- Karlie -
It's been nearly two weeks since we started the adoption process for the two girls, and given Taylor's status and the fact that the girls have been with us and the agency are trying to wrap this up quickly, our lawyer and the social worker have managed to put a rush on the adoption, so we signed the papers last week and now we're just waiting for the call saying the judge has approved the adoption and Willa and Everleigh are ours.
"Do you have everything?" Taylor peeks her head into the nursery and I nod, zipping up Oscar's bag. "We're just about done, aren't we?" I coo at Everleigh as she plays with the toys on the tummy time mat and the toddler completely ignores me. "Ever, come on." I stand back up as I hold my hand out to her and the little girl comes running.
Taylor and I are taking the kids to Nashville for Easter to see her parents, but we never realised what a procession it would be packing up five kids and all of our stuff before we could go. The Time Gala is in four days, so on Monday morning, we're going to fly to New York with Andrea who is going to watch the two younger kids for us whilst we go to the Gala and also on Monday night so that I can take Taylor out for our anniversary.
Emilie and Lilia aren't much of a handful and Willa is there to help with the two little ones, so we're not worried about leaving them at all, but Taylor is a little worried about the fact that we're going to be in the public eye with all five kids for the first time since Nashville and New York are places she's been frequently photographed in the past.
"Oscar's sleeping in his car seat, so we're ready to go whenever you are." I leave Oscar's bag with the rest in the front hallway and I set Everleigh down on her feet. "Should we get your sweater, babe?" I kneel by the toddler and she nods as she plops down on her butt. "Why don't you let me do that and you can put the bags in the car, please and thank you." Taylor has Ever's sweater and I laugh as I nod, "your wish is my command."
I kiss my wife on the cheek and she grins as I grab a couple of the kids' bags. The older three are at school since it's Friday, so Taylor is going to pick Lia and Em up and I'm going to take two little ones and pick up Willa and then take the bags to the plane so that we're not too overloaded at once.
Eventually all of the bags are in the car and I go back in to find Taylor waiting with the babies in the hallway. "Are we ready to go?" I smile at her as she holds Everleigh in her arms and the blonde nods, standing up with the toddler as I pick up Oscar's car seat. "Mama, mama." Everleigh squeals as Taylor sits her down in the car seat, "what is it, baby?" She laughs as she straps the little one in and Everleigh wiggles around a bit as she makes grabby hands, "Milk?" She coos at the blonde and Taylor smiles, "good girl, Ever."
We've been working on developing her words and it's going slow, but she knows what she's saying and when to say specific things and we're super proud of her. "You want your bottle, baby? Here you go." Ever always gets a bottle when she gets her snack, but she'll get her snack on the plane. "Good boy, Ossie." I pull the sun shade over the baby since he's sleeping and then I close his door.
"We'll see you soon." I press a kiss to Taylor's lips as she closes Everleigh's door too, and the blonde nods, "I'll see you on the plane." Taylor opens my door for me and I laugh as I get in and she kisses me one more time before closing it.
- Taylor -
The flight from Saint Louis to Nashville is only an hour, so once we're all on the plane, it doesn't take long. Oscar nursed for most of the flight, his way of soothing himself through the new experience. Karlie had to hold onto Everleigh most of the time because she was cranky and upset and didn't get much of a nap, so I'm assuming she's tired too, and the three older girls found plenty of ways to keep themselves entertained.
Whenever we're not at home we have a security team with us, so when we land in Nashville there are two security cars waiting. Karlie goes with the three older girls, and Oscar is being super fussy so I go with the two little ones because Karlie stresses when he's super cranky and I don't. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Swift." Ian moves out for the way for me to put Everleigh in the car since he put her car seat in for me, and I smile back as I strap the toddler in. "We certainly don't get to come home enough, I miss Nashville a lot."
I close Ever's door and Ian holds Oscar's car seat until I can climb into the middle seat between them and click the infant into place. "Well it's good to see you so happy." I smile and thank him and he closes the door again. "Do you want the pacifier, buddy?" Usually his binky soothes him, but I think he just really needs a nap so that's the first port of call for both little ones when we get to the Nashville estate.
I haven't been here in over a year since the last time we were in Tennessee it was when Adam was back and Emilie and I stayed with my parents. "Mama, kitty?" I look over to Everleigh as Oscar holds onto my finger and I brush her curls with my fingers, "the kitties and joey are back at home with auntie Kimby." Everleigh is so obsessed with the cats and I don't know how she's going to cope being without them for the next few days.
