May 31st 2025
New York City, New York
"Are you sure I look ok Trav?" Taylor asked for the millionth time that day. Travis shook his head, coming over to where Taylor was picking at every aspect of her outfit and look in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her neck softly.
"You look beautiful Tay. I mean it." He reminded her. He knew that she was feeling on edge. It was Taylor's first public interview since giving birth to Luna six weeks before and she was going to be making her first live performance in almost six months. He could sense her nerves, feeling her shake with anxiety whilst still in the confines of his arms. "What's on your mind babe? Talk to me."
"I just.." Taylor sighed, relaxing in his arms a little bit. "I guess I am just a bit nervous that is all."
"It's to be expected Tay. You haven't done any press or live interviews in a really long time. Even the one son the red carpet from the Oscars I wouldn't really count as true real interviews. We were both running on such adrenaline and excitement for the night." He rubbed his hand up and down her back, comforting her enough to know that she would be ok. Travis had been worried about Taylor ever since her almost breakdown a couple of weeks previously. Both Jason and Pat had warned him to look out for any signs that Taylor wasn't coping very well, both knowing how mothers can spiral out of control in a blink of an eye without anyone else realising. They enjoyed a few moments between each other, sharing passionate exchanges and kisses before a sound rudely interrupted them. The screaming cry of their six week old daughter.
"She always knows how to ruin the moment doesn't she?" Travis chuckled, making his way over to the bassinet that had been set up in Taylor's dressing room for them. He picked her up gently, tucking her into the crook of his arm before making his way back over to Taylor.
"Isn't that what children are meant to do?" Taylor replied, taking the crying infant off of Travis, sensing that she would be hungry. Taylor knew that if she fed Luna now, it would hopefully ensure that she would stay silent and content for a while, at least until she finished her interview and performance set. She settled on one of the comfortable sofas next to Travis, pulling down the top half of the black long sleeved off the shoulder top that she was wearing. Taylor paired it with some black pants and a gold belt, topped off with her signature red lip and winged liner as well as some gold rings and earrings. She had carefully moved the beautiful ring that she had been gifted by Travis earlier that month for mother's day onto her other finger just to avoid any confusion with her fans. Whilst she would love more than anything to be Travis' wife, they were defiantly not engaged yet. It had been Travis' grandmother's engagement ring and it had been one of the things she had gifted Travis before she died. Jason hadn't ever expressed any interested in it but Travis, being the fashionista he was, always thought it was a beautiful ring. Whilst he had considered proposing with it to Taylor, he quickly decided that she deserved a ring that was new, a sign of their new and growing family and partnership. But he knew the ring would mean something to Taylor, and as the mother of his daughter and the love of his life, he had decided to gift it to her as a present for her very first mothers day as a mom.
"Very true, I just thought that our one might be a bit nicer to us." Travis laughed, looking over at their daughter in adoration as she quietly and contently fed.
"Well moments like that are what got us into this mess so maybe she is doing us a bit of a favour there." Taylor noted, eyeing the baby still feeding in her arms.
"But Tay, what about our little football team we were planning." Travis pouted, causing Taylor to glare over at him with a knowing glance.
"When you suddenly are blessed with the magical power and abilities to grow and birth a whole entire human being, maybe then we can talk. Until then, I want a break thank you very much!" Taylor stated strongly, removing the blanket from her shoulder when she realised that Luna had unlatched, obviously full of milk. She passed the baby over to Travis so he could burp her and she could put the finishing touches on her makeup.
There was a knock at the door and she saw in the mirror's reflection Tree come into the room.
"Hey Tay, Hey Trav." She said as she came into the room, phone out in her hand with notes for Taylor to take onto set.
"Hey Tree, what's up." Taylor asked, turning around to give Tree a hug. She hadn't seen Tree in person for a couple of weeks, having been super busy with the recent drop of Reputation Taylor's Version which she would be largely discussing and promoting that evening on the show.
"I am good. I just wanted to go over a couple of things for this evening's interview." Taylor nodded, hinting for them to sit down on one of the sofas in the middle of the dressing room, Travis off pacing the corridor with Luna, trying to get her to settle down. After their trip to the pediatrican the day before for Luna's six week check up, they discovered that she had been struggling with Colic and had trouble with reflux and so she was often fussy after eating. Sadly the burden had fallen on Travis that evening.
