Forever and Always

Chapter 2 - Mall-O-Drama

Kayla's POV

I am having so much fun at the mall. We never get to come here because mommy doesn't like the scary people with cameras. I haven't seen any so far. I picked out three new outfits to wear to school. I got a pretty white lace dress for my very first day of Kindergarten. School is going to be so much fun! Mommy is being very nice today, she is letting me pick whatever I want to eat for lunch.

"Kay, what are you getting?" she asked me when we stepped up in line; I don't like to order for myself.

"I want a cheese pizza."

"Can you share that with your brother?"

I gave her a pouty face. All she did was sigh.

"Ok I will take 2 slices of cheese pizza, one order of garlic sticks and 3 waters." The guy at the register nodded and typed in our order. After mommy paid, we got our food and went to find a table. I got to pick where we sat. Halfway through lunch I stopped eating to ask a question that I had always wanted to know the answer to.

"Mommy?" I asked.

"Yeah sweetheart?"

"When will I be like you?"

Taylor's POV

"When will I be like you?" I froze; I had no idea how I was supposed to answer Kayla's question. "Well, what am I like?" I replied.

"You're pretty, a good mommy, smart and a good singer. I want to be like you someday."

This almost made me start crying.

"As long as you believe in yourself, be fearless and never let anyone tell you who you are, you will be an amazing person. You don't need to try to be like me, just be the Kayla I know."

"But how will I know when I am who I'm supposed to be?"

"Kiddo, you will never know for sure. I don't even know who I am yet. Owen doesn't either."

"I wish I could be a big girl sooner."

"Don't grow up too fast because you never know what you will miss."

Our perfect moment was interupted by Owen's screaming and crying.

"Oh no," I thought to myself. "He's drawing attention to us."

"Shhhh sweetheart, it's ok." I told him calmly.

I rocked his stroller back and forth trying my best to get him to stop crying, but nothing was working. The wailing continued. Now people were staring. My face was starting to turn red so I buried my head in my hands. When I looked down I noticed that Owen's bear was lying on the ground. Seeing it lying there brought me a sense of instant relief until I bent down to pick it up. As soon as I bent down, I realized my mistake. I bumped the table and knocked over a glass over water, which spilled all over me. My hair was now wet and would start curling at any moment now. On top of that, my sunglasses fell on the ground. I could see that Kayla was starting to freak out.

"Great, now I have two kids to calm down." My brain was swimming, more like drowning in my thoughts. We had to get out of the mall.

"Kayla, please help me clean up our meal. We will be leaving soon."

As if on cue, the paparazzi swarmed us. They had found us. I frantically began throwing things in random bags trying to get out as soon as possible. I was not in the mood to deal with the paparazzi today. I grabbed Kayla's hand and told her to never let go until we got to the car. We had a much harder time exiting the mall  than we did entering. All of my fans knew where I was now. Everything went by like a blur. At one point Kayla stopped walking and started crying so I had to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way. I must have looked like a crazy person trying to push a stroller with a screaming toddler through a sea of people with a 5 year old clinging to me for dear life while carrying several shopping bags. I threw everything into the trunk, buckled the kids into their carseats, and slowly pulled out of my parking spot trying not to hit anyone. When we arrived at a stoplight I took a quick glance in the rearview mirror. Owen was cuddling with his bear, while Kayla was staring out the window. She looked lost in thought. I always felt bad that we could never do anything "normal" without getting mobbed by people. Don't get me wrong; I love my job, but I would love to spend quality time with my kids as well. I never want to see the day when I have to choose between my career and my family.

Thank you all so much for reading. I will try to update about every three days. Please comment your thoughts, feedback is always helpful!