"Mama?" She babbles at me again and I laugh, stroking the sweet girl's cheek as I smile, "yes, baby?" The toddler grabs my hand and holds onto my fingers as she turns to look out of the window and I smile as I feel my heart leap in my chest. I look between my two little angels, both of them holding onto me and finally content.
I'm super nervous and excited about being back in the public eye after so long away, but knowing that once it's all over with then I'm still going to have my beautiful children and my gorgeous wife to come home to makes it all worth it. I want to set a good example for them and I want them to see that you can get something in life if you really work for it.
---
"Are we gonna go for a nap?" I coo at the two little ones as I carry them upstairs and Ever is basically falling asleep on me as we walk while Oscar is just looking for a boob. The housekeeper was in this morning, so all of the beds are freshly made, and I take the two little ones upstairs to Karlie and I's bedroom. There is no glider here to rock them to sleep, so cuddles will have to suffice and we brought their Dock-a-tots for them to sleep in since there are no cribs or bassinets.
"Oh, you're a sleepy girl, aren't you?" I sit on the bed as I cuddle Everleigh into my side and the toddler doesn't protest wrapping her arms around me and cuddling in. "Do you want your boba?" She's too little to pronounce bottle properly, so she usually calls it her boba or just asks for milk. "I already know what you want, precious boy." Oscar is getting fussy as I pass Everleigh her bottle.
"There you go, baby." I lift my shirt and let the baby latch on, feeling like a human cow for the millionth time in the last two months. "Taylor, where the heck are you?" I laugh as I hear the voice of my best friend and not seconds later Abigail rushes into the bedroom. "I'm trying to put them down for a nap so if you're staying, stay quiet." I laugh as Abi sits on the bed opposite me with a huge grin, it's been so long since we've gotten the chance to see each other.
"Look at you, look at all of this." She grins as she lays down beside Everleigh, the toddler basically asleep as she cuddles into my side. "It's all pretty perfect, huh?" I smirk as I stroke my baby boy's cheek, "you always wanted a big family." Abigail laughs as she smiles at the little ones and I nod, "now I'm a mom of five."
It all still feels a little surreal to me that we now nearly officially have five kids. "Have you heard anything from the social worker?" We don't see each other much these days but we still talk all the time and she knows everything, "we haven't, but she said it could take up to six weeks which is nothing compared to what we would've had to wait, so I'm not complaining. We're happy as we are." The redhead nods and I look down to Everleigh who is warily watching Abigail.
"Is that your Auntie Abbie, honey?" She's half asleep, but the new presence is making her curious. "I'm your mommy's best friend. I'm the one who can teach you guys how to drive her crazy." I shake my head at Abi as she smirks and I kiss Everleigh on the crown of the head, "she's a mommy's girl, she would never."
- Karlie -
"Emilie, can you please help me?" I ran to the store with Emilie and Willa whilst Taylor put the two little ones down and Lia wasn't feeling like going so she stayed home. "Yes, momma." Emilie comes to the back of the car to help grab groceries and I send Willa inside with two bags as I hand Emilie the last one and take two myself.
We take them all to the kitchen and then set off to find Taylor. "Auntie Abi!" Emilie spots Abigail and runs straight for her whilst Lilia sits in her mommy's lap. "Quietly, Em, the little ones are sleeping." Taylor coos at the little girl as she cuddles Abi and I smile at the scene. "It's so lovely to finally meet you." I'm meeting Abigail for the first time today which is really weird cause it feels like I already know her. Taylor talks to her best friend all the time, so I don't know how many times I've walked into phone calls or FaceTime chats.
"How did the little ones go down?" I kiss Taylor's cheek as I sit down beside her, Willa disappearing off up to her room. "Ever was easy, Oscar took a while, but they've both been down for a bit now." She shows me the baby monitor which is angled to show both sleeping babies perfectly. "They're little angels, you guys got super lucky." Abigail squeezes Emilie and the little girl giggles, but then I look to Lia and she's not looking so hot.
"Baby, are you feeling okay?" Taylor looks down to Lilia as I speak and she nods but stays cuddled against her mommy. "You promise you'd tell us if you weren't?" She nods as she gives me a soft smile and I nod, trusting her. "Where did Willa go?" Taylor raises her eyebrow at me and I laugh, "upstairs to get lost in her phone probably."
