Inez seemed to be taking selfies of the market with her phone. Taylor ignored her, turning back to deciding between two candles. Joe saw her being indecisive and grabbed both out of her hands.
"We'll get both babe, I'll pay." he said, eager to get out of Inez's sight.
"No, no, let me choose," Taylor said, unaware of his intentions.
Unfortunately a loud American accent was rather noticeable at a british market. Inez's attention swooped towards the couple, and she squealed before walking over to them.
"Hey guys, it's been a while," she said snarkily, nearly spitting the gum out of her mouth.
"A couple months, yeah," Joe replied tightly.
"So what's up with you guys? What are you doing here in London, Taylor?"
"Oh... Um, I live here," Taylor said uncomfortably.
"Oooh. Everything must still be new to you then. I'll show you around sometime," Inez said, smacking her gum loudly.
"Thanks." Taylor replied reluctantly.
"What about you, Joe? How have you been doing?" Inez was suddenly all up in his space, seductively grabbing his hand and kissing his cheek. Despite seeing Taylor and Joe together every time they ran into each other, she just couldn't get the hint that they were a couple.
Joe awkwardly pulled his hand back from her grasp and wrapped it around Taylor. He cleared his throat before speaking again, giving himself a few seconds to think of a response. "I'm doing good. My fiancee is amazing and we're going to have a baby soon," he said, placing his hand on Taylor's slightly swollen belly and pecking her lips. Taylor added to the act by lifting her hand up and faced her palm to herself, showing off the gorgeous opal diamond engagement ring.
Inez's mouth dropped into an 'O' shape in slow realisation. "Oh, um, congrats you guys." she tried to say nonchalantly.
She backed away from the happy couple and hurried away. Taylor and Joe laughed at each other before the candle vendor aggressively asked them if they were buying the candles or not. Joe swiftly paid for both candles and took the bag they were placed in.
"Hopefully she won't bother us for a while now," Joe joked.
"Babe," Taylor breathed out, still laughing at their antics.
"I have the most fun when I'm with you," Joe said softly, brushing her bangs back and pecking her lips again.
She extended the kiss and cupped his cheeks, pulling back shortly after. "Okay." she grinned.
They walked around for a little while longer before they walked to a small cafe for a lunch. They chatted casually as they both looked at their phones, catching up on everything they missed in the past 48 hours.
Joe was scrolling through his instagram notifications and chuckled softly. "Look, love," he said, flipping his phone around and showing Taylor the screen. "I have a fanpage."
Taylor scrolled through all the pictures of Joe, laughing at the fangirling captions. "At least someone loves you, since you're not getting any affection from me anyways."
"Hey!" Joe pouted, liking a few posts. He scrolled through similar accounts before finding one with a profile picture of Taylor and himself. "Look again," he said. "This one's for both of us."
"Apparently we have ship names, Jaylor and Toe." Taylor said, finding the account on her phone and liking a few posts when Joe did likewise.
"I know which one I like better," Joe said cheekily.
"Shut up with your foot fetish," Taylor rolled her eyes.
She refreshed the page and saw the account react to the likes with a new post. "Our impact," she laughed, liking it too.
"They must be lurking together," Joe read out from the caption. "True."
"You bring me on such wonderful dates," Taylor said sarcastically. "This is what every girl wants."
Her phone pinged and the screen lit up. She read the notification and frowned. "The OB/GYN just reminded me we have an appointment today. I forgot about that."
"Well we just went to the hospital a few days ago and the doctor said everything was alright. I think you can cancel it, love."
"Hm." Taylor smiled at Joe before walking out of the cafe to a quieter place. She called the clinic to cancel the appointment and walked back in a few minutes after.
"We have dinner at my parents' place planned for tonight. Are you up for it or should I cancel it too?"
"Nah. I'm up for it, I can't wait to see Pat again."
————
Taylor and Joe let themselves in with the spare key and walked into the familiar British house and found all of Joe's family in the living room.
"Hey guys!" they said, one after the other.
Everyone stood up to greet them, with Elizabeth rushing to Taylor first.
"How are you doing?" she asked, embracing Taylor.
"Great! -Ish." Taylor added laughing. "We had a little bump in the road in Nashville like yesterday and we're okay now but I'm sure Joe will worriedly tell you about it without me knowing."
