December 13, 2017.
Four - Taylor
Be back in an hour tops.
- Emma (8:36)
That was what the note stuck to Taylor's forehead when she woke up had scrawled on it in Emma's loopy handwriting. She took the sticky note and sat it on the bedside table next to the alarm clock that read quarter past nine. Just as she went to push the covers off, Emma walked in the room holding a large pastry box.
"Lay back down. I wanted to do breakfast in bed for your birthday."
Taylor did as she was told and laid back on the pillows. "Thank you, baby. I really appreciate it."
"Well I really appreciate you. I want you to have the best birthday possible."
"It already is."
Emma leaned over the bed to kiss her before sitting the pastry box in her lap. "Well, I'm glad. You'd better eat and get dressed. We have things to do today."
Taylor sat up and looked down in the box at the half dozen assorted muffins Emma had bought and smiled at the thought of having them for breakfast with Emma. If doing something two years in a row constituted a tradition, eating birthday muffins was their newest one. She opened the box and let the smell of fresh baked goods fill the room. "Does that list include muffins and each other?"
"Muffins, yes. Eachother, not right now. Right now you have to go try on costumes for the tour." Emma smiled and turned around to go into the closet. "What kind of thing am I supposed to wear when we go out with your friends tonight?"
Taylor looked back down at the box of muffins and pushed them to the side and got out of the bed in one quick motion. She followed Emma into the closet and looked between the two dresses that had been laid out. "Those would work. I like the blue one."
Emma picked up the sparkly blue dress and held it up to her body. "You think so?"
Taylor nodded her approval. "Will you go with me to the fitting today?"
"If that's what you want then I would love to. We need to hurry though. Tree said you should have left an hour ago."
"Did she come by?"
Emma shook her head and slipped on a thicker sweater than what she had on earlier. "She gave me her number for when she wants you to wake up because apparently you're kinder when I wake you up than you are when she wakes you up."
"When she wakes me up it's always because something is wrong."
"That's fair. Are you going to take something to eat with you? I'm not really sure how long things like this take."
"No, I'm probably going to wait to eat until after." Taylor said while flipping through hanging sweaters. She waited for Emma to say something and, upon hearing nothing but silence, looked back to make sure she was still in the room. Emma was in the room, the doorway to be more specific, and was looking back on the bed at the box still sitting on the bed. Seeing the concerned look on Emma's face, she quickly amended her statement. "I'm not really that hungry."
"Are you sure? We have time to eat, it's not really that big of a rush."
"Yeah, I'm sure." Taylor looked away from Emma, feeling her face heat up as soon as she had said it. She was almost sure Emma could tell she was lying.
"Taylor."
"I'll eat after."
Emma scowled and looked back at the pastry box. "You need to have something before we go out for the day. It doesn't have to be a muffin. I can make you whatever you want. Do you want something different?"
"No, I'm just going to wait. The costumes won't fit right if I eat now."
Emma's face softened and she wrapped her arms around Taylor's body. "Oh, honey, no. I know you don't always believe me when I tell you that you're the most perfect person I have ever seen, but it's true. You don't need to change anything about yourself. The clothes are supposed to fit you, not the other way around. If something doesn't fit because you ate breakfast and gave your body what it needs to get through the day, then it needs to be altered anyway."
"Everyone is going to see me in it."
"And you are going to look absolutely stunning. If you try something on that makes you too uncomfortable then you don't have to wear it."
Taylor looked back at the box of muffins on the bed and slowly nodded. "Please come with me."
"I will, Tay. Now get dressed and get something to eat because we've got to hurry."
It took all of ten minutes for them to get in the car and leave. It would have taken a lot longer had Taylor needed to fully get ready, but she didn't. The man that was frantically rushing around the small room when they arrived had on a pair of pants that looked like it was made out of fabric scraps from previous projects. He had long hair tied in a messy bun. A large tomato shaped pin cushion was stitched to his shoulder in a way that seemed both convenient and incredibly painful if he were to turn his head the wrong direction.
He stopped the second he noticed them standing in the doorway. He put down the pile of black silk he was holding and rushed over to them. Taylor watched as Emma stuck out her hand for the man to shake, but he pulled her in and kissed both of her cheeks. He looked at Taylor and, before she could comprehend what was happening, kissed both of her cheeks as well.
"Nice to meet you, mademoiselles. I am Pierre. You sit." He pointed to Emma and then to the couch against one of the walls. Once Emma had done what he had requested, he turned his finger towards Taylor. "You come with me."
Taylor looked back at Emma for reassurance before following the small man with the thick accent back further into the building. The door led into another small room, filled to the brim with clothing racks and fabric that had been haphazardly tossed on nearly every surface. Sparkly bodysuits in every color were hanging on one particular clothing rack beside the makeshift fitting room in the corner. Pierre picked up the plain black one and held it up to her body, cocking his head to the side slightly as he stared at it. "Pretty, yes?"