She shakes her head as she laughs and I smile, we wouldn't have her any other way.
"When are we gonna go see Grammy and Grandpa?" Emilie is swinging her legs as she sits on Abigail's lap and Taylor looks over to me again, "are you still up for going to dinner there?" I nod, I love Taylor's mom and dad and it hasn't been long since we've seen them but it's been about a month. "Of course, but that means we've gotta start wrangling children soon." We knew five would be a dramatic difference from the three that we were getting used to, but what we forgot is that teenagers take nearly as long to get ready as changing, dressing and packing up the babies.
"You're going to dinner, right?" Taylor looks to Abigail and the redhead nods, "your parents called me this morning." Taylor just laughs as she sways with Lia in her arms, her natural instinct to soothe the little girl. "I should probably wake Everleigh first cause that little bug is gonna need a bath." Tay tried to give her a bath last night but they were both cranky and tired so it didn't go well. "I'll find Willa and tell her to get ready and you two are coming with me." I talk to Lia and Emilie and they both nod.
Abigail says she'll see us later and then after a few goodbyes, it's just Taylor and I left to get the kids ready to go. "Are you coming, Lil?" I hold my hand out to the little girl in Taylor's lap and she grabs it as she gets up. The four of us head upstairs and I send the girls to their room to find outfits as I go to find Willa.
"Wills?" I knock on her bedroom door and hear a mumble from the other side telling me to come in. "We're going to dinner at Taylor's parents, so can you start getting ready?" She nods, not looking up from her phone for even a second so I raise an eyebrow, "we're also going to mars to adopt a space cow, we'll be home on Wednesday," I just shake my head as she mumbles an agreement, not listening to a single thing I said. I walk over and pluck the phone from her hands, "hey!" she tries to grab it back and I just laugh, "we're going for dinner at Taylor's parents house, we're leaving in an hour so please start getting ready."
"Can't I just stay here?" She doesn't look too impressed at the thought of going out, and I frown as I sit down opposite her, "I thought you liked Taylor's parents?" When they came to Saint Louis, Willa got on so well with Scott and Andrea. "I do, I'm just, I don't feel like going out," I smile sadly as she goes back into her shell, she's been doing so well recently. "Talk to me, Wills. You don't have to go if you don't want to, but I'd like to help you feel better if I can," I don't like it when she blocks us out and she's been opening up a lot more recently, so I wanna stay on that track.
"I don't know how to talk to you about this, it's awkward," She whines as she hides her face in her pillow and I laugh, laying down beside her and peeling the pillow from over her face so that we're eye level, "whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad." The teenager sighs as she faces me, holding her pillow against her chest, "I urm, I got my period for the first time earlier," I nod as she tells me, giving her a soft smile, "you see, that's something I can handle." I laugh as I sit back up.
"How does staying home, eating a load of junk food and watching a bunch of sad films sound?" I remember how awful my first period was and I don't really pay attention to them anymore, but when you're Willa's age, it feels like the end of the world. "That sounds great," she gives me a small smile and I open my arms to her for a hug which she happily accepts, "I don't want you being nervous to talk to us about this stuff, okay? We're your family now, and Taylor and I probably understand what you're going through a lot better than you think, we're not that old."
We both laugh and she nods before crawling back into bed, "I need to get Lia and Em ready, but I'm gonna speak to Taylor and then I'm all yours, okay?" She nods, a small smile on her face as I give her phone back and turn to leave the room, "Karlie?" She calls out to me as I reach the door and I turn back, "thank you, not just for this, but for everything. You and Taylor changed our lives and I don't know how to thank you guys," I shake my head as I smile, "you don't need to thank us, Wills. Just live your life and let us worry about the adult stuff, it's what you do for the people you love."
I leave her in her room after that and walk down the hall, bypassing the two girls and going to speak to Taylor. "Babe?" I smile as I walk into the ensuite bathroom to find Taylor bathing Everleigh and I kneel beside her as the toddler babbles and plays with the bubbles, "did you find Willa?" She looks over to me briefly but her attention is focused on the toddler in the bathtub. "I did and she isn't feeling too great. Turns out she got her period for the first time today, so I kinda promised her that we could eat a load of junk and cry over sad films."
