I mean, ever since she met him and fell in love with the fearless soul that he was, she can't say that she was as OC anymore. She learned to let go and just live a little.

But she can't with this.

She has this pet peeve with taking photos and getting the right shots and it's a very stubborn habit she has and she's almost certain that it's never going to leave. She just loves the concept you know? Capturing moments, so precious and valuable in a single frame and getting to look back on them. And he knows that more than anyone, she figures, after years of living with her, he's got used to it and it helps that he shares her love for photography too.

But, she isn't the type of person to store albums. Oh, no. Why lock artwork and beautiful memories up in albums to collect dust and be found years later with a dreadful sense of nostalgia?

So she has a photo room, as he calls it, (she prefers to refer to it as the gallery) where she hangs up the most memorable ones. And it's really a given that his face is the one that appears most often in her memorable ones. So far she's covered almost one full wall with her little polaroid pictures and cute captions and he's joked, several times, that they might end up with the ceiling and floor of the room plastered with pictures if she continues at this rate.

And her mouth curved upwards in a small smile when he said that because she knows he's promised her forever, the rose gold band on her left hand, matching the blue diamond engagement ring above it is her constant reminder of that promise. But it still warms her heart when he says things like that, because she loves that certainty of them having even more happy memories together.

So she's stood in the middle of said room now, biting her nails a little and furrowing her eyebrows as she concentrates. She's making sure she's got all the important pictures up (although a voice inside of her reminds that she's already checked this over).

There's the ones of her and James, early on in their relationship, touring the world together in whirlwind tours and magazine shoots. There's a couple of their happiest dates in the four years before they married – their birthdays, anniversaries. And then of course, there's the engagement ones, the lead up to the wedding and big day itself. There's a couple of shots from the honeymoon in Greece, but not many -James insists on keeping the rest hidden.

She reaches her hand out to hover above the pictures, almost reliving the memories with her touch. Their first baby shower ones are making her tear up a little bit because they were so excited back then to be having a baby. Of course, she never had any doubt that James would be the perfect dad and he really has been just that – perfect.

She often thinks that his relationship with their oldest, Xavier, is friendlier than most father-son bonds. They treat each other like best buds and if she's being honest there's more pictures of James and Xavier on the wall then there is her and Xavier.

One of her most favourite shots though, probably indicated by how large she got it printed, is the one of three-year-old Xavier holding his little sister, Mia, on the day she was born. He's all dressed up in his football gear and there's mud on his shoes and shorts because that day was definitely one which didn't go to plan.

Mia was born three weeks early and it so happens that James and Xavier were having a boys' day out which was cut short by her going into labour. She still laughs when she thinks about James rushing to get home and running around like a headless chicken to get the hospital bag and all of Xavier's things sorted that he forgot to change out of their muddy outfits.

The kids' firsts are all up there too. Mia taking her first steps, Xavier on his first day of school, their first family holiday, Mia's first bicycle ride, Xavier's first Holy Communion. She sighs as she gets to the end of the timeline of photos because there's still so many more that need to be put up, including ones of the new addition to their family, Layla Reid.

They've been home for just over a month now and this labour was the hardest one yet. She still has pains and the hospital were afraid to discharge both mother and daughter for a couple of weeks due to complications in the birth. Layla has weak lungs and is showing early signs of asthma and it scares her, it really does because Layla is just her little girl and she can't help but blame herself.

She voiced those thoughts to James earlier in the week who just looked at her shook his head, pressing a kiss to her temple and holding her close. She's like us Nadine – a fighter and a Reid, he said. And then he joked that Layla looked like him more than Mia does so she's now his favourite.

So she was reassured, after all he was still by her side, helping her through it. They were both there for their baby girl and that's all that matters.

She walks out of the gallery and down the hall into the living room to check up on Layla only to be greeted with the sight of James, laying on the sofa with Layla curled up on his shoulder.

They're both sleeping and it really hits her how alike they both look. She has his face shape and his nose and she most definitely has his eyes and it's odd really that even Xavier doesn't look like James as much as she does.

She remembers that she's holding her camera in her hand and although she promised herself that she wouldn't take any more pictures until she got all the rest organised, she can't help herself. She makes sure that the flash isn't too bright so neither of them wake and she tiptoes around them to get as many shots as she can – especially seen as Layla is drooling on his shoulder a little.

And she has a small realisation in that moment. That it doesn't really matter if her gallery isn't in any way shape or form in order or even organised in the slightest right now. All that matters is the present and if it's a little bit messy and full of on the spot decisions she should just embrace it.

But then she stops thinking about that approach because the first thing she's going to tomorrow morning when she wakes is sort out that room and put everything in order.

These damn Reid genes and their photogenic faces.

A/N: Just a little thought that wormed it's way into my head and refused to leave, leading to me writing in the middle of exam season.
Hope y'all enjoyed.
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