miracle | tayley

i used to know you so well

     Hayley's heart beats heavy in her chest as she pulls to a stop in the Yorks' driveway. It's been three years since she's been here, and yet it looks as if absolutely nothing has changed. She's not surprised by that fact. In the past, she'd taken comfort in the stability of Taylor's family, especially in the beginning years, when she had just moved and her family was in shambles compared to them. Taylor's family had been solid as a rock. Year after year, they'd remained the same. She'd found such relief and contentment in that.

     There's a big part of her that doesn't want to upset that memory, that possibility of coming back to something whole and perfect, by going in there today and finding out that things have changed. She knows she has to forge ahead though. She's come this far, and they're expecting her, and they deserve to know their granddaughter.

     She unhooks her seatbelt and steps from the car, moving to the back and opening the rear door. Rowan smiles up at her from her carseat, already reaching for her as Hayley goes about unbuckling her and gathering her backpack from the floorboard. Not surprisingly, her little white sneakers have found their way off of her feet. They're tucked into her carseat, one wedged near either hip, and Hayley tugs them free and takes a second to slip them back onto her warm, wiggly feet. 

     She glances over her shoulder. No one has come outside to greet them just yet, so she takes a moment to adjust Rowan's hair. It's up in two bubble braids today, and she takes a moment to adjust her own waves, as well, eyeing her reflection in the rear window.

     Hayley and Rowan are dressed casually, but Hayley thinks she's still managed to find a balance between casual and cute. She fusses over both of their clothes for several seconds until she can't put off the inevitable anymore. Rowan is standing in the floorboard now and beginning to get shifty. Hayley sighs and slings the white backpack onto her shoulder before lifting her daughter onto her right hip and shutting the car door.

     She makes her way across the yard, eyeing Taylor's car, the same one that'd sat in the driveway of his house, as she passes it. He'd said he'd meet her here, and clearly he has already arrived. She shrugs, uneasily, against the sense of comfort that tries to settle into her chest at that realization. She doesn't need Taylor as a security blanket. Besides, she's got this. It's just Michelle and Peter.

     Just Michelle and Peter, she repeats to herself as she climbs the familiar front porch steps.

     Just as she reaches the top step, the front door opens and she watches as Taylor makes his way out onto the porch. "Hey, you made it!" He says, smiling welcomingly.

     "Hey," she says.  Her eyes glancing nervously behind him, expecting his parents to appear at any second.

     "We didn't actually hear you pull up," Taylor says, following her gaze. "I was just coming to make sure the windows were up on my car. It's supposed to rain later." 

As she watches, his eyes double check the windows of his car and hers. Appearing satisfied, he turns back to her. "Dad had to run over to the office, but he'll be right back. Mom's in the kitchen though. Come on in," he says, motioning her inside and stepping back to allow her through the front door. "She's so excited. They both are, but Mom's really just beside herself."

     Once they step inside the entryway, it's like she's been transported back in time. If not for the weight of her daughter in her arms, it could easily be 2015. Or 2004. There have been some upgrades over the years, but truly very little has changed, and she finds that she is relieved that the inside of this house has remained as wholly unchanged as the outside.

     "Hi, Rowan," Taylor says, softly, tentatively. 

     Rowan smiles, shyly, and lays her head on Hayley's shoulder, not quite ready to engage just yet.