A Perfect Storm

December

Taylor clutched the printed photos tightly, unsure where she wanted to put them. She'd gotten to go with Abigail to her twenty-week ultrasound and held in her hand a couple of pictures from that day that they hadn't seen yet, the ones that revealed the gender. Matt hadn't been able to go with them because of a work trip, but today, Matt, Abigail and her Mom were coming to New York to go with her for hers. It was actually a little early, but her doctor was pretty sure that a couple days wasn't going to make a huge difference. Since he hadn't been able to be there for Abi's, they'd decided to find out together. She was feeling good, looking forward to her birthday and what might be her last live performance before the baby was born. She'd rehearsed a bunch for the AMAs and the Jingle Ball shows, the one on her birthday here in New York and the one in London she'd just finished. It had been weird and slightly uncomfortable, going to a show in London without her Mom, but she'd only done a few songs, and she'd been there barely a day and a half. Cara and Tree had flown over with her besides her band and security, so it wasn't as though she'd been alone.

The show itself had gone well, she thought. They'd had gifts for her and the baby in her dressing room, and the few fans she'd been able to meet had been very encouraging and understanding. One in particular had hit the nail on the head harder than Taylor had expected, suggesting that she'd probably always wanted to see her Mom hold her grandchild, and this was probably the only way that could happen, which had made her cry because hormones, but had been super sweet and just handed her tissues until she could get herself under control. She'd been a little afraid the sperm donor would somehow appear in her life while she was in London, but there had been no sign of him, for which she was grateful. He and his boyfriend were official now, and she was glad he was happy, in her more magnanimous moments. But she also knew she probably couldn't have stopped Cara from decking him on sight. And she wasn't always sure she wanted to. The way things had ended between them was the only part of this that she regretted. Especially now, when she was pregnant enough that people who didn't even know her had started asking when she was due and then looking pointedly at her left hand. She'd thought telling the world meant she'd get to avoid a lot of that. She tried to never assume that people knew who she was, but most of the time they did, so she had imagined that meant they would also know she was pregnant and doing it solo, but apparently no such luck.

"It's a big couple of days, little one," she smiled, looking down at her ever expanding belly. "Today, I find out if you're more likely to be a boy or a girl, and then tomorrow, Mama turns thirty, and gets to perform for a whole lot of people. We've done that once, I hope it wasn't too loud for you. They tell me I should feel you moving any day now, and I'm pretty stoked about that. I know you're in there, but...it will be nice to have more than the fact I can't wear regular pants anymore as evidence, you know? But yeah, one day you'll get to dance along while Mama sings, sound good?" She sometimes felt silly, talking to a baby who couldn't hear her or respond, but she figured it didn't hurt for the baby to know her voice. And all the books said it helped babies with language development to talk to them after they were born, so before could only help, right?

"Ready to go, Taylor?" The text from security reminded her it was time to pick up the Nashville crew at the airport and then head to her OB/GYN for her 20-week check-up and then the ultrasound, in another office in the same building. All of her appointments had gone well so far. There had been a little concern in the early days when she'd struggled with morning sickness to the degree she wasn't gaining weight as much as the doctor would have liked, and she remained under the total gain expected for how far along she was, but not by much, and it didn't seem to have affected the baby at all, who was growing with every appointment. Her doctor imagined it was due to the fact she resumed dance rehearsals as soon as she felt better enough to do so, so it was probably more Taylor's own body staying lean rather than the baby. Between AMAs and the Jingle Balls, she'd had quite a bit to get ready for, and she thought it had paid off.

She was ever grateful that the elevator in her building was working, stairs were a workout normally, but between subtle shifts in her center of gravity and the fact her feet weren't as easy to see as they'd once been, they'd become a mental workout besides the physical. No one had any reason to suspect she was even home in New York, so she chanced a quick walk out to a car in front of the building, seeing no one more interested in her progress than a couple of pigeons. The car was warm and cozy against the cold of the city in December, so she'd not even bothered to try to close her coat over her belly. The drive out to Teterboro seemed to take forever, between holiday traffic, icy bridges, and her eagerness to be reunited with people she loved. So many of her friends would be at her birthday party the next day, uncharacteristically planned for a local restaurant rather than her own home, a small concession to the fact she couldn't get ready for the party, AND for the performance, AND listen to her body, essential right now when it affected more than just herself. She knew there were people who thought she was crazy. That this was nothing like how she should go into her thirties, but she didn't care. This was who she was supposed to be, and what she was supposed to be doing. She was sure of it.