"Ok shoot."
"So I have spoken to Jimmy about topics you are comfortable speaking about tonight and he is cool with all of it. He knows we are going to be talking about Reputation: Taylors version obviously but he knows that I have cleared it with you to talk about Travis and Luna a little bit, just nothing too invasive or personal." Tree read off of her notes app on her phone, Taylor nodding in agreement.
"Yep that all sounds great Tree. I know Jimmy really well, so I know that he won't ask me anything I have explicitly told him not to talk about. Still a bit nervous though." She admitted as her publicist pulled her into a big hug.
"I know you are but you are going to do fantastic. This is nothing you haven't done before. You will do the performance first and then go and sit down to talk and do the actual interview. You re going to smash it."
"Ofcourse she is." They both heard come from the door way. It was Travis, holding a sleeping Luna over his shoulder. He smiled at Tree before looking back over at Taylor. "I managed to finally get her to go off to sleep. How long that lasts I am not sure but I am going to try."
Taylor got up from where she was, placing a light kiss on Lunas head before bidding goodbye to Travis. He could sense that she was wary to leave Luna behind.
"Tay we are going to be fine here ok. Go do what you do best. Go knock them dead and we will see you afterwards ok?" He placed a kiss on the top of her head, avoiding smearing her red lipstick as he watched her leave with Tree to head backstage. He plopped himself down on the sofa, Luna still sleeping but now cradled in the crook of his left arm. He grabbed out his phone, snapping a selfie of the pair of them before seeing it to Taylor, hoping that it would calm her nerves.
Taylor felt her phone ping in her pocket just as she is about to switch it onto silent and give it to Tree to hold backstage. She smiles sweetly at the message, quickly flashing it to Tree.
"Aww what a sweetie. He is a keeper for sure Taylor!" her publicist noted and she smiled back widely.
Trav❤️: Luna says 'Good Luck Mommy'. You've got this babe, cheering you on from here.
She hears the beginnings of the announcement, walking out onto the stage where a guitar is ready and waiting for her. She had practiced all of the new chords and melodies before but the nerves still hit. In her head she imagined herself back home, with Travis and Luna and their entire animal kingdom surrounding her. And she knew she would be ok.
Travis watched on the flat screen tv back in their dressing room in adoration, proud as hell of his girl for getting back out there and doing what she loved. He had to hand it to Taylor: despite being away from the stage for months due to having the baby, it was as if she had never stopped at all. The performance went as well as could be expected, the audience screaming in delight at getting the chance to watch Taylor perform live once again, especially new music from the vault tracks on the Reputation TV album.
"Wow Taylor, that was amazing. I think the audience are in agreement with me as well." Jimmy laughed as Taylor made her way over to the sofa, giving the man a hug as she did so. She had always loved doing interviews with Jimmy. He had always been polite and respectful of her and her career, supporting her through both the highs and lows of her life and career.
"It feels great to be back out doing what I have always done. I'll have to admit I was a bit rusty but after a bit of oiling up I am back and ready to go again." Taylor chuckled, taking her seat across from Jimmy. He began by discussing the obvious: Reputation (Taylors Version).
"So how does it feel to have another re recording out in the world?" Jimmy asked, looking at one of the vinyls that had been made for the album.
"It feels so surreal. I know the fans have been clowning about this since like 2023 so I had to give to them at some point." Taylor laughed, remarking at the time when all of her fans thought she was revealing Reputation Taylor's Version at the Eras Tour or at the GRAMMYs. The conversation ran smoothly and Taylor was beginning to forget why she was even nervous in the first place. And then, when the topic of luna and motherhood came up, she remembered why.
"So Taylor, in other big news, you very recently became a mom!" Taylor smiled as the whole crowd erupted in applause and aww as a picture of baby Luna that both Taylor and Travis had pre approved with Tree flashed up on the screen. "How has that been for you?"
"It's been the best, the absolute best. It hasn't come without its difficulties. I mean I was used to getting up at all hours of the night with random musical inspiration but this is just on a whole new level. She eats like a D1 athlete." Taylor chuckled, replying to Jimmy's question who smiled back at her.