Taylor looks to me with a smile as she laughs, "this means we're really raising a teenager, aren't we?" I nod as I blow some of the bath bubbles at Everleigh and the toddler giggles, "do you mind me missing dinner with your parents?" I look to my wife cautiously but Taylor's smiling as she shakes her head, "no, I think it's a good idea if you stay, I don't think Lilia is particularly keen on coming anyway, she seems off today." The blonde furrows her eyebrows as she looks over and I nod, "I'm going to find them just now, I'll see if she wants to stay home too." Taylor nods and I lean my chin on the side of the bath as I start making funny faces at Everleigh.
"Are those bubbles, Everleigh?" I laugh as she holds up a handful, "bubble?" I nod as I smile, "those are bubbles." She giggles and blows on them, making them go everywhere as Taylor and I grin at her. "Someone's awake," Oscar starts crying in the bedroom and I kiss Taylor's cheek, telling her I've got it as I push myself up from the floor. "Did you have a nice nap, baby man?" The little guy is awake and looking for attention as he lies in the dock in the middle of our bed, and I lean over as I pick him up.
"Shall we go find your sisters? Yea?" I kiss his face as I cross the hall to the room the girls are sharing. "Have you got your clothes, Em?" I sit down on the bed beside Lilia and my daughter cuddles into me as Emilie brings her outfit over to the bed. "Can I wear this, momma?" She brings me a red summer dress that Taylor got matching for her girls and I nod, "of course you can, honey. Why don't you run and change and then I'll come and do your hair." The little blonde nods in agreement and then runs off into the bathroom next door.
"Do you wanna go to dinner at Grammy and Grandpa's or would you rather stay home with me and Willa?" I give Lilia the option since she really seems off tonight and I can't figure out why, "can I stay with you, momma?" She looks up at me with her big green eyes and I nod, "of course you can, baby girl. Why don't we go and see if Wills wants some company whilst I help mommy get the little ones ready?"
Lilia nods and I get back up, helping the little girl to her feet. Willa's room is just down the hall, so when she tells me to come I walk in with the two kids. "Lil isn't feeling too good, so she's going to stay with us. Do you mind if she sits with you whilst I help Taylor arrange the kids?" The teenager smiles as she shakes her her and I help Lia hop up onto the bed. "I'll be back," I laugh as I take Oscar and go back to the girls' room to find Emilie.
"You look so pretty, honey." I smile at my daughter as I sit on the edge of the bed, laying Oscar down in the middle so that he's safe. "Thank you, momma," she grins as she stands in front of me and I use the hairbrush to pull her hair back into two little pigtail buns.
Our life is busy and it never really stops, but we have so much love for all five of our kids and we wouldn't change our family for the world.
- Taylor -
"Hold onto Ever's hand for me, please," Emilie holds onto her little sister's hand as I lift Oscar's car seat out of the car. We left the other three at home a little while ago and we just got to my parents house.
"Come here, sweetpea," I lift Everleigh onto my hip since the gravel driveway is still a little hard for her to walk on, and Emilie runs ahead to ring the doorbell. "There's my babies! How are you, angel?" My mom immediately takes Emilie in her arms to hug her and I smile, but try to avoid the dog as Kitty comes bounding out to greet us.
"Can you go to Auntie Abbie, baby?" Abigail opens her arms to Everleigh and the toddler goes to my best friend as I set Oscar's car seat down to take him out. "Where's Karlie and the older two?" My mom looks up as Emilie plays with the dog, she absolutely adores Kitty. "Willa wasn't feeling good and Lilia is acting really off, so Karlie stayed home with them but she sends her love and they'll see you guys on Sunday."
I didn't mind Karlie and the girls skipping out on dinner because I know that with the adoption, Wills needs more time to be comfortable with certain things around other people outside of our family. Especially with this, because she is older and she's going to be awkward and uncomfortable and if she can talk to Kar and maybe feel better about it, I'd rather do that than force her out of the house and make her unhappy.
"You're a grumpy boy today, aren't you, Ossie?" The baby cries as I take him out of his car seat and I bounce him gently in my arms to Soothe him. "Your dad and brother went to the market to pick up some things but they'll be back soon," I nod as we follow my mom through the house to the living room and I make faces at Everleigh who is still in Abigail's arms, making the toddler giggle and laugh.
"When is Auntie Allison getting here?" I sit down with Abbie and she puts Everleigh down on her feet to toddle around. "She's getting here tomorrow, they're all really excited to see you and meet your family," my family was always really really close when I was younger and I don't see any of them anywhere near as much as I would like to. "Grammy, can I go see the horses?" My parents owned a Christmas tree farm when I was growing up, and they absolutely loved the animals, so when they moved here the main selling point was the family keeping animals on the land next door.
