The Rose Garden (3) - Taylor Swift

Bonus Chapter - Post-Epilogue

I don't know what this is, it's just fluff pretty much. Sometimes when I need a break from writing the new story, I read my old stories and well, this happened. I'm not entirely sure if I will ever write more pieces here about them, probably not but that's what I always say. Enjoy!

-

Grace clipped the two lunchboxes closed on their kitchen counter, overlooking the beautiful ocean view from their Rhode Island home. She had just finished preparing two very different lunches, one for Adrian who would wolf down any food placed in front of him, and one for their little girl who insisted on there being the exact same meal in that box every day.

Dinosaur chicken nuggets and exactly nine grapes cut in half, along with a granola bar taken out of the package and placed in its own container, so none of her food touched. It didn't matter that she wasn't biologically related to Grace, Aylah managed to inherit some of the genes that made life just a bit harder for her parents.

They loved her to death anyways, even when Grace made that doctor's appointment with their paediatrician because she was seeing a little too much of herself in Aylah most days. The results that came from all the testing were hardly surprising to them, to say the least.

"You have to put the tie on or they will not allow you into school!" Taylor could be heard calling loudly from the top of the stairs. Grace didn't need to see who to know which child was causing havoc, three weeks into the school year and they were already sick of going. Adrian was in the second grade and Aylah was in kindergarten, and they'd both been putting up fights since the very first day.

"Adrian Parker, if I have to come up there and put that tie on myself, it will not be a good day for you!" Grace called through the house and heard the shrieking from their son stop. She carefully placed each lunch container into their backpacks, making sure the one with the Disney princess on the front went into the right bag or there would be hell to pay.

"Mommy, I need a new toothbrush," Aylah said as she ran into the kitchen with her toothbrush in her hand. Grace glanced at her and raised her eyebrows suspiciously.

"What did you do to that one?" Grace questioned, reaching for one of the girl's long blonde curls and fixing where it sat on her head so it no longer went over the part in a big lump. Aylah's big blue eyes widened as she considered how she wanted to answer that.

"It touched Adrian's."

Germs. Grace couldn't blame her for that, she hated them too. It had taken her a long time to get over sharing a toothbrush holder with Taylor, "Okay, I'll put it on the list. Finish brushing your teeth and stop running before you trip."

"Mom! Where's my skateboard?!" Adrian barely had his school uniform on properly when he asked that. Taylor was following behind him with the kids shoes, trying to get them out to the school bus on time for once in their lives.

"I don't know and I don't think you need it before school," Grace glanced up as him as she instinctively fixed his socks, "You know you both have another mother, yes?"

"He already asked about the skateboard, you were the second resort."

"You had better luck with her, you know, sir," Grace chuckled. She put her hands on his cheeks before she kissed his forehead, moving his hair out of the way. It was still curly and wild, but a little more tame when he let them run a brush through it. They both looked so much like Taylor that it made Grace smile every time she looked at them.

"I thought maybe if Emma kept you up late enough, you'd forget it was morning and let me skip school to ride it," Adrian sighed.

"Well it was a nice try but Mama was the one who got up with your sister at midnight and one, and two, and three..." Grace trailed off as she looked at her wife with a tiny smile. She was oh so grateful for Taylor's support.