4 (jaylor) gleaming twilight and an infinite afterglow

chapter four.

Taylor and Joe were so busy packing to stay in their Los Angeles home that the two of them barely had time to notice what the world was saying about Thea. Within minutes, there were nearly a million comments, people with their hearts melting because Thea was just so lovely. Within minutes, Thea was already busy asking what people were saying, asking whether they all wanted to be friends with her. Even their friends who already knew Thea personally were texting them, telling them how precious and cute they were.
Joe was busy trying to get Thea to decide on some toys that she wanted to take with her because the majority of her toys were here. Taylor was sorting out activities for Thea to do on the flight to Los Angeles. They were generally pretty lucky because Thea had been flying right from the moment she was born and didn't overly mind it. They'd bring the iPad, equipped with just about every single Disney movie they could find, and they'd make sure that they had snacks to help occupy her.

"You can't take all of them!" Joe laughed as Thea walked over to him with her hands filled with all of her favourite toys.
"But... But..." Thea dropped them all on the floor in front of Joe, before sitting down with her arms crossed. "They're... all going to be sad without me."
"But what about your toys that are already there?" Joe asked her. "Remember? That big toy horse that Nana gave you, or those-"
Thea flung herself backwards, lying down on the floor. She let out a big, dramatic sigh. 
"But they're all important!" Joe smiled as he watched her. Taylor was like this with most things - and they always ended up taking practically everything but the kitchen sink. Joe was like that too - he'd already decided he was taking six different poetry books with him... and that wasn't including his own poetry. At first, he'd had eight books in the pile, but he'd realised that was a little bit excessive, so he put two back. 
"They'll still be here when you get back!" Joe told her as she sat back up, frowning. 
"But Mommy says that we're not coming back here." Thea never missed anything. "Mommy says that we've got to go somewhere for school."
"I'm sure we'll be able to bring lots of your toys with us, but we really don't need every single one of them right now, because we're only going away for a few days." 
"But Daddy-" Thea stood up, walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I neeeeeed them." 
Joe didn't know how he was going to win this one. 
"Thea," He smiled when he heard Taylor's voice. "You've got to leave some of them here! What are the mermaids going to look at if you take them away?" Usually, all of Thea's soft toys sat facing out the window. They sat on the window seat, staring out over the ocean. "They'll get sad if they can't see all of your pretty toys!" 
Thea sighed again, clearly thinking hard about what her mother had told her. 
"Why?" She asked. Joe wondered if her phase of asking questions would ever stop. Sometimes the two of them didn't even know the answers to the questions she was asking. 
"Because I heard that they love looking up at your window and seeing all of your toys waving at them," Taylor smiled as Thea wrapped her arms around Taylor's leg as she bent down. "Why don't we take three of them, and then we'll set the rest up for the mermaids!"
Thea bent down and picked up one of her teddy bears. "But... Elsie is scared of the dark..."
"We'll make sure to leave your nightlight on so that she can still see. And she'll be able to see the moon, and the stars." Taylor told her softly. "Or, she could be one of the bears that you bring with you." 
Thea snuggled Elsie close to her chest, and Taylor smiled. Elsie had been one of the very first things that Thea had been given. Ed had picked the small, cream coloured bear with the brown button nose out just for her, and Thea had always chosen to sleep with her. One of the times that Taylor and Joe had been away at an awards ceremony, Andrea had come up with the idea to spray a little bit of Taylor's perfume on Elsie so that Thea would feel like she was close to Taylor, and every so often, Thea would get her to do it again. Thea also had requested that she have a special bear that smelt like Joe, too. So, it was clear who the main two toys were going to be. 
"Fine," Thea sighed as she put Elsie on the suitcase, before reaching for her teddy that smelt like Joe. It was so sweet watching her pick the teddy up and carrying it carefully over to the suitcase. 
"Paddy's coming too!" Joe always laughed when he heard that. 
The bear had been given to her by Patrick when he was with them a few months ago, and he'd jokingly told Thea to name the bear after him. Thea had taken him literally, and she'd wanted a name that was similar to Patrick. It was either Paddy or Olaf, and Thea had spent a full week changing between the two but eventually decided on Paddy. 
Joe had told Patrick over FaceTime, and the two of them had laughed about it for ten minutes. Patrick felt so honoured to have a teddy bear named after him.
Thea walked back over to the big pile of toys and spent five minutes hugging each of them, trying to choose which final toy to bring with her. "I can't forget about Honeybear!" She finally decided on another teddy bear, and Joe smiled. 
"Should we take them all back to the window?" Joe asked her, standing up. He wasn't sure where Taylor was, probably sorting out some last-minute things, making sure that she had packed absolutely everything but the kitchen sink.
"Yes!" Thea scooped as many as she could back into her arms, and the two of them carried them back over to the window.

