Invisible String

1

I tried. I really did.

I smiled for the photos. I refilled coffee cups. I helped Donna cut grapes in half and pretended to laugh at Jason’s over-the-top impersonation of Travis from his latest press conference.

But someone noticed.

Kylie always noticed.

It happened while I was rinsing dishes in the sink, staring a little too long at the soapy water. She came up behind me and gently touched my arm.

“Hey,” she said softly, eyes kind. “You okay?”

I blinked, startled for a second, then nodded too quickly. “Yeah. Just tired.”

Kylie didn’t push — not then — but she gave me a look that said, We both know that’s not it.

Ten minutes later, when the girls were preoccupied with coloring and Travis was deep in a football debate with Jason and Ed, Kylie caught me slipping out of the kitchen and gently pulled me aside into the hallway.

“Talk to me,” she said, her voice low and sincere. “What’s going on?”

I looked at her — really looked — and felt something inside me loosen. She had a baby on her hip and probably hadn’t slept more than two hours in a row in weeks, but she still had room for *me*.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears back. “I went to the OB yesterday. Just to get checked before we started trying.”

Kylie nodded, encouraging but quiet.

“They said I have a low ovarian reserve. That it might be really hard — maybe impossible — to get pregnant. And I haven’t told Travis yet because… I don’t know how.”

There it was. The truth. Spoken out loud for the first time.

Kylie didn’t flinch. She didn’t say anything right away. She just reached for my hand, squeezed it, and let me breathe.

“Taylor,” she said gently, “I’m so sorry.”

I blinked fast, trying to keep it together. “I didn’t want to ruin today. I didn’t want to make it about me.”

“It is about you,” she said. “You’re family. And this isn’t something you have to carry alone — especially not with him. You know he’ll love you no matter what, right?”

I nodded. “I know. But it still feels like I broke something. Like I’m letting him down before we even started.”

Kylie pulled me into a hug, balancing the baby between us like some kind of domestic magic trick. “You didn’t break anything. You’re not broken. And when you’re ready to tell him, he’ll handle it. I promise.”

I buried my face into her shoulder for just a moment, letting the comfort sink in.

Maybe I wasn’t ready to tell him just yet.

But I was getting closer.

Kylie studied me for a moment longer, her eyes flicking toward the living room where the girls’ giggles echoed off the walls. Finnley squirmed in her arms, still half-asleep but stirring.

“Do you want us to go?” she asked gently. “If it’s too much… the kids, I mean. I know how something like this can hit a little harder with them running around. All the baby noises and diapers and chaos… it can be a lot.”

I shook my head quickly, too quickly.

“No. God, no,” I whispered. “I love them. I love your babies.”

I smiled as my eyes dropped to Finnley, who blinked slowly, then yawned in the most impossibly adorable way. Her tiny fingers flailed for a moment before balling into a loose fist. I stuck out my finger, and she grabbed on instinct, her little grip soft but certain.