"Yes." Taylor slowly nodded at the idea of wearing that. It was pretty. It wasn't exactly what she had wanted to try on during this session but, to be fair, nothing was.
"Put it on." Pierre handed it to her and shooed her towards the fitting room.
Once she had changed into the tight outfit and spent some time soul searching in the mirror, she hesitantly opened the curtain to find Pierre and Emma staring intently. Emma smiled the second she saw her. She moved her arms over her stomach when Emma started looking her up and down.
"Stop it, Taylor. You look absolutely gorgeous."
"She is right, you know. You are absolutely stunning. What do you think? It would look beautiful with all the lights," Pierre said with his voice low, like somehow speaking too loud would disturb the sanctity of the fabric.
Taylor looked in the large, lit up mirror on the wall and ran her hands over the shoulders of the bodysuit. It was long sleeved, but had small cutouts just above her shoulder on either side. It wasn't her favorite thing she'd ever worn, but right now she doubted she would find something that she felt extremely confident in. Plus, Emma and Pierre both seemed to agree that it was nice. "Yeah, it would. Do you think you could add a hood?"
Pierre stood up and grabbed more of the sparkly black fabric. He draped it over her head a few times before he finally was satisfied with it. "Like that?"
"Yes, exactly like that. It could actually just be a separate thing that I could wear over top of it. That might be better."
The rest of the fitting went by rather quickly. Pierre had even had someone come in to put make-up on Taylor, both to test how the colors would look with the outfits and so that they could go straight to the airport to pick up Taylor's mom for lunch. The plan was to pick her up together, but Emma had darted away with the promise of meeting them both for lunch. Taylor was waiting in the car, trying to avoid unnecessary attention from people. There was already going to be enough attention when the three of them went to lunch. The 'meet the parents' headlines were going to be everywhere by dinner.
The trunk of the car slammed shut and the door beside her opened. She didn't look up until her mother had already settled in the car and shut the door. "Hey, mom."
"It's so good to see you, darling. Happy birthday. I can't believe you've grown up on me this much. I remember the day I gave birth to you like it was yesterday."
Taylor smiled and leaned over to hug the older blonde woman. "Thanks mom."
"Are we meeting Emma for lunch?"
"Yes. She should be at the restaurant when we get there."
"Good. I have a present for you before we get there." Andrea started to dig through the small purse she was holding.
"Oh, you didn't have to get me anything. I don't need anything."
"I know you don't need anything. It's something that I want you to have." She pulled out a ring and held it out for Taylor to take. "It was your grandmothers."
"Mom, I appreciate it, I really do, but we haven't really talked much about that."
"I want you to have it for whenever you decide the time is right." She put the ring in Taylor's hand and wrapped her fingers around it.
Emma
A small crowd was gathered outside of the restaurant, but it didn't bother Emma as much as it had last time. She was able to push herself through the screaming people relatively easily and the noise was exchanged for soft classical music the second the door shut. The young girl at the hostess stand smiled at her and led her deep into the restaurant to a small table overlooking the giant tree in the middle of Rockefeller center. It wasn't lit up yet, but this had been the compromise Taylor and her mother had come up with in regards to seeing the tree.
Taylor pulled out the chair next to her and smiled brightly when she saw her. Emma sat down and kissed her cheek, taking advantage of the secluded spot they were sitting in. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I had to track down Freddy and have him unlock the car."
Freddy cleared his throat from the corner he was sitting in and shot her a death glare. He definitely knew what she had put in the car, but he wasn't going to say anything. He was, however, going to make sure that she knew that he didn't approve of her trip to the mall through quick glares and coughs.
"Don't be silly, honey. We just got here." Andrea's tone was filled with motherly warmth, something Emma had been more appreciative of since her father had died and her relationship with her own mother had changed. "Freddy, come sit over here. This table has four seats for a reason."
"Mom, I've tried. He won't..."
"Nonsense. Come eat with us, Frederick. I'm not asking."
Freddy rolled his eyes but came over to sit without objecting. A smart move, considering it was obvious that Andrea wasn't going to take no for an answer. The waitress came by with four glasses and a large pitcher of water for the table. She looked around the table, eyes lingering on Taylor for a moment, and then nodded her head to excuse herself from the area.
Taylor took all the straw wrappers she could reach and rolled them into small circles. She continued to mess with them for the entire time they waited for the waitress to come back, avoiding Emma's eyes everytime she looked in that direction. Emma moved her hand to rest on Taylor's thigh and squeezed it lightly in hopes that it would get her attention. When it didn't, Emma leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You okay? You're acting weird."
"Hm?" Taylor's head jerked to look at Emma and she shoved the paper circles in her pocket.
"Are you okay?" Emma repeated.
"Yeah, sorry."
Freddy scanned the room and then looked at Taylor, who had gone back to staring off into space. Emma narrowed her eyes at Freddy, trying to figure out if something was going on, but he waved her off. The waitress came by and took their orders, garnering Taylor's attention for all of ten seconds before she looked back out the window. It was a pretty view, but it wasn't that pretty.