After the reunion at the airport, it felt like everything shifted into fast forward. They barely had time to hug and remark about the growing evidence of pregnancy on both Taylor and Abigail before they had to get back into the car and make their way back into the city for the appointments. They'd been late, but miraculously not lost their place, so it took almost no time at all before Taylor was in a room, draped with a sheet so the doctor could check on her and the baby. It was an easy appointment, Taylor's weight had caught up to the norm, and her blood and urine tests were all where they were expected to be. She had to schedule the test for gestational diabetes about a month later, but no one was too worried about it. Overall, Taylor's pregnancy was progressing about as well as possible, which was definitely reassuring.

They gave her a robe to wear as she met back up with Matt, Abi and her Mom for a quick trip across the hall to the ultrasound lab, where she would finally get to see her baby as more than a fuzzy blob amongst the static. She'd been pretty emotional, just seeing Abigail's baby, and she knew it would be even more special to get to see her own. The wait for the tech was the longest of the whole day, giving Taylor just enough time to get nervous about it, but the tech was very chill and clearly loved what he did, helping people see their kids, often for the first time. Matt had stepped out of the room to take a phone call, so the tech entered the room and was confronted with two pregnant women and one of their moms. "Ohmigod I LOVE when couples decide to both carry at the same time! It's so fun!"

Taylor and Abigail shared a look and then burst out laughing. As if on cue, Matt re-entered the room, coming to his wife's side. "We're not a couple," Taylor clarified. "That's her husband, Matt."

The tech laughed too. "My mistake. This is why we don't assume things. Sisters?"

"Besties. These are the godparents, Matt and Abigail, and my Mom, Andrea." Taylor grinned. "Well, if they want to be godparents. I haven't actually asked them yet."

"We'd be honored." Matt hoped that answering for his wife would be okay, but he was pretty sure Abigail would feel the same.

"Well this is adorable! I love it! Who wants to see the baby?" The tech was already pulling the goo out of the warmer and getting ready to spread it across Taylor's stomach. "Are we finding out the gender?"

"Yes, but could you put that and the associated pics in an envelope? We have one with Abigail's baby's at home, and we're going to find out at the same time. I've been holding it for a month and a half and the suspense is killing me!" Taylor grinned. She'd been nervous, but now she was just excited. But nothing could prepare her for the moment the tech turned the screen her way and she saw, in perfect view, her baby's face, and immediately burst into tears. "Oh my god. That's...I made that."

Andrea reached over and squeezed her hand. "Thank you for inviting me to be here for this. Seeing my grandchild like this is really special."

They watched in awe as the tech pointed out different features, taking measurements and eventually concluding "they're going to be tall af" which wasn't exactly news considering Taylor herself is pretty tall and the father was taller. All too soon, their time was up, and they had to leave with their envelope of gender information and a DVD of the whole scan, as well as a bunch of still photos.

Taylor was still mopping up her face as they made their way to the car. "That was just...I thought I was prepared after seeing yours. But I wasn't. At all. That was magical. I'm really having a baby."

Back at the house, once Taylor had a chance to re-do her makeup, Matt staged a little maternity shoot in the living room. He promised to do a bigger one as Taylor got closer to giving birth, but it seemed like such a special time, having Taylor and Mama Swift and the printed photos of the baby, and also Taylor and Abi and the pics of their hopefully future besties. He also set up a tripod so he could snap a photo of himself with Abigail, Taylor, and Taylor's ultrasound photo - the godparents and mother and baby. Only once they were satisfied with the photos did they open the envelopes with the genders. They agreed they would just count to three and then say "You're having a _______" and fill in the gender, and at the count of three they both filled in "GIRL!"

"I thought you were having a boy!" "I thought YOU were having a boy!"

"Two girls, huh? They'll either be best friends or hate each other. Hopefully they follow their moms' footsteps and are bffs, because I know you two aren't going to stop hanging out no matter what." Andrea put her arms around both girls. "I'm so proud to have watched you both grow into the women you've become, and I know one day you'll feel the same about your own little girls."

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the kitchen, pulling together a dinner for the four of them, and making sure everything was settled for the restaurant the next day and Taylor's party. This was her thirtieth, after all, and such a pivotal moment in her life, Abigail and her mom wanted to make sure it would be a birthday to remember.