Taylor was checking through the bags they'd already packed, the bags that were waiting by the front door. She was so stressed that they'd forget something important, forget one of Thea's favourite toys, or one of the dresses she'd wanted to wear. She was just... stressed. Her life was always so fast-paced, and she'd forgotten just how hectic it could be. She'd practically walked off the face of the earth for three years. For three years, neither she nor Joe was seen by the public. She'd released Evermore, done a couple of interviews about it - even though everyone was mostly just interested in trying to get her to talk about her daughter. They'd travelled back to New York for that interview, but other than that, they had permanently lived in New Zealand for the first three years of Thea's life. Taylor and Joe had paid for both of their families to come over and stay with them multiple times throughout that time period. Taylor felt the safest there. She couldn't quite pinpoint why exactly that was, but she figured out that it was something to do with the fact that they were far away from America, far away from wherever Adam was staying. They were just normal people when they were in New Zealand. Of course, she still had a couple of her security staying with her at the house, just in case, but that didn't mean she took them everywhere with her. Both she and Joe were able to walk down the street with Thea, without being chased by cameras. The town was small enough that they almost never struck anyone else, and if they did, it was one of Rosa's friends or her regular customers. Rosa had stressed the importance of keeping her secret, and everyone had been so kind in making sure that the group who knew Taylor and Joe were there was small.
"Do you think that's everything?" She asked Joe as she heard him coming down the stairs.
He wrapped his arms around her, and she smiled. His arms were always so warm, always there for her when she needed them most. 
"I'm sure it is," He told her as he kissed her cheeks. "You've checked them twice already."
"Did Thea choose her toys? And do you think we packed enough-"
"Taylor,"
"What if we forget something? Do you think that we'll have time to-"
"Taylor, my love." Joe spun her gently around so that she was facing him, and cupped her cheeks. "If we forgot something, then we'll just get it sent to L.A. It's going to be okay. I know you, and I know that you've checked to make sure we have everything twice." He leaned in and kissed her cheek."Thea picked three of her toys to take with her, which aren't in her suitcase because she wanted to take them with her on the plane. But other than that, everything else we're taking with us is right here. Except for the cats," He told her with a smile. "Benji is up with Thea, I think Meredith is asleep on the piano, and Olivia is asleep on the stairs. I'll go and get them now. Perhaps we should get Thea into her pyjamas so that she can try and sleep a little on the plane?" Joe told her. 
"I'll... get her changed if you want to get the cats," Taylor smiled. Whenever Joe was looking at her, whenever she was staring into his eyes, it felt as if her heart had calmed, as if she'd finally found calm.
Joe nodded, kissing her again before he went to go and sort out the cats.

"Alright, petal, which pyjamas do you want to wear?" Taylor asked Thea as she pulled open the wardrobe. 
"The cat ones!" Thea smiled, and Taylor laughed. Thea loved cats as much as she did, and so she always had a lot of cat pyjamas. In fact, Thea had a lot of cat everything. Cat's on her slippers, cats on t-shirts, on socks, on her suitcase, she had cats everywhere. That was something that Taylor fully endorsed. Most of the things that Thea wore were either cat or Frozen themed. Taylor knew that a lot of other celebrities dressed their kids up in the latest designer labels and outfits, but both she and Joe had consciously made an effort to let her wear whatever she wanted. Children didn't have to look perfect all the time. If Thea chose to wear stripey socks, with a yellow polka-dot skirt and a sequined top with cats on it - they wouldn't stop her. Thea was allowed to wear whatever she wanted. They didn't want to confine her to clothes that made her look less like a child and more like a teenager. 
"Alright!" Taylor smiled. "Are you going to wear your slippers?" She asked Thea, who jumped up and down.
"My new ones? With the cat ears?!" She exclaimed excitedly. 
"Of course!" Taylor grinned. She helped Thea into her pyjamas. 
They'd chosen specifically to fly out of Rhode Island at night, keeping Thea up a little later than her bedtime, so she'd be tired for the flight.
Once Thea was dressed, Taylor threw on a light pink sweatshirt, and took Thea downstairs, where Joe was helping their driver get the bags in the car.
"So you really don't think that I've for-"
"No, my love," Joe told her as he helped Thea into the car, doing up her seatbelt. "You're the most organised person I know, and that's coming from me. Until I met you, I was the most organised person I knew." Taylor smiled. 

