** monday march 14th, 2033**
-taylors pov-
Today the press starts for the new album that dropped at midnight last night, and its exiting. Ellie and I stayed up until midnight and were on a joint zoom call with joe and the producers of the record, jack and Aaron. I've been working with those boys for years now and we have made many records together. Jack I've been working with since 1989 and he has been working on every single album since then so that's 8 albums, and Aaron I've been working with since folklore, so that's six albums. They are really close with joe and I and we are practically family at this point. They always have my back and I always have theirs.
Ellie and I are on our way to jimmy Fallon right now after I've done a few radio interviews this morning. She is being so patient and going around with me to everything, she just brings her computer so she can do schoolwork while I do my thing. We made sure that she had plenty of work to do before we left Nashville. It's not that she will fall behind, she is gifted and well beyond her years, but it's still important to do the schoolwork. We want the kids to understand that it doesn't matter how smart you are, schoolwork is important, and it comes before dance or gymnastics.
After dropping off our stuff in the dressing room Ellie follows me to the stage because I'm singing one of the songs from the album while I play the piano so sound check is needed. "Mom, can I play?" she asks, and I nod.
Hesitantly she sits down on the velvet chair and let her fingers wander over the keys and I recognize the song immediately.
"Never be so kind, you forget to be clever
Never be so clever, you forget to be kind"
I'm almost in tears as she sings softly and play the tune like she has been playing it all her life.
"I should've asked you questions
I should've asked you how to be
Asked you to write it down for me
Should've kept every grocery store receipt
'Cause every scrap of you would be taken from me
Watched as you signed your name Marjorie
All your closets of backlogged dreams
And how you left them all to me"
I wrote this song about my grandmother that died when I was really young. I wish she could see me now; I wish that she could have seen me grown up from a girl to a woman and I wish that she could meet my children.
"You're alive, so alive
And if I didn't know better
I'd think you were singing to me now
If I didn't know better
I'd think you were still around
I know better
But I still feel you all around
I know better
But you're still around"
She finishes out playing the outro and before I can say anything there is clapping from the whole room that stopped in their tracks to listen to her. "Oh my god. That was so good" jimmy says and come over to us and wipe away his tears.
Ellie blushes and stands up from the bench and come back over to me "thank you. It's nothing special, I just love to play" she says, and I caress her back. She has loved the piano since she was a little girl, but mainly plays classical music because that's what she dances too in ballet.
"You for sure got your mothers talent Elliana" he says, and she blushes again and thank him. "I was coming out here to listen to your mom rehearse and then this happened and blew me away" he says and Ellie giggles.
Now it's my turn and I play through the song I'm singing while jimmy stands with Ellie and watches. I don't really need to practice it other than making sure they have the mic adjusted to the right volume. So it only takes as long as the song is, 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
"You know what would be cool?" jimmy asks after I'm done and go back to join them, and I wait for what he is going to suggest. "I know that you're really private about your kids, and I don't want to intrude, so if you don't feel like it's a good idea just ignore me. But it would be cool if she came out for the second half of the interview since she is here with you on the press tour anyway" he suggests.
Ellie gets really excited about that "Mom, can I? That sounds fun" she beams, and I smile at her "i will just need to call joe and make sure we are on the same page though. But I'm up for it"
I don't want to make that decision on my own because we are both her parents and need to be united on these sorts of things. We made the choice of keeping the kids out of the spotlight for a reason, to protect them. But Ellie is 12 now and really interested in all this stuff. I'm starting to think that if she only steps out with me occasionally it will be fine, but only if joe and I are in agreement and Ellie truly wants to do it. We never want the kids to feel pressured to be in the spotlight in any type of way.
We go back to the dressing room, and I call joe. "Hi babe I have a question" I say when he picks up. "hi love. Sure, what's up?"
"I was talking with jimmy, and he suggested that it might be fun if Ellie where to join me on the second half of the interview, but I wanted to talk to you about it. Ellie wants to do it, but I want us to be in agreement" I tell him.
There is a long pause as he thinks about it "if she is comfortable with it, I say go for it. But I don't want her to feel pressured to do it. It might be a fun thing though" he is on board thankfully, so we agree that it sounds like a fun thing.
After I hang up, I turn to Ellie "so if you're going to do this, I want to make sure that you know the aftermath of it. I'm not saying this to scare you, but I just want you to know that this will be all over the media because we don't really let them see much of you or your sisters. Both your dad and I agree that you can join me if you want too though. But no pressure"
I want her to understand that it's not as easy as just stepping out on the stage with me, it means that the media will freak out and write headlines about it. That's the downside that comes with being my daugther sadly, and I hate that part of it, but there is nothing I can do to change it.