"Clearly taking after her dad then." Jimmy remarked, causing Taylor to choke slightly. This was clearly a dig at the media who had a few weeks previously been spreading the false rumour that Luna was actually Joe's baby. It had caused some friction and tension in their household but they all knew that it was 100% not true.
"100%. Travis wants more and I am like, wow mate hold up there. I am still recovering from birthing the first one" She saw a faint glint in Jimmy's eye sparkle as she mentions birth and her nerves begin to grow once more.
"Speaking of birth, I have heard they give you some pretty strong pain killers after that don't they." Jimmy asked, causing Taylor to look confused.
"Yeah they do, why do you ask that?"
"Well, we have all seen the amazing video of Taylor Swift eating the banana after her LASIK surgery, but what we haven't seen yet is this one. Ladies and Gentleman this is a video of Taylor in the hospital filmed by Travis."
Taylor immediately feels herself cringe, wanting to disappear from where she is sat instantly as she hears both her and Travis' voice play over the video taken a few hours after Luna's birth when she had showered and dressed herself again but had been given a pretty strong dose of painkillers to cope with the pain of moving again.
"Trav, Travis. Look."
"What is it babe."
"Look it's a baby." She looked up at Travis like she had just found the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. "I birthed a baby. An actual baby." She points down at the newborn currently resting in her arms.
"Yeah it's our baby Tay." Travis came over to take the baby off of Taylor and places her into the hospital cot at the end of the bed.
"Hey Trav."
'What?"
Taylor leaned up, pushing her self up on the pillows to whisper something to Travis. "I am the KING."
"The king of what Tay?"
"The king of everything..." Travis chuckled as she seemed to still be in a trans like state. "Isn't that amazing."
"Yeah, yeah it's pretty amazing." He sat down next to the bed in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs before switching off the recording.
The entire audience, including Jimmy, couldn't stop their laughter as Taylor interupted the amusement.
"Well that is another person who I can no longer trust. God dammit." He knew that she was joking, the cringe had turned into laughter. If she couldn't find herself humourous in times like those, then her life would be awfully dull and sad. The pair continued chatting about all sorts of topics, including whether Taylor would be touring again. Taylor had been unsure about it but still confirmed that the Eras Tour was 100% not a goodbye but more of a see you later.
When she leaves the stage, she looks down at her phone on the way back to the dressing room, watching as her inbox and screen floods with messages of laughter and support from friends and family.
Selena: OMG girl I laughed so hard at that video Trav sent in. Sorry, not sorry. So proud of you for the new album though. Rep Stan since 2017
Britt: You smashed it out there girl. Missing you, we seriously need a catch up when you guys are back in KC.
Kylie: You smashed that interview girl, me and Jase are just watching it now. Jason personally apologises for Travis sending in that video. I would say I would kill Jason if he had done that to me, but we both know he fell asleep all three times, so that was never going to happen.
Jason: I am so sorry for what Travis did to you. Do I need to hop over to New York to teach him a lesson.
Taylor smiled. Whilst it was hilarious reading through all of the messages, she was touched and warmed by the amount of love and support people were outpouring for her.
"Hey there's mommy." Travis said as Taylor rounded the corner, rushing in to grab Luna from her dad and shower her with kisses. "You did amazing T, sorry for the video. I just couldn't resist it!"
"I knew you were going to do something like that. I should have known better." Taylor laughed, elbowing Travis in the ribs as she cradled the baby in her arms. "How long has she been awake."
"Ever since you came on the TV. She woke up when she heard you singing. Got a super cute video of her watching and us dancing along to it."
"Aww my baby." She smiled down at Luna who was contently playing with her bunny comforter that Wyatt had gifted her when she was born. The three of them made their way back home, opting for take out and a movie at home over going out for dinner. Now that Luna was with them, they had began to value their chilled nights in over nights out and sitting with Taylor in his arms, Travis couldn't imagine a place he would rather be more.
A million miles away from sadness and from the drama that was erupting around them right at that very second that they were about to be unleashed onto....
AUTHORS NOTE: I laughed so much writing some of this chapter. I can just imagine Taylor saying some hilarious things if she had painkillers after the LASIK video from a few years ago 😂