"What's going on, Tay?"
"Just thinking, sorry."
"That's odd. I didn't know you could do that."
Emma's comment seemed to bring Taylor back to reality. She laughed and shook her head before returning her attention to her mother and Freddy, who were having some kind of conversation that involved Andrea scrolling through a photo album and Freddy saying, "how adorable," after each one. Freddy's normally serious tone had lightened a little bit looking at whatever the subject of the photos were.
Taylor put her hand back in her pocket to pull it out a moment later, holding something curled up in her fingers. She put her hands together and opened them, letting one of the paper circles she had made earlier fall into her palm. Emma put her hand over her chest in feigned shock before sticking out her left hand and allowing Taylor to put the straw wrapper on her ring finger. "So are we, like, engaged now? Is there some kind of paperwork I need to fill out to legally adopt the cats?"
Andrea's head turned to face them as soon as Emma had said the word 'engaged.' She looked between Emma, Taylor, and the paper ring that now adorned Emma's hand. "Congratulations." She mumbled something else that Emma could have sworn was, "now do it for real," under her breath and went back to showing Freddy the pictures on her phone.
The food came moments later on dishes that weren't overly fancy but still probably cost more than the electric bill that comes with lighting the massive tree outside the window. They all ate in silence if not for the soft music playing over speakers and the scratching of silverware against plates every so often. Emma wasn't exactly sure what was in the pasta she ordered, but it was amazing. Taylor seemed to like hers too. She was picking at it slightly, but was overall doing better than she had at breakfast. Emma took her free hand and held the one Taylor had left sitting on her lap while she ate.
The walk out of the restaurant was, unsurprisingly, a hundred times louder than the walk in, but the feeling of Taylor's hand in hers made it easier to handle. When they got in the car Emma shoved her bag under her seat, careful that Taylor, or worse, Andrea, would see what was inside. Freddy knew what was inside and the idea of Freddy knowing was already bad enough, Taylor's mom didn't need to know as well.
The drive to the hotel her mother was staying at was short, only a mile or so from the restaurant. Taylor had invited her mother to stay the rest of the day with them, but she had refused and said that she would leave them to their other plans. Once they had said their goodbyes and everyone was situated, Taylor had seemed determined to look in the bag. She reached over Emma's lap multiple times, trying and failing to grab the bag out from under the seat.
"What is it?"
"It's a birthday present. Mind your own business." Emma could see Freddy's lips pressed shut through the rearview mirror.
"It is my birthday, last I checked."
"It's for later."
Taylor reached for the bag again, this time successfully grabbing it and holding it shut on her lap. "Just a peak?"
"Are you going to stop asking?"
"Not until I see it."
"Fine." The second the word left Emma's mouth, Taylor moved her hand away from the top of the bag and pulled out the garment. She messed with it for a moment, trying to figure out which direction it went, before holding it up. Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment upon the realization of what it was. She shoved the strappy blue lingerie back in the bag and looked away from both Emma and Freddy. "I told you it was for later."
"What time are we meeting everyone tonight?"
"Eight. We have time if you have anything else you want to do, but we are going to need to go by the apartment before we go out to change."
Taylor looked at the bag she was holding and shrugged. "We could just go back and lay down for a little while."
Freddy fake coughed in the front seat, earning a glare from Emma. "You weren't part of this conversation, Frederick."
"Don't 'Frederick' me or you can sleep outside."
"Oh, getting kicked out of the apartment I live in by my girlfriend's bodyguard. That's a new life goal right there. I guess I'll give it to you, I was planning on doing some things that you are generally supposed to keep from happening. I have big plans for tonight, like-"
Taylor smacked her hand over Emma's mouth to keep her from finishing that sentence. "Oh my god, Emma. Shut up."
Emma bit her hand and smiled as she yanked it away. "I was going to say like have a movie night, Tay. I don't know what you were thinking." With the words 'movie night' she held her hands apart to show just how big the plans were.
"I'm sure that's what you were going to say, Miss Renners. Definitely sleeping outside."
"Since when do you say if she's sleeping outside?" Taylor asked.
Emma locked eyes with Freddy in the mirror, silently pleading him not to answer. He, of course, was going to give her no such courtesy. "Since she lost her key yesterday and refused to ask you for a new copy. We're getting the locks changed as a precaution, don't worry about that."
"Really, Em?"
Emma nodded and ignored them both until they got home. When they went inside Freddy opted to work from the lobby. As soon as they stepped through the apartment door, Taylor tossed the bag at Emma. "There you go. Go put it on."
"You put it on. I bought it for you."
"You're kidding, right?"
"I'm not. You don't have to put it on, but I think it will look very pretty on you. It matches your eyes. I'll let you do whatever you want if you wear it."
Taylor rolled her eyes at Emma, grabbed the bag, and turned to walk down the hallway towards their bedroom, stopping to look back just before she went through the door. "I'm going to hold you to that."
Emma gave her a thumbs up and smiled. "I can't wait."