4 (jaylor) gleaming twilight and an infinite afterglow

chapter twenty four.

It was nine days until Taylor's due date, and she was beginning to get to that point where she couldn't do anything. But she was relieved, as it was lucky that she'd gotten this close to the due date. Most twins came very early. Of course, she was limited with what she could do now, as much as that frustrated her. But at least now, it wasn't such a big deal if the babies came early. She'd been having false contractions for the last couple of days, but they'd always disappeared when she woke up the next day.

Joe was helping Thea to get dressed in her bedroom, because she really didn't want to go to school. Taylor and Joe had tried to figure out whether there were any specific reasons as to why she didn't want to go - but neither Thea or her teachers could answer their questions. Joe knew that Taylor had even gotten Blake to ask James if she'd seen anything going on, but she hadn't.
They'd been talking about it quite often - because this was a problem that had been an issue for the last couple of weeks. The two of them had concluded that it was the fact she had to be away from them, that she'd miss out on something. Taylor had mentioned about how excited Thea was for the babies, and Joe assumed that it was because she didn't want to miss out when they arrived.
"I don't want to go," Thea grumbled as Joe pulled a clean pair of socks out of her draw. She was currently lying on the floor as if she were making snow angels, refusing to get dressed. "I like it right here. Daddy, I'm not going."
"Theabear, you know you've got to go. If you don't go, you'll miss out on all the fun with your friends. And Mrs Green said that you were doing writing today, and I know you love that!" Joe was sat on the floor beside her.
"I don't want to go! Why can't I stay here with Mommy?" Thea whined and Joe sighed.
Joe had been having this same argument with her every single day this week. "You know that Grandma and Grandpa are coming to stay this afternoon. If you don't go to school, they won't be able to come anymore. I will have to phone them up and tell them that you weren't doing what you're told!" This got Thea moving. She jumped up and pulled off her pyjamas.
"That doesn't mean I want to go, daddy." Thea murmured and Joe just smiled, because at least she was getting dressed.
Once she was dressed, Thea would run into Taylor's room, where her mom would be getting changed. Taylor would then do her hair exactly how she wanted it, which today, was pigtails.
"Daddy said that if I wasn't a good girl that grandma and grandpa wouldn't get to come." Thea told the story, and Taylor smiled at Joe when he walked through the door. "That's mean."
"That's not mean, Thea." Taylor smiled as she kissed her head. "Grandma and Grandpa are really excited to see you, but they can't come if you're not at school!"
"Yes they can-" Thea argued as she threw herself dramatically on the bed.
"It's a rule," Joe answered as he threw on a sweatshirt. "No Grandma's and Grandpa's can see their grandchildren if they're not doing what Mommy and Daddy want."
Taylor laughed, but winced. Over the past week, everything had begun to hurt. Just walking down the stairs was enough to make her head spin.
She had an inkling that the babies would be here soon - which is why both her and Joe had decided that Taylor's parents would come and stay with them over the next couple of days. Just in case. Blake and Ryan had agreed to look after Thea, but they were in Los Angeles for the next four days. That meant that if Taylor were to go into labour in those four days, there would be no one to look after Thea as soon as they needed to leave. Joe knew that Gigi would be more than happy to look after her - but she was on the other side of New York, and they didn't want to put that pressure on her.
So, Taylor's parents were coming to stay until the end of the week, just in case.

Joe knew that Taylor was nervous about having her Dad staying so close to the end of the pregnancy, because she was petrified he'd say something like he'd said with Thea. He knew she still thought about that moment, still felt that pain. He also knew that she was so worried that he'd make another comment like that again - even though he'd apologised and she'd forgiven him. It was one of those situations where you could forgive, but not forget. He knew how hard she was trying to forget it ever happened, that she wanted to give him a second chance. Already, Scott had been so much happier for them. He'd brought clothes and all sorts for the babies so far - had even made them a pair of matching little sunshine mobiles. Taylor had almost melted at the sight of them. Scott had gone back to that Christmas tree farm, and out of the old trees, he'd carved out little suns and clouds. They were both hanging in the nursery now - and Joe would often walk past to find Taylor looking at them. Forgiving people that still have a place in your heart is one of the hardest things to do. Forgetting the hurt they've caused and pretending that nothing happened. Forgiving was hard, but forgetting was harder.