August 29th, 2023
Tay🥰❤️: just landed
Trav🏈❤️: okay, text me when you get to the apartment😘
We get in, Ellie asleep on my shoulder. It is her nap time after all. She fell asleep on the car ride home and I didn't have the heart to wake her up. I get her settled in her crib and trying to unpack the biggest necessities out of the suitcases before settling on the couch with the cats around me.
I get a text from Maggie, saying that she arrived safely to her apartment which reminds me to text Travis. I quickly send the message before turning on a re-run of Friends, an episode I've probably seen a hundred times.
I fall asleep too, Benji curled up on my lap, Mere behind my head but get awoken by my phone ringing not even 5 minutes later.
I smile when I see Travis facetiming me, accepting the call and being greeted by his cheery 'hey, Tay'.
"Hey, that actually rhymes." He laughs and I join him. I can see he's all sweaty, most definitely just got back home from practice.
"Hi. You couldn't wait to call me so you didn't even shower?" I tease him. That's just how we are. Teasing, flirting, laughing.
He laughs, flashing me his irresistible smile. "You are such a tease. Where's Ellie?"
"I really think that you like that little girl more than me."
"She is a literal copy of you for my defense." I roll my eyes at his apology. "Just 32 years younger." He adds with a smirk.
I laugh. "You're unbelievable."
"So, what are you up to?"
Olivia jumps into my lap, headbutting the phone and purring. "Dibbles decided to show up. She probably heard your voice."
It's crazy how those three cats and one two-year-old girl have him wrapped around their little fingers and claws. "Hey, Dibbles. Miss me?"
"I think she does." I giggle, petting Olivia who comfortably settled in my lap. And she isn't the only one. "Anyway, just chilling today but Blake, Ryan and the girls are coming for lunch tomorrow."
We continue to talk, long after Ellie wakes up and while I go get her, change her, Trav takes a shower.
I am back on the couch, with my daughter beside me this time, she is watching a kids TV show, me chatting with Travis.
I suddenly hear the doorbell ring, raising an eyebrow because I wasn't expecting someone today. I tell him I'll go get the door, leaving Ell on the couch. I know it must be someone I am close to because my security wouldn't let them go here without letting me know first.
I open the door, finding my Mom standing there with a smile on her face, leaving me with a shocked one. "Hey, Mom. What are you doing here?" I give her a hug, still holding my phone in my hand, with Trav awaiting me quietly.
"I can't come and visit my daughter and granddaughter anymore?" She teases the shocked expression on my face.
"Sorry, of course you can. I just didn't expect you. Come in, Ellie is in the living room." I let her in and she rushes over to the little girl. I hang back, closing the door and acknowledging Travis again. "I'm sorry, I'll call you later, okay?"
"Don't apologize. Have fun, Tay." We bid our goodbyes and I return to my Mom cuddling Ell to her as close as possible, making her laugh.
"That was him?"
"Can you stop calling him 'him' and call him by his name?" I joke. "But yes, that was Travis." I smile at just the mention of his name and sit contently beside her.
"I'm sorry I acted so... protective when you told me. Heck, I was the one who encouraged you to text him, I just had no idea it would escalate so quickly. I have no business talking into your dating life and you seem really happy right now." Mom apologizes.
I can see so much love and support in her kind eyes, tears well up in mine and I hug her tightly. "I know. He's so good to me and Nugget right here." I tickle my daughter's belly and she shoots me a 'you are disturbing me watching my movie' glare, making both me and my Mom burst out laughing.
We have dinner together before I go through Ellie's night time routine with Mom's help, putting her down. We settle back on the couch and that's when the interrogation starts.
"So, tell me everything." Mom says excitedly the moment we sit back down. It feels like I am sixteen again, sitting with Mom in my childhood bedroom, supposed to go to sleep but gossiping about boys instead.
