4 (jaylor) gleaming twilight and an infinite afterglow

chapter twenty three.

The weeks and months slipped through Taylor's fingers faster than she ever thought possible. They'd all been a mixture of happy and sad moments, of appointments with Charlotte, Thea winning an award for creative writing... It had been one of the busiest times of their lives, which had been surprising to both Taylor and Joe as they'd had plenty of busy years in the past.
"Mommy!" Thea was going back to school in a couple of weeks, which seemed to be particularly bothering her - and Taylor had already spent the entire day trying to convince her that it was going to be okay. Thea loved being with her parents as much as they loved being with her.
Fear had started to creep into Taylor's head over the past couple of weeks, that once the new babies arrived... Thea would begin to feel like she was fading into the background a little. Taylor was petrified that Thea would feel like that - and Taylor just didn't want her to ever feel like that. She'd spent so long discussing this fear with Joe, and he'd reminded her that it would never be like that. He'd reminded her that they'd have all of their friends and family to help her feel included.
"What?" Taylor sighed as she stood up - her entire body was aching at the moment.
"I'll go," Joe offered as Taylor groaned because her feet were swollen and sore. He'd been doing that a lot lately - doing things instead of her. It was beginning to get on her nerves a little bit because she still felt like she wanted to be involved. Just because it hurt a little didn't mean she wanted to be sitting down all day. Joe was trying to get her to take it easy but she'd tried to remind him that it was best to keep moving.
"I can go-" Taylor started, but he cut her off by kissing her. "Joe, I'm really okay."
"I know you are," he gave her a small smile.
"Let's go for a walk after breakfast then," Taylor took his hand.
"MOMMY!" Thea was waiting at the top of the stairs and Joe kissed her again.
"Just take it easy, okay?" He told her, and Taylor tried her best not to argue with him. She didn't want to just sit down all day. She wanted to climb the stairs and go for walks.
They'd decided that they wouldn't hide the pregnancy so much this time - the fans knew she was pregnant, but didn't know anything further than that. They didn't know how far along she was, or the fact it was twins, or the gender. Taylor and Joe had found out the gender of both the babies a couple of months ago. They were going to be having a boy and a girl, which Taylor was so excited about. They were just so happy that was the case, because they hoped that there'd never be that... competitiveness between both of them.

Joe disappeared with Thea up the stairs, and Taylor walked into the kitchen to fill up her drink bottle. She stared out at the pool and sighed. She wanted to go out and do something. Joe cared about her - she knew that. And she knew that this was how he showed that. By caring for her and wanting to protect her. Taylor knew all of that - but it just didn't mean that she didn't feel suffocated by his kindness.
She wanted to go and do something. Anything. The midwife had already told them that she was still able to go and do things - that walking was a good thing to do, but Joe always panicked about it. Just because she walked slower than usual - and he also didn't want her to have to worry about Thea with these kinds of things.

Taylor decided then and there, that she was going for a walk. She'd go insane if she was inside for much longer.
"Where are you going? Is there something I can get you-" Joe asked as she walked up the stairs.
Taylor took a deep breath. "No, I'm fine. I'm just going to get changed and-"
"Are you going out, Mommy? I'm coming too!" Thea exclaimed.
Taylor smiled. "Do you want to come?" she asked Joe softly and he nodded.
"Are you sure that you'll be okay? You said that your back was sore this morning-"
"It's fine, Joe. I'm fine. The babies are fine. Sarah said it was good to go on a walk. She said it was okay. And besides - Theabear, why don't you go and find some shoes to put on?" Taylor didn't want Thea to be there when she discussed with Joe about everything to do with the babies. Thea nodded and skipped off to her room. "I need to get out of the house before we end up spending all of tomorrow packing to go to Nashville."
They'd had the trip planned for months now. They'd spend a while in Nashville with Taylor's parents before Thea had to go back to school - because Taylor knew how much they loved spending time with their granddaughter.
"About that-"
"Don't say what I think you're going to." Taylor hissed.
"I know, I know. But it's possibly not the best idea, love. Over sixty percent of twins are born early and you've only got under a month before they're-" Joe sighed. "I'm just trying to look out for you."
"I know you are," she sighed. "But I'm going to go insane if I have to stay cooped up inside here for much longer. I really have to get out. And Sarah said that it's fine. She said that I can walk, that I can fly. We've got a plan in place if they come early."
Joe sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Taylor-"
She shook her head softly. "No. I'm going to Nashville. It's going to be okay. I know you're worried about me, but you know that we've spent a long time talking to Sarah about this. She said it's alright, as long as we can out our plan in place. I want to see my parents."