GETAWAY CAR

24. We'll Be Okay

April 9th 2017

Karlie's POV

"Where's her pacifier? Karlie we're going to be late!" Taylor is rushing around with a screaming, Maisie balanced on her hip and we're both searching for her pacifier, knowing that the second we try and put her in the carseat her crying is only going to get worse. "Found it!" I call after her as I find Maisie's pacifier lying under a pile of her clean onesies. "Thank god," Taylor mumbles as she bounces the crying baby and slips the pacifier into her mouth. We only have a second of reprieve though because now we have to worry about the fact we're late to lunch at her parent's house.

I grab the now silent baby and strap her into her carseat and it's almost a miracle when she doesn't start crying again. "There we go, baby." I smile as I lie her favourite stuffie in beside her, it's a little duck with a security blanket attached, it's her favourite thing to chew on since she started teething recently.

"Are you ready?" I ask Taylor as she rushes over to me, still throwing things into the diaper bag as she walks over. "Yep, lets go." She smiles and I grab Maisie's car seat and we leave the house.

We get in the car and drive the short twenty minutes to her parents house, but the whole time she's freaking out over the fact that we're ten minutes late. "It's only your mom and dad, babe. They've had kids, they understand it's hard to leave the house on time, stop worrying." I try and comfort her as we walk up the driveway, Maisie's car seat is hooked over my arm and Taylor rings the doorbell as she fidgets with the hem of her shirt. She's never this anxious about being around her parents, but to think of it she's been like this all morning.

"There's my favourite family member!" Austin laughs as he opens the door, acting as if he's going to hug Taylor and then taking Maisie's car seat from me before walking into the house. Taylor scoffs and rolls her eyes at her brother, you'd think she'd be used to him by now. "Where's mom and dad?" Taylor asks, a serious expression on her face as she doesn't play into her brothers joke. He lifts Maisie out of the carseat as he says, "they're in the backyard." His eyebrows are furrowed and you can tell he's as confused by her serious demeanour as I am, but I just shrug as he looks at me for answers and we follow Taylor outside.

"Hey honey." Andrea smiles as she pulls her daughter into her arms before Taylor shares a hug with her dad. "How are you all?" He asks as we sit down at the outdoor dining table and as Taylor sits on the other side of my I reach for her hand and she grabs mine as if her life depends on it, but I know this reaction all too well. I stroke my thumb over the soft skin of her hand as she answers her father, "we had a bit of a nightmare leaving the house but we're good." She tells his with a smile and he nods to acknowledge her. I glance over to her and her hand is rubbing soft circles around her stomach and I know for sure that something's off.

"Tay, can I borrow you for a minute." I smile at my girlfriend who nods as she tries to keep up the charade of calm in front of her parents. As soon as we're inside, I hold her at arms length so I can look into her eyes, "what's going on, babe?" I ask with a soft smile and she looks away from my eyes, "hey, it's okay. You can tell me what's making you anxious." I rub her arm in an attempt to keep her grounded and she takes a deep breath before looking at me in the eyes. "I've had a strange feeling in my stomach all morning, I can't explain it." The words leave her mouth in a breathy whisper and I move my hands to her bump, my first reaction to protect the baby, but as my hands rest there for a couple of minutes, I laugh as I look up smiling.

"What's funny? There's nothing funny about this Karlie." She looks at me as if I'm insane and I shake my head before resting her hands right above mine. "Say something," I urge her and she  says "what is this about, Kar? I think we need to-" she pauses halfway through her sentence. "Did you feel it?" I ask and she nods with a smile, "the baby's moving." She lets out a breathy laugh of relief and I smile as I nod. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about. He's not kicking yet but he will be soon, you're just not used to it since you didn't feel Maisie moving till around 25 weeks." I reassure her and she lets out a breath I don't think she realised she was holding.