"Mom I want to do it. It sounds fun"
-joes pov-
I'm sitting at the gymnastics gym watching Kenzie and aurora doing their thing. I love coming here and watching my children do what they love to do. All three of my girls are really talented and I love to just see them in their element when they can shine on their own. Here they aren't admired because they are our children, they are getting praise for their own abilities and as a dad that makes me happy.
I want all our kids to come into their own and be recognized as their own person, their individual self, and not just being under the label of Taylor swift and joe Alwyn's daughters. They are so much more than that, they are individuals with personalities' that I love.
Aurora is on the beam right now doing moves I don't know the name of, but they look cool. She is advancing quickly at this; she is now level 6 which she is proud off. She practices five days a week. Both her and Ellie are begging to have classes on the weekend too, but for now Taylor and I are in agreement that the weekends are for family time. If they want to practice, they need to do it at home. We have a home studio in the basement that used to be our home gym, but now it's a dance studio and has gymnastics equipment.
As they get older though it will probably be more hours a week at the different activities, that's just what happens when you advance. But we are willing to adjust our lives, so they get to fulfill what they love. But the second they decide they don't want to do it anymore we will let them put it on the shelf. We aren't stage parents that pressure their kids to work out this much, we just support them in doing what they want to do. If they don't want to do it anymore, we aren't going to pressure them. It's not like they have one hour a week of training, it's a lot of work and if they don't feel like it makes them happy anymore, we don't want them to do it. All we want for them is to be happy.
So aurora and Ellie takes it really seriously. Kenzie is tagging along for the most part, she is doing good, but she wants to have fun more than anything. So she just has one hour five days a week and is a level 2 gymnast. Aurora is a level 6 and trains about 18 hours a week not including what she does at home.
Kenzie has already done her stuff for the day, so she is sitting next to me and looking at her iPad while I watch aurora.
-taylors pov-
I'm doing the interview right now and its break time so up next, it's the time when Ellie is going to join me on stage. I am a bit nervous because it is putting her in the spotlight, but she wants this so I'm going to let her. She has actually done interviews in the past when she won YAGP because they want to interview the winners to talk about their work ethic and all that stuff.
"so we have a surprise for the viewers don't we Taylor" jimmy says when we are live again with a cheeky smile. I chuckle "we sure do"
"Guys please give a warm welcome to Elliana, Taylors daugther" jimmy announce, and Ellie comes out and joins me with a big smile on her face. "Hi Elliana, well you go by Ellie, don't you?"
She smiles at him "hi jimmy. Yes everyone calls me ellie" I look over at my daugther and smile at her. I can see she is nervous, but she also got that sparkle in her eyes that I love. Her eyes are ocean blue just like joes' eyes.
"you're with your mom on her press tour, is that fun?" he asks her, and she nods. "yes, I get to see the world which is really fun"
He asks her more questions about that before moving on. "I have a few rapid-fire questions for you Ellie if you're up for it" he asks her, and she says that she would love to do that.
"what's your favorite song your mom has made?" he asks, and she grins at me "this is why we can't have nice things. Because it's so fun"
-ellies pov-
It's so fun being on the stage in front of a live audience and filming a talk show. It's also nerve-wracking but my mom and dad get to do this all the time and I think it's cool that they said I could come with her.
"Your parents are pretty cool and loved by millions of people. But what is something annoying they do?" he asks me, and I giggle. There are plenty of annoying things my parents do because to me they're not celebrities, they are my parents. Just like any other kids I think my parents are pretty embarrassing at times and do lots of weird stuff.
"They do lots of embarrassing stuff. To me they're not celebrities, they are my parents" I say and my mom chuckles.
** two days later **
-taylors pov-
We arrive in London for the promo tour, and we go straight to joes' parents' house because they have prepared dinner for Ellie and I which Is really nice of them. Patrick and his girlfriend Mary are there and then tom, his wife tina and their son Ivan who is 16 years old now.
"Hi guys it's so good to see you!" joes' mom Liz greets us as we get to the house. "grandma" Ellie gushes and hugs her, and I hug Liz too. We don't get to see them much, so this is really nice. It's hard to see eachother much when they live in London and we live in Nashville, especially because we are really busy with the kids' activities. There aren't enough days off in the year to travel to London often. Liz visits us a lot though and that's really nice. Sometimes she comes over too to watch the kids while joe and I travel to la or something. His whole family try to be as involved in our lives as they can which I really value.
We get inside and greet everyone. "Hey there swift" Patrick says and hug me, and I chuckle "it's been Alwyn for like 12 years now pat" it's so funny to me that he still after all these years call me swift. It was an inside joe we had back in the day, and it has stuck around.
