Stolen Lullaby

Broken Heart

"Dr. Green clearly said that it was dangerous for you to be up and about, go back upstairs to bed." Joe ordered pulling the lunch bag out of her hands.

"I know what she said but I know my own body and there is nothing wrong with me or the baby!" she snapped grabbing the bag back from him.

"Why are you guys being mad at each other?" Sophie stood on her chair trying to see what they were fighting over.

"Nothing honey, hurry up and finish your breakfast so you can get washed up." Taylor replied brightening up her voice. Sophie finished her food and skipped upstairs to brush her teeth. Joe wasn't about to let the argument go and followed Taylor as she went upstairs to get Sophie's school uniform ready.

"Are you mad at me, or trying to prove something right now?" He said angrily.

"I'm not trying to prove anything. I don't need to be on bedrest everybody is just overreacting. This is all just a misunderstanding that got out of hand." The two of them continued to snipe back and forth at each other. Joe figured as long as Taylor was sitting down or standing in once place maybe things would be okay. Sophie was quiet through all this bantering, got dressed with her hair combed without saying a word.

"Okay we're already to go, let's move so we're not late." Taylor announced helping Sophie put her backpack on. This was too much for Joe, it was one thing for her to be puttering around the house. It was a whole other situation to have her driving. Moving fast to get ahead of her, he grabbed her car keys from the tray near the front door.

"I am not letting you drive, Sophie get in the car I'm taking you to school!' He said firmly.

"Who do you think you are?! I am not a child, give me the damn keys!" Taylor was getting angry and held her palm out expecting him to hand the keys over. Joe was in a bind, on one hand he knew that getting her angry was going to give her a blood pressure spike but it was just too risky to let her drive because of her headaches.

"We are going to talk about this later because I need to know what's up with you right now but you are NOT driving especially with Sophie in the car." Joe said holding the keys out of reach while heading out the door. Taylor let out a small screech of frustration as she slammed the door behind him. Her head was pounding again and her belly started to tense. Easing into one of the dining room chairs she took a deep breath rubbing her stomach easing the pain away.

"Hey little girl, there's no need for all of that. You're not ready to come out yet." She continued to rub her protruding baby bump until they both seemed to calm down. Joe didn't understand, she had to prove to the judge that she could care for her own child just fine and there was no need for her to be taken away. If she calculated the timing right then that could mean Sophie would be gone for two months as Taylor had barely reached her 7th month of pregnancy. Gingerly she stood up to start washing up the breakfast dishes. Eventually she had to sit back down halfway through loading the dishwasher because her vision was so blurred. Still she pushed through to finish up the task before making a phone call to Lana.

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I can't believe you planned this behind my back!" Joe was furious, Taylor had asked the Lana to let her do a testimony before they were forced to give Sophie to the Collins. He was furious because going to court was the key thing that Dr. Green had ordered her not to do yet here they were... But rooted in his fury was the fear that this could push her over the edge and they'd end up in the hospital yet again.

"I know what I'm doing... they are not going to take her away again." Taylor said as she stood at the washing machines folding laundry. Normally she made Joe do laundry duty so he knew for sure there was something up with her.