"Wait for Grandpa to get back and then he can take you," Emilie nods and sits back down on the floor with Kitty who Everleigh is watching curiously. As far as I know she's never been around a big dog, only Joe. "Mama," she comes over to me and I lift her onto my lap, "what is it, baby?" She points to Kitty and I smile, "is that the doggy?" She looks at me and then to Kitty, "doggy?" I smile and nod, taking her hand as we go over to the animal.
I kneel down and Everleigh sits down beside Emilie as I readjust Oscar against my shoulder, "gentle, baby, like sissy," Ever watches Emilie as she strokes the huge beast of a dog and then she reaches out to do the same. "Look, Everleigh, Kitty loves you," Emilie laughs and Kitty wags her tail as her big tongue lolls out of her mouth, "keep an eye on her, Em," the little girl nods with a huge grin on her face and I kiss both of them before getting back up from the floor.
"They're so sweet, honey, Emilie dotes on her," I look back over to where Emilie is sitting beside Everleigh, talking away to her and stroking the dog and I can't help smiling, "the girls have both embraced the adoption so well, of course there have been moments of jealousy or where they feel as though they're being overlooked so we try to spend as much time with everyone together as we do separately. Obviously Ever and Oscar need a lot more attention and they understand that, so we try to get them to help us out with the little ones and they really do love Willa and Everleigh, it's so endearing."
We knew adopting so soon after having a baby was going to come with challenges, it's so much change in such a short time, but everyone has adjusted way better than we expected. "I'm not surprised, both you and Karlie have so much love for everyone and your girls definitely take after you," I smile at my mom as I bounce Oscar in my arms, we're really really lucky to have such wonderful kids, each and every one of them is a blessing.
- Karlie -
"Let me take her to bed, I think school is really taking it out of her," I smile at Lilia who is sleeping in my arms, I think she really just needed a break from social interaction for a while and some cuddles. Willa nods and I get up from the bed to take Lilia back to her room so she can get some proper sleep.
"Momma?" The little girl mumbles as I lay her down and I smile at my sweet daughter, "go back to sleep, baby, it's okay," I stroke her cheek as I smile and tuck her in. "I love you, momma," her tired voice melts my heart and I stay by her side and I smile, "I love you too, Lilia." She is basically sleeping again as I admire her soft sleeping features, "thank you for making me a mom, sweet girl, you were the starting point to a beautiful life, you'll always be my biggest achievement." I press a kiss to her forehead as she sleeps and then I push myself back up from the bed to let her sleep.
I go back to Willa's room and the teenager is still curled up in bed, "how are you feeling, honey?" I smile as I sit back down beside her and she nods, "better, I never expected it to be this..." I laugh as I raise an eyebrow, "shitty?" She nods and we laugh together, "yea, it sucks a lot but it's a great excuse to eat a lot of chocolate and ice cream." I steal some of the chocolate from the broken up bar beside her and the teenager laughs. It makes me happy to see her laugh, especially after everything she's been through in her life, she deserves to laugh.
"Can I ask you something?" She looks up to me as I put another film on and I nod In response, "you can ask me anything, honey." I can tell she's nervous about asking so I give her my full attention, "I don't mean to be rude, but Lilia, what happened?" I smile sadly, Lia's illness seems like a whole other world, but she's doing so much better now. "A year ago, Lilia got really sick and eventually we found out she had cancer in her bones. She went through multiple drug treatments that didn't work and then we did twelve rounds of chemotherapy which did work and she has been in remission since December and so far all of her blood work and scans have come back clear, so it's really hopeful that she's going to stay that way."
We've never really spoken to Willa about our past, but I guess it's only fair she knows since she's coming into our family. "What was it like, growing up with a kid so young?" I smile as I sigh, this is the one thing I hate talking about, "when I was pregnant with Lia, me and her father, we got into an accident. Lilia was born very premature, her father died and I spent the first six months of her life in a coma, so the beginning of her life was difficult and hard. I was training to be a professional dancer when I fell pregnant, so after the accident I lost everything I loved. I couldn't dance because I was in a wheel chair, the man I loved died and I had barely any relationship with my baby until she was nearly a year old. Siobhan raised Lilia and I went back to school after learning how to walk again, and I did four years in computer science and worked simultaneously so that I could come home and open the bakery. I missed out on a lot with Lilia, but she was the best thing that ever could've happened to me, and I spent as much time with her as I could until eventually she got sick and came to live with me."
