a sound she hadn't heard before

fifty-four.

"Ayla, I have a surprise for you," Taylor tells her daughter the next day.

"What is it, momma?" Ayla asks, her eyes wide as she eagerly awaits her mother's special announcement.

"You, me, and Joe are going to go into central London tonight and see a show in the West End, which is just like Broadway, but here in London," Taylor explains, watching her daughter's excitement bubble up inside of her as she speaks.

"Really?" Ayla gasps, bouncing up and down on her tiptoes, absolutely bursting with energy and enthusiasm. "What's it called?'

"It's called Matilda, and it's a story about a little girl who is just your age and is very smart and loves to read, just like you," Taylor explains to the sweet little girl in front of her. "I think that you are really going to like it."

"When do we get to leave?' Ayla squeals, eager to be sitting in a dark theatre and watching the magic unfold in front of her.

"We will leave in about an hour and get dinner at a restaurant before the show, "Taylor explains. "Sound good?.

"Sounds great, "The little girl replies. "Do I get to wear a fun and fancy dress?'

"You absolutely can," Taylor smiles. "Let's go pick one out, hm?"

The two of them begin to look through the little girl's closet, until Ayla stops Taylor on a blue, sparkly dress. "I wanna look like Elsa!" she exclaims.

"Then Elsa it is," Taylor smiles, pulling the dress off of its hanger. "Do you want me to braid your hair like Elsa too?"

"Yes!"

"Well then that's that," Taylor says. "Do you want me to help you put it on or can you do it yourself?"

"I can do it myself."

"Okay," Taylor laughs. She truly doubts that, but decides to let her daughter give it a try. "Come out to the living room when you're ready for me to do your hair."

Ten minutes later, the little girl wanders into the living room, her dress hanging loosely off of her body.

"Mommy, I need help with the zipper," she says, causing Taylor to laugh.

"Come here," she says, beckoning for her daughter to walk to her. Taylor zips the dress, then ties the ribbon around the waist in a bow in the back. "That looks much better, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Ayla giggles. "Will you do my hair now?"

"Of course." Taylor sits her daughter down on the floor and starts on the braid, weaving strands of hair together until it looks perfect. After it's done, Taylor takes a picture to show her daughter what she looks like.

"Oh! Mommy, I look just like Elsa!" the little girl exclaims. "I'm going to go show Joe."

"Okay," Taylor laughs. "I'm going to go and get ready for the show, and we will leave after that."

At that, Taylor and Ayla part ways, with Ayla eagerly running into the kitchen, where Joe is sitting at the island eating a snack, and Taylor to her room, ready to dig through her clothes to  find a presentable outfit. She hasn't really unpacked her  clothes yet, since she was so focused on getting Ayla settled and arranging for furniture. She's just been pulling clothes out of boxes as she needs them. She finds the box of her nice clothes and puts on a black dress and red heels, then puts on some light makeup before looking in the mirror and smiling. She can't wait to spend a night out with her two favorite people.

The three, who are truly starting to be bonded as their own little family, enjoy a nice dinner in a private back room of a pub before heading to the Cambridge Theatre, where they're catching the evening's showing of Matilda. Taylor knows that she was sent to the show tonight to really study the structure of the show, and how the story is told through Matilda's eyes, and she keeps that in mind, but quite quickly, it becomes evident that there's something she'd rather be paying attention to during the show.