Forever and Always

Chapter 3 - Recovery Day

Taylor's POV

After the exciting events of yesterday, I decided to make today a recovery day. All of us were exhausted last night so I let the kids sleep in. I got up earlier than they did, baked some muffins, watched Grey's Anatomy with Merideth and did some house work.

Around eight o'clock I went down to the basement to write some music, assuming the kids wouldn't wake up for another hour. I tried so hard to write some lyrics for a new song, but my mind was elsewhere. Having made no progress, I laid back on the couch for and scrolled though my social media feeds. I was soon interrupted by screaming.

I jumped off the couch, almost tripping over my cat, and ran up two flights of stairs to Kayla's room. She was lying in her bed kicking and screaming. I flipped on the light and rushed to her side to wake her up. Kayla woke up startled and burst into tears. I wrapped my arms around her, and held her tightly.

"Kayla, I need you to look at me okay? Were going to take some deep breaths and count to ten. Ready? I'll do it with you. One, two, three..."

We counted together as I rubbed her back. By the time we reached the number 7, Kayla's breathing began to return to normal. We sat in silence for a while.

"Momma, I had a bad dream."

"Would you like to tell me about it?"

"The people with cameras were following us, and then one of them took you away from me and Owen, and we never saw you again."

Her eyes welled with tears.

"Don't worry, everything is alright. I am right here. I will always be here."

"Do you pinky promise?"

"I pinky promise. What do you say we go downstairs and get some breakfast. I made muffins this morning. Just come down when you feel ready."

I left her room and went to the kitchen to set some breakfast items out. A few minutes later Kayla came down in her pajamas clutching her blanket.

"Here's some juice and a muffin. Would you like to watch a movie downstairs?"

Next thing I know, we are cuddling on the couch and watching Frozen for the one thousandth time. But I don't mind. These are the moments I look forward to each day. When the movie ended I went to wakeup Owen. We had such a fun afternoon at the house. We went out on the driveway and drew pictures in chalk, took a walk to the park to play, took some silly pictures and had a crazy dance party with costumes.

After bath time I tucked the kids into bed and I read a picture story to them. I found it peculiar that Owen hadn't been paying as much attention to the story as Kayla had. Maybe he was just tired. I kissed him goodnight and turned off the lights.

As I got ready for bed, I couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with my son. Owen is a little bit older than two years and he hasn't started talking yet. I don't think that's normal. I crawled into bed making a mental note to schedule a doctor appointment tomorrow.