She listens intently to every word and nods along, "my mom had me when she was sixteen. She got into a lot of trouble which is why my grandma raised me most of my life, but I used to wish that she had never had me or that she had given me up. She took drugs and drank all the time so I don't have many good memories and I'm sure you've read my file. I wish my mom was more like you or Taylor." I smile sympathetically as I reach for her hand, "Wills, the only part of your file I read is on your mom passing. We didn't want to read into your past because the past doesn't matter, the future does. If you want to talk about what you've been through, we are more than happy to talk to you about it and work through it, but we didn't want to go into it with a biased view against your mom or anything you might have been through, because we know that will always be a part of you and we don't want you to think that we will love you any less for it, okay?"
Taylor and I made the decision after we finally got Willa to open up to us. It's her life and her story and if she wants to tell it then we'll listen, but if she wants to forget it happened then we want her to have that choice too.
"And as for your mom being more like us, babe, I know you might not see it this way right now or maybe ever, but you are our child and we will always be your moms. We love you and we will support you through anything and everything, from things like this to the day you walk down the aisle or take over the world, we're never going to leave you and we're always going to love you. I know your mom is your mom, but Taylor and I, we will always see you as ours even if you don't call us mom. The title isn't the important part, the important part is loving you and giving you every opportunity and all the support we can."
Taylor and I know that Willa might never call us her moms, and we're okay with that, as long as she knows that we have as much unconditional love for her as we do for the younger kids.
"You and Taylor have already been better moms to me than my mom was in the whole thirteen years she had me." I smile as I push a strand of hair behind her ear, "we are so proud to call you our daughter, Willa. You are a strong, brilliant, intelligent, talented and beautiful young lady and we love you so much."
The teenager smiles and I pull her into my arms in a hug, kissing her forehead as she mumbles, "I love you too."
- Taylor -
"Momma's coming, baby," I smile as I lift Emilie out of the car. Its late and both of the babies are asleep, so Kar is coming out to help me inside with them so they don't wake.
"Hey, baby. How was dinner?" The taller woman walks over to the car with a smile on her face and she lifts Em to kiss her cheek before sending her inside to change into her pj's. "It was really good, Em got to see the animals and my parents dote on the kids. My mom and dad said they'd see you guys on Sunday." She nods as she kisses my cheek and I open the car door on Everleigh's side.
"How are the girls?" I talk quietly as I lift the sleeping toddler into my arms and Karlie nods, retrieving Oscar's car seat, "Lilia is asleep and Willa is in her room, I think they both just needed a little bit of a breather." I nod, walking side by side with my wife until we get to the front door.
We head upstairs and carefully lay the two littlest down to sleep in their individual beds and with any luck they might actually stay that way for the rest of the night.
"I thought things were going to be a lot harder without Siobhan to help, but I think we're handling it all pretty well." I laugh as Karlie wraps her arms around my waist once we're out of the room. Siobhan decided that it's better for everyone if she moved, she wanted to give us a chance to bond as a family and she also wanted to be able to reconnect with her life without interrupting ours. We were both devastated but we had to support her, and her apartment isn't too far from our house, so it's not like she's leaving forever.
"I'm proud of us," Karlie laughs and I smile as I run my thumb over the nape of her neck and pull her into a kiss.
"Please, God, get a room," we pull apart as Willa emerges from her bedroom and we both smirk, the girls hate it when we kiss in front of them. "We have a house, we don't need a room," Willa doesn't seem all too impressed with my answer and rolls her eyes as she goes back into her room but Karlie and I can't help laughing. "She's such a teenager," I shake my head and let go of my wife, we love all of their individual personalities and getting to see them develop everyday is a blessing.
"I'm gonna go say goodnight to the girls and then we can go to bed too, it's been a long night," I peck Karlie's lips and she goes to tuck Emilie in as I knock on Willa's door. "We're going to bed, but if you need anything then you know where we are," the teenager smiles and nods in my direction as I get to the end of her bed and I smile, rounding the bed to her side.
"We're really close now, Wills. This whole nightmare is almost over for you guys," I perch on the edge beside her and Willa wraps her arms around my waist so I wrap her in a hug, "I love you, Taylor." Hearing those words from her really does mean the entire world to me, "I love you too, Willa."