'I'll miss you, baby. See you tomorrow, yeah?'
Travis sighs, slipping his hands around Taylor's waist, pulling her back to him as she's busy distracting herself searching in her suitcase for some nondescript item she doesn't actually need.
'Tay, sweetheart? Are you sure you're okay?'
Sighing, Taylor turns in his arms, reaching around to place her arms on his shoulders, placing her head on his chest. 'I'm okay, Trav. Please don't be worrying about me when you walk out the door. You have a Super Bowl to win, remember? The three peat. That's the only thing I want you to focus on, okay?'
'But I can't leave until I see a smile on that beautiful face, honey', he whispers in response, tilting her face up towards him, and then he leans down for a soft kiss.
She smiles, scrunching her nose, and kisses him again. 'Come on, I don't want you to get in trouble with Andy', she laughs, pulling him towards the door of their rented villa, before bidding him goodbye for the evening, promising to meet under the confetti this time tomorrow.
They were in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX, a Chiefs vs. 49ers rematch. They were on track for the three peat, the Chiefs almost unbeatable this season, and Taylor felt much more confident than she had this time last year in Las Vegas. She'd been able to relax and enjoy the run up a little more, too, with the Grammys moved to next week (thank you scheduling gods) and no tour dates, she'd flown in a few days early with the rest of the family and they'd managed to catch some time together.
They were all here: Jason, Kylie and the girls, Ed, Donna, Scott, Andrea, Austin and all of Travis' friends - and some of Taylor's were arriving for the game tomorrow. Matilda was high on life, surrounded by everyone who spoilt her most, and her little eyes just lit up every time Travis was able to get away from the team hotel and come and see them.
But today had also been a test day, and despite what she'd told Travis, she wasn't that fine at all. Stupidly, she now told herself, she'd been convinced the two pink lines would appear this morning: after all, that really would be a fairytale arc in their story, right? A positive result on Super Bowl weekend. So she'd gotten her hopes up, waited until he got there, and took it with him, only for the same words to haunt her: Negative. Not Pregnant.
The instant regret she felt at taking them, the guilt for putting Travis in that position just before the big game felt almost worse at this point than the result, his face as he was leaving swimming in front of her eyes for the rest of the evening. She put on a brave face - of course she did, it came naturally - but when everyone finally decided to call it a night, she crawled into bed and sobbed into Travis' hoodie, breathing in the smell.
She can hear her phone ringing in the background, knows it's Travis, knows he probably has guessed exactly what she's doing right now and won't stop calling until she answers. So she does, not even trying to disguise the fact that she was crying, but smiling at him nonetheless.
'Oh baby. I was worried about you', Travis whispers into the phone, his face lined with worry as he takes in his wife lying on the bed.
'I just needed to let it all out, Trav. I'm probably not okay, but I will be. I really don't want you to stress about me when you have such a big day tomorrow'.
'Can't help it, babe. You know I love you, right?'
Taylor smiles, a real, genuine smile that eventually reaches her eyes. 'Of course. I love you so much too baby'.
There's silence for a beat, and Travis sighs, before speaking. 'Tay, listen. I think after this, we go on vacation for a little bit, we spend time doing things together, you have your last run of shows and then we come back to this. We can go to all the doctors you want, I'll do anything for you sweetie, but seeing you this heartbroken month after month is killing me. I just think, maybe, we should take a little break from it? See where that takes us?'