Elizabeth laughed along with her. "You're showing now! You look gorgeous, honey."
"Thanks! Is there anything I can help with for dinner?"
The two women walked off to the kitchen, leaving the brothers and their father to catch up.
"You're going to be a father, damn." Patrick started. "Seems so weird to me."
"Yeah, same," Joe sighed. "But I love Taylor and hopefully we'll figure it out along the way. She missed you a lot, Pat."
Patrick's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah, she's this close to dating you instead."
Joe bent his thumb and pointer finger to meet each other, leaving a small gap in between and tucking in his other fingers.
"That's not true," Patrick replied, noticing Taylor walking into the room. "Tay!" he exclaimed, leaping up to embrace her in a bone crushing hug.
"Hi Pat, I missed you so much. How's your girlfriend doing?"
"I have no girlfriend," he blushed.
"Come on bestie, we can go to your room and play with you Ps4. Then you can spill the tea. So true," she said, wrinkling her forehead, unsure of her application of 'Gen Z' vocabulary.
She smiled at the rest of the men before blowing Joe a kiss, then followed Patrick up to his room.
"Name." she demanded. She could see right through his secrets.
"Ivy," Patrick said, playing with his fingers. "How's the baby?"
"The baby is fine, you can touch my stomach. But don't you dare try to change the subject, Alwyn." Taylor replied, making herself comfortable on a beanbag chair in front of the TV.
"Ughhh fine." Patrick replied, putting down the controller and touching her stomach. "It's going to be the smartest and prettiest if it's anything like you. However, if it's like Joe... My condolences." he smirked.
"You realise you look exactly like Joe so it would look like you too, right?"
"Exactly. I'm sorry."
"Pshhhh, shut up Patrick. You're a handsome boy and you're going to win the heart of Ivy while breaking many others. Anyways, where did you guys meet? How old is she?"
"She's my age and we met at school."
"What class do you guys share? I bet it's a cute one."
"How can a class be cute?"
"Like a pretty subject, English or Chemistry."
"Yeahhh... I'm not telling you. You'd laugh."
"Say it."
"P.E."
Taylor couldn't help but laugh. Her character died in the game and the game ended. She turned to him.
"Be honest, Pat, do you really like her?"
"Yeah."
"Tell her then."
"I'll try. Please don't tell anyone about this though. Especially that man you call your fiance."
"I promise. He's judgy, I know."
"Way to bad mouth him. Do you have a name for the baby yet?"
She giggled. "We don't even know the gender yet!" she protested. "I have a few ideas for each gender though."
"Name it Patrick if it's a boy. Or at least make it's middle name Patrick."
"We'll see. Your brother keeps referring to it as a girl though. He has his preferences."
"How do you even decide you want to live with him on your own will? I was so glad to get rid of him when he moved out."
"He can be nice. And sweet. And I love him. So leave me alone." Taylor scoffed jokingly.
"Insulting him is a hobby of mine."
Just then, Joe walked into Patrick's room and found his fiancee and his brother sitting on bean chairs chatting and gaming.
"I feel left out. What are you guys talking about?"
"You, Joseph." Taylor said sternly.
"Oh. Can I join you?"
"No, you're boring." Taylor pouted.
He seized the opportunity and kissed her pouting lips. "You can marry my brother instead."
————
3rd December
"Come on, Joseph! Hurry up! I want to open the envelope!" Taylor said, sitting impatiently on the couch, holding a white letter in her hand. She was currently around 4 months along, and she would be 5 months along by the end of the month.
"Coming, babe." Joe rolled his eyes, jogging over.
"This is it," Taylor said, undoing the seal of the envelope. They were at the OB/GYN's earlier this morning, and the envelope held the gender of the baby. They wanted to find out privately, without the doctor in the room.
She pulled out the white piece of paper and unfolded it slowly. "Here we go."
"Speed it up, babe," Joe said nervously yet excitedly.
"We're having a..."
A/N:
hey besties sorry for the shit part and if there are any errors because i didnt bother to proofread it. its rather short because im trying to do shorter but more frequent updates. anyways TAYLOR AT THE BRITS WAS A DREAM :')
take care, love yall <333