Ellie is nervous when we sit down to eat dinner and I grab her hand under the table to reassure her. I lean over and whisper in her ear "it's okay. You can do this" I whisper to her so quietly that only she can hear me. This is a big challenge for her, and I know that she is so used to just eat with our little family or with my mom, so this is overwhelming, but it's a part of life that she needs to get used to.
"How long are you two in London for?" tom asks us. "Three days and then we are off to Paris. It's a nonstop schedule for the next three weeks. But we get about half a day off in Paris so I'm taking her sighting" I say. We have decided that we will try to take some time to just look around in every city we visit. It's been a long time since Ellie last went with me on tour, so she hasn't really seen much in recent years. And when we have been here on tour, and they come and visit me for a few days before going back home to dance classes we don't get to do tourist stuff. It just hasn't been something we have had time to do so we are doing that this time.
When she was younger, and I went on tour it was easier for them to come with me. But after they started school and their after-school activities became more serious there really isn't that often any of them come to these kinds of things with either joe or me.
"you're giving up three weeks of ballet to fly around the world Ellie" Patrick asks her, and she grins "yeah, but I dance and stretch whenever I can though. I'm not taking it as a break. But after school finishes, I'm going to New York for the summer intensive for about four weeks so I can take some time off now"
"We watched the jimmy Fallon appearance and was so surprised that you joined Taylor on the stage. You answered the questions really well though" Liz says, and I really agree, she handled it like she was a pro. "it was fun. I never get to do that stuff, so I was really excited when jimmy suggested it"
Being here in London without joe is so weird, I wish he was here with us. London is where he grew up so being here when he is back in Nashville just feels wrong.
** paris **
-ellies pov-
We are in the city of love and its so pretty here. I love the buildings and the clothes people where. Its sophisticated and enchanting to look around.
Being with my mom on this tour is exhausting but also a lot of fun. Even tho she is running from one interview to another we still have a lot of fun together. We do silly things and play around which makes me happy.
My mom is my favorite person in the whole world. She is just so pretty and always kind. She always know the right thing to say in any moment to make me feel better and she is always ready to drop everything she is doing to be with me.
Right now we are on our way up in the eifel tower and its so high that its scary. "Mom we arent going to fall down are we?" I ask her hesitently. She rubs my back "No its completely safe. Thousands of people go up here every day. We are safe"
When we reach the top its incredible to look out at the city and how smal things look from up here. The people that we could see so clearly down on the street now looks like smal ants. The city is even more beautiful from this angle.
"i wish dad was here" I say, and my mom wraps her arms around me "I wish so too" my mom and dad are really close and that makes me happy. It makes me happy to know that even after all these years they still love one another with such a force that I feel like there is nothing that can split them up.
**
-taylors pov-
The three weeklong press tour for the new album is over and we walk into our house at home in Nashville. It's fun to go out in the world and do these things, but I love coming home, and with home I mean wherever joe and my children are. To me it doesn't matter where in the world we are, if we are together as a family, I'm home.
"We are home" I say and take off my shoes and coat before walking into the living room. "Mommy!" "Mom!" aurora and Kenzie comes running into my arms and I smile and are genuinely happy to have my two other children back in my arms. "Mommy missed you both so much" I gush over them and kiss the top of their heads.
"Mom, I got silver at the gymnastics met!" aurora says and run to get her medal and show it to me "wow that's so cool!" I say and look at it and put It around her neck "and daddy filmed it all so you can see it!"
"mommy I came in 3rd place!" Kenzie gushes too and I smile at her "Thats so good! I'm so proud of you both. But you know what's better than any medal?" I ask them.
Aurora giggles "doing your best. We know mom, you always say that. No medal matters if you're not having fun with it"
Joe is hanging back while I talk to the younger kids, he did hug and talk to Ellie though. But when all the kids run off and Ellie announces she needs a nap joe opens his arms and I grin and run into them.
His strong arms snake around my waist and mine hoes around his torso as we hold one another as close as possible. He rests his chin on top of my head and I rest mine against his chest. "God I've missed you" he says, and I sigh. "I missed you too. I love my job, but I love being with you more"
After a while I lean back, and we go in for a long kiss. Feeling his soft lips against mine again is really nice. They feel like him and taste like him. "I love you" I say against his lips. "I love you too Taylor"
Our kissing turns into a light make out session until we hear annoyed girls from behind us "ew you're disgusting" Ellie groans. "that's so gross" aurora shivers. But Kenzie twirls around and giggle "I want kisses too" she says and jump up and down.
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