A Place In This World - Adopted By Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Chapter 1

March 2024

Kansas City

11:45 PM

Taylor and Travis were curled up together on the couch at the end of a long day. Pre-season workouts had just started back up for Travis as he geared up for his 12th season in the NFL. Taylor, on the other hand, was enjoying her brief break before the European leg of the Eras Tour started, and had spent most of the day on various calls about the music video she was filming next week, to go along with her final re-recording. By the time Travis had gotten home from his training session, Taylor was already changed into pajamas and was lounging on the couch with the cats. It was Friday, which meant they would be ordering takeout for dinner as a sort of mini date night, something that had become a tradition for the couple.

Taylor was resting against Travis's chest, half paying attention to the movie they had chosen while shaking a toy in an effort to tire Benji out before they went to bed. Even as he got older, he seemed to maintain his kitten-like energy, so on days when she's been busy on the phone, she would try to wear him out at night to avoid waking up at 3am to him pouncing on the bed. She was about to grab the laser pointer off the table when she was interrupted by her phone ringing. She picked it up right away, knowing she had it set so that only her immediate family or Tree would alert in case of an emergency.

"Hello?" she asked, not bothering to look at the caller ID as she answered.

"Taylor?" Andrea responded, her voice strained.

"Mom, what's wrong? You sound like you've been crying," Taylor said, her anxiety rising.

"Are you with Travis?" Andrea asked, much to Taylor's confusion.

"He's right here next to me," Taylor replied, getting more confused, "Here, you're on speaker."

"Hey Andrea," Travis greeted, still unsure about what was happening.

"Taylor, I just got a call. Your Aunt Emily was in a pretty bad car accident and things aren't looking good," Andrea explained, struggling to get the words out.

"Oh my God," Taylor whispered, her own tears beginning to flow.

Travis wrapped her in a tight hug, doing his best to be her rock as she tried to process what her mom was telling them. Andrea explained that her sister was in surgery now, but the doctors were preparing the family for the worst. Taylor suddenly remembered Emily's nine year old daughter, her little cousin Avery.

"Mom? Was Avery in the car with her?" Taylor asked frantically, "Is she okay?"

"She's fine, honey. She was home with a babysitter," Andrea promised, "But that's why I called you, Sweetie. They need someone to go relieve the sitter and she's only 20 minutes from you guys, so you could get there faster than anyone else. I hate to even ask, but could you take her for tonight?"

Taylor looked to Travis to confirm, and saw that he was already alerting security that they needed to leave. He quickly nodded, gently squeezing her hand in reassurance.

"Tell them we'll be there as soon as possible."

A/N: Let me know what you think! I have some ideas about where I want this story to go, but I'm always open to suggestions!