'Okay baby girl, how about we go and surprise daddy at work?'
Taylor's currently leaning across her kitchen island, watching Matilda snacking on her goldfish crackers, her high chair tucked in underneath the surface.
'Daddy? Okay mommy', she agrees, nodding her head, and Taylor laughs as crumbs spill across the countertop.
'Let's get you cleaned up Tilly, and then I'll do your hair all nice for going out', she explains to the toddler, swiping a wet cloth across her face, before grabbing the hairbrush she keeps in the kitchen, eventually putting it into two little pigtails on top of her head.
'Okay baby, mommy's going to turn on cartoons for you and get ready and then we'll go', she explains to the little girl, lifting her down from her seat and turning on Bluey, before turning and heading back upstairs to run a brush through her hair and top up her makeup.
Travis had been gone for most of the week, spending long days filming Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? She was incredibly proud of him, of how well it was going, but she can't lie - she missed him. He had been up and ready to go every morning this week before she'd even shifted out of bed, and by the time he was finished and coming home, she was exhausted, just getting ready to crawl back under the covers. They'd ended up being passing ships in the night, and no one hated it more than Matilda.
Every morning Travis crept in to place a gentle kiss on her forehead as she slept, but he knew better than to wake a perfectly fine sleeping baby, so always tiptoed away before disaster struck. That, however, left Taylor explaining every morning to Matilda that daddy had already gone to work, finding herself on more than one occasion bringing her into their bedroom to prove she wasn't hiding Travis away from her.
She'd said to him last night about visiting the set next week, but his face had lit up so quickly, the adorable crinkles appearing around his eyes as he smiled, that she immediately changed her plans to come today. He was expecting just her, though - there was no mention of Matilda, and Travis had presumed that Taylor would call in Hannah for the afternoon, so her heart fluttered with anticipation of not only seeing his face, but seeing his reaction when he saw Matilda. The look he gives her daughter - their daughter? - is slowly becoming her favourite thing in the whole world.
She straps Matilda into her car seat and then climbs in beside her, and they're at the lot around 40 minutes later, having made their way through LA traffic. There's a producer waiting for them at the door, one Tree had contacted to let them know she would be calling by today, and she leads them right to Travis' dressing room door.
'He's on a break right now, not needed until 2.30. Let us know and we can order you guys in lunch', she explains to Taylor, who nods, before knocking on the door, right above the sign bearing her fiancé's name.
'Hey T', he's saying while swinging open the door, before he looks down and registers Matilda on her hip. 'Baby girl!', he calls out, taking her into his arms and hugging her close, tickling her sides as she leans into him.
'This is a lovely surprise', he says to Taylor, who's watching the two of them with glee, and he leans down to kiss her softly, running a free hand along her side to rest at her waist.
'Well she doesn't believe me that I'm not hiding you from her, so I thought I'd at least prove I'm not a liar', she laughs as he leads her into the room, and she shakes her head when she looks around.
'Trav, seriously? It's a mess in here', scoffing at him and the sheepish look on his face.
'I know, I just haven't had much time to clean it up. Plus I save all my cleaning abilities for our house'.