When we would start a conversation like that at the dinner table or while watching a movie, my Dad would always get so protective of me, saying I am too young to date to which Mom would reply that every young girl has to go through that.
Even though my daughter is not even two years old, I understand why my Dad would say that. I just wanna keep her to myself for the rest of her life, protect her from every danger of this world, from every boy, every heartbreak.
"He's really good to me. He loves Ellie so much." I blush. I feel a smile creep its way onto my face again. That's how just thinking about him gets me.
"Is it official yet?"
I laugh at her not-so-inconspisious attempt to get as much information from me as possible. "Yeah, asked me last weekend."
"Wait!" She exclaims. "You were in Rhode Island with him?" I nod, feeling giddy.
I scroll through the photos we have together from our little getaway, remembering the story behind each and telling it to Mom. Ellie and Trav on the beach, Trav building sand castles and Ellie destroying them. Ell laying on Travis' bare chest on a lounge chair, both of them asleep, smiling in their sleep. Mom's finger swipes to the other one and as soon as I see it, I take the phone from her hands, locking it. I can feel my cheeks burn, I must look like a tomato. I hope so hard that she hasn't seen it but the look on her face tells me otherwise.
"I don't need to see everything, Taylor." She adds to my embarrassment and I get up, putting my phone in the pocket of my sweatpants.
"Mom..." I beg, hoping she will stop teasing me. "Do you want a glass of wine?" I try to change the topic of conversation and thankfully, it sticks and soon, I am standing in the kitchen, pouring both of us a glass of white wine, but I can't help it and I let my mind wander to the story behind that photo.
A/N: slightly mature content in this flashback. skip if you'd like
August 22nd, 2023
I emerged from my slumber, lying contently in Trav's arms. He was lying behind me, cuddled up into my back, spooning me.
He felt me wake up probably, kissing my hair. "Good morning."
"Morning." I smiled, shifting my head to look at him and that's when I felt it. Something hard against my backside. "Trav, you're... poking me." I whispered, slightly uncomfortable saying it.
He immediately rolled on his back, not touching me anymore." I am sorry. I-"
I moved too, now straddling his upper thighs and I leaned down to kiss him. "We might still have a little bit of time until Ellie wakes up." I mumble against his lips before sitting back up, just staring at him. His chest bare, dressed only in his boxer briefs and me in just his t-shirt from the previous day, again.
His hands traveled under the fabric, one settling on my stomach, his huge palm covering almost the whole surface, and the fingers of the second one making their way higher up, to the valley between my breasts. I threw my head back, letting out a quiet moan and he flipped us over, hovering over me but still looking at me like I am the only thing that mattered in the world at that moment.
The photo includes me contently lying on his chest, my hair clearly a post sex hair, both of us clearly naked even though everything is covered with a thin duvet, Trav kissing me cheek, me grinning into the camera with my eyes still closed.
I get back from my little daydreaming and return to the living room with two glasses of our favourite wine.
And besides me rolling my eyes at my Mom's questions at first, the wine breaks my walls a little and I gush to her about everything, keeping it PG 13, of course. It's still my Mom.
But tomorrow... Tomorrow Blake, Ryan and their girls are coming and I can already hear the questions from two of my best friends.
A/N: finally another chapter🥳 i am sorry for not posting for a long time but i had such a hectic week plus i've been working on some fucking james vi/i presentation for 2 weeks in the row, gotta finish it this weekend. hopefully, school will get back to normal and i'll be able to write more
as always, i would be grateful for any vote, comment and especially a suggestion for the story (i have an idea of what i wanna do next but i am not set on everything. and i would really love some of your ideas for just the little cute family moments you would like to see between tay, trav and ellie) definitely let me know🥰
special thanks goes to Dannnyi45 for being the best inspiration and to alaemazzouji for being just the best friend i could find. ly girlie🫂🩷
love you all, ell🤍
PS: the name of this is just because of the photo scene. i couldn't figure out anything else and it seemed funny to me😭