Quiet | Kaylor

VII

On the day of her birthday, Karlie woke up to a kiss pressed to her forehead. "Happy birthday, gorgeous," her wife said.

"Morning," she mumbled, blinking as the brightness of the day seeped into the room. They'd arrived at the Rhode Island house yesterday afternoon following a long, tedious car ride filled with whining and potty breaks. There had been better days.

Karlie yawned. Something sweet was definitely being concocted in the kitchen, she noticed as the smell tickled her nostrils. "Have you been cooking?"

"Yeah," Taylor shrugged, twirling a lock of curly hair around her fingers: a nervous tick.

"What aren't you telling me?" Karlie interrogated, sitting up. "What's going on?"

"I've been having an affair for the entirety of our marriage and I'm leaving you," Taylor deadpanned.

"Sure, Jan."

"Karlie, that meme is like a decade old. Get your ass out of bed." Juxtaposing her teasing tone, she pulled her wife in for a tender hug, lightly stroking her back. "I love you."

She was dressed and showered, Karlie realized, and she was wearing that light blue button down that Karlie loved. "You smell nice."

"Thanks for saying that," she blushed. Then, standing abruptly, she sauntered out of the room. "Hurry up and get dressed. Wear something nice."

~*~

Even after twelve years together, Karlie still managed to take Taylor's breath away with her effortless beauty. Clad in a simple sundress, she tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear, while floating down the stairs as if they were a catwalk. "Morning, Tay," she said, planting a kiss on Taylor's lips, "Morning, Josie."

"Happy birthday, Karlie!" Josie beamed, happily.

"Show Karlie what you made for her," Taylor said. She turned back to the stove where Karlie's favorite vegan pancakes were cooking.

"I made you a card!" Josie presented it proudly. It had "Happy Birthday Karlie" printed on it in clumsy handwriting, complete with gold and hot pink glitter glue which hadn't completely dried yet.

"Thanks, buddy! It's beautiful! I love the glitter!" Karlie smiled, pulling her daughter into a quick hug.

"Alright, we need to hurry up and eat so we can clean up. And Josie needs to take a shower," Taylor said, setting a plate of pancakes on the table.

"Woah, clean up for what?" Karlie asked.

"Nothing. Just...thought it would be nice to have a clean house," Taylor replied hastily.

"Okay, what is going on here?"

"Taylor said to keep it a secret," Josie said. "You just have to be patient!" (She'd stolen that phrase from the drive up, when it had been mostly directed at her.)

Karlie sighed, "I guess you're right."

~*~

Karlie spent the morning trying to stay out of the way of Taylor, who was trying to cook and clean the house at the same time. Everytime Karlie offered to help, she'd been shooed out of the kitchen as Taylor muttered something about surprises. She made herself useful by coaxing Josie into taking a shower.

Karlie's patience paid off just after eleven when the doorbell rang. "You might want to go get that," Taylor said casually.

"Okayyy," Karlie said. She walked up to the door and looked through the peephole. "Taylor!" she squealed, "I thought we decided on nothing big!"