They were so lucky in the way that Thea didn't mind flying, in fact, she really enjoyed it.
She was currently sitting in Joe's lap and the two of them were watching Frozen II. Joe was sure that he could quote the entire movie by now, he was sure that he knew it even better than any of his favourite films - even better than La La Land. Perhaps that was because every ten seconds Thea would ask a question about it, about why water had memory, whether it was true, why Elsa let Anna be queen, why their mother was at Ahtohallan... 
She asked so many questions that it began to feel as if Thea was Olaf when they were setting off on their journey. Joe knew he was a father when he started working Frozen two metaphors into his life. 
Joe glanced over at Taylor who was busy looking at an online dictionary.
"No wonder you always beat me at scrabble," Joe murmured with a smile, "I'm sitting here in tears because Elsa's singing Show Yourself and that part always gets me every time... while you're here scrolling through the dictionary - even though I swear that you know just about every word to exist!" 
Taylor looked up at him, laughing. "If I was going to cheat, I wouldn't do it beside you!" She grinned. "Besides. You're just jealous because I've won more games than you."
Joe pretending to be shocked, leaning over to kiss her.
"Daddy! Stop moving!" Thea complained, and Joe laughed.
"I'm sorry, my little sunshine." He held out his hand, and Taylor took it with a smile. "I'll have you know that I can still beat you on the phone," He laughed, stroking her hand. "Let's just admit it - we're superior."
Taylor laughed. "We definitely are."
"Mommy," Thea hissed, turning to face her. "I can't hear Elsa!"
Taylor smiled. "Sorry." 

The plane ride went smoothly, Thea eventually fell asleep between Joe and Taylor, holding her teddy bears in her arms. Taylor's anxiety crept back in when she felt the wheels touchdown on the runway. She knew there would be cameras waiting for them, and that scared her.
They always had to wait for her security to come on board and tell them it was alright.
"There are four of them," They were told. Taylor felt her heart rate speed up about a million times faster than normal, and she knew she had to calm herself down. Luckily, Thea was still asleep. 
"Let's use the umbrellas," Joe said. "I'll hold the umbrella, and you carry Thea." 
Taylor nodded, relieved that Joe had the ability to remain calm when she was so stressed.
She gently picked up Thea, gently held her in her arms as Joe maneuvered the umbrella over her head. Although their social media had seen her, they weren't ready to let the paparazzi take photos of her. That would be another thing altogether. And Thea was already asleep, and if she had the umbrella over her head, they were less likely to yell at them.
"Mommy?"Taylor heard Thea say softly. 
"It's alright, we're just going to the car. It might be a little loud, but Mommy's here." Taylor murmured softly. 
Joe held the umbrella over her head as they walked to the car, which luckily was only a few steps away. Thea seemed to have fallen back asleep and didn't fuss at all when Taylor strapped her into the car. It was still light in Los Angeles, and immediately she could remember why she didn't like it. It just seemed to be so... busy and the cameras and the paparazzi were multiplied. She hated that aspect of it. 
But they'd done it. Taylor breathed a sigh of relief when they were all in the car, driving home. 
Joe sat in the front, and she sat in the back with Thea, making sure that the cats were still alright. Benjamin hated flying and being contained for longer than five minutes at a time, so he was sitting perched on Taylor's lap. Olivia hated it too, which was why she was sitting on top Of Meredith's little carry crate. Meredith was the only one that didn't mind it.

Taylor looked out the window and closed her eyes. It had been a long week, and she couldn't wait to get to bed, even though both she and Joe would have to stay up to try and stop the jet lag from setting in. 
There was just something about L.A. that she didn't like. She realised that it was probably because... all those years ago, Adam had told her how much he loved it. How he loved the feeling- She stopped herself from thinking about it. She knew that wouldn't lead her to good thoughts. So she looked over at Thea, who was sound asleep and smiled.
She didn't need to look back at the past, she loved the present too much.