Taylor's POV
The light is spilling through the thin curtains as my eyes flicker open, and I huff as I roll over. My hand collides with warm skin and I open my eyes to see Karlie lying beside me.
The memories of the night before flash over me and I bite my lip as Karlie starts to shift. We never went too far last night, we spent the time just learning each others bodies and trying to understand the other. We decided that we wanted to wait until Grayson isn't here to actually sleep together, that way we don't have to be restricted.
"Good morning, beautiful," she pulls me into her arms and I smile as the curves of my body fit perfectly into hers. "Good morning," I hum, smiling as she adjusts to the morning light. "How long do we have before Gray wakes up?" I trace my fingers gently over her skin and she laughs, "he's usually a late sleeper."
I nod, nuzzling my face into her neck as she pulls me in close. "Are you sure you're alright with me being here when he wakes up?" I don't want things to shake Grayson when he's finally settling down, "I'm not going to let you sneak out of here like you're my dirty little secret, Taylor. Grayson adores you and he'll probably be more excited to see you than he is to be with me."
She laughs, her fingers brushing through my hair as I smile, "I would understand if you're not ready to be intertwined in the family thing though, I know it's a lot." She kinda back tracks and I peek up at her, "I think it's a little late for that, Kar."
The blonde smiles and rubs my arm gently, "then stay and have breakfast with us and we can decide from there." I nod, giving her a gentle smile, it's her day off today and she usually spends them with Gray so I don't wanna impose any longer than that.
"Okay," I give her a smile and press soft kisses to her collarbone. The feeling of her skin against mine makes me feel safe, but I know we need to get dressed before Gray wakes up. "Pass me my shirt, please?" I notice it on the ground on Karlie's side and the blonde chuckles as she gets up.
"Here, that way it'll look like you didn't sleep in your clothes," she throws me her shirt and a pair of pyjama shorts, "I don't think your five year old is going to read into it too much."
Karlie gets dressed again too and I walk up behind her, settling my hands on her hips as I press a soft kiss to her shoulder. "Do you wanna wake Gray? He'll be over the moon to see you," I nod against her shoulder and she chuckles, "I'll go and start breakfast." The blonde gives me one last kiss and then we part ways as she goes downstairs and I go to wake Grayson.
I open the little guy's bedroom door and laugh to myself as I notice him splayed out in the weirdest position. I walk over and perch on the edge of the bed, my heart leaping for how sweet he is cuddled up with his dinosaur.
"Gray," I sing his name, gently rubbing his back as he starts to stir. "Grayson," the little boy flutters his eyes open and I smile sweetly, "good morning." He takes a moment but as soon as he realises its me and not his mama, the dinosaur is discarded and he's wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. "Did you sleepover?" He looks up at me with a small frown and I nod, "is that okay?" He grins and I pull him into my lap.
"Where's mama?" His next question doesn't surprise me at all and I laugh as I flatten his bedhead, "she's downstairs making breakfast, should we go and help her?" He nods so I get up and scoot his little body onto my hip to carry him downstairs with me.
"Hey there, sleepyhead," Karlie kisses Gray's forehead as we enter the kitchen and I plop him down on the counter as I stand beside him. "What do you want, sweetie?" Kar raises an eyebrow and Grayson copies her, "I already know, don't I?" She shakes her head as she laughs and Grayson nods, "chocolate chip pancakes it is."
It's so sweet watching the relationship between them, they're so close and they adore each other so much. Karlie truly is the best mama to Grayson.
Karlie's POV
"Can I watch cartoons now, mama?" Grayson finishes his breakfast and honestly he's never been this eager to get away from me. "Sure, buddy, go for it," I nod, laughing at him as he gets up and runs out of the room.
I just look to Taylor as I shake my head and the blonde is smiling back at me, "he's been obsessed with some cartoon about firemen lately." She laughs as she gets up and her bubbly laugh gives me butterflies.
"I can handle this, you know," I smirk as she helps me carry the dishes to the sink and Taylor shrugs, "maybe I like helping you." I chuckle and the blonde grabs a dishrag as I start washing up the breakfast dishes.
We make small talk as we clean up, me washing as Taylor dries but the blonde gets distracted as I hand her a plate and it slips from her hands.
"I'm so sorry," the atmosphere in the room quickly changes and Taylor jumps out of the way of the plate smashing at her feet. I quickly turn to make sure she's okay but my fast action makes the blonde flinch and she falls to her knees, landing on a piece of the porcelain.
It all happens so fast and Taylor's eyes are wild, her breathing fast and shallow and her whole body is shaking in uncomfortable fear.
"Hey.." I dodge the broken pieces as I kneel down beside her, "I'm not going to hurt you." I take her hands gently in mine, trying to understand why this is happening, "listen to me," her eyes meet mine and I hold her hands tight, "you're safe here. I will never hurt you and I will never let anyone else hurt you, Taylor."
I expect her to pull away but she doesn't, the blonde just softens as tears form in her eyes. "I..." she lets out a breath and I give her a soft smile, "its okay." I pull her into a hug, Taylor relaxing into my arms, "its okay, I'm here and you're safe." Her tears drip onto my shoulder but I keep her wrapped tight in my arms.
"Mama, what's wrong?" I hear Grayson behind me and Taylor pulls away as she tries to hide her tears, "we just had a little accident, buddy, do you wanna go upstairs and play for a little bit?" He nods and I give him a soft smile, "thank you, baby."
He runs off upstairs and I turn back to Taylor, the blonde still crying as she tries to wipe away her tears. "Can I have a look?" her leg is bleeding and I'm assuming she caught it on the smashed plate. "It's fine," she tries to brush it off but I squeeze her hand, "baby, you're bleeding, I just wanna make sure it isn't serious."
Taylor gives me a weak nod and I smile before getting up, making sure I move slowly so that I don't scare her again. I grab the dustpan and I quickly sweep up the broken pieces of porcelain so that nobody else gets hurt and then I discard of it.
"I'm sorry about that," she looks like she's on the verge of tears again but I just shake my head, "it's only a plate, baby, I'm more worried about you." She looks away from me and it breaks my heart to see her so vulnerable and small, and I already hate whatever has sent her to this place.
"Come here," I offer the blonde a hand but Taylor takes it but she struggles to get off of the floor. "I've got you," I lift her bridal style into my arms and carry her through to the bathroom, sitting her on the counter so that I can retrieve the first aid kit.
"This is going to sting a little," I give her a prewarning and Taylor winces as I use the antiseptic to clean the wound. "Was it Tom?" We both know what I mean and I'm not going to push her to talk about it if she doesn't want to. "Yeah," her voice is quiet as she answers so I simply nod, infuriated that he could ever have hurt her and understanding now why Taylor ran the way she did.
"There we go, baby," I cover her cut with a bandaid and Taylor pulls me into a soft and gentle kiss. "I'm sorry," she whispers as she leans her forehead against mine and I frown, "you did nothing wrong, Teff, you've been through a hard time and it'll take a while for your brain to readjust." I push a blonde strand of hair back out of her eyes and Taylor nods.
I don't know what she's been through but I know she deserved a lot more than the pain and the fear I saw in her eyes in that moment. She never deserved to go through whatever form of hell he put her through.
