miracle | tayley

turn on, turn off the news

     Just when Hayley was getting used to the idea of her and Taylor's families once again being extremely over-involved in their relationship, she wakes up to an even bigger and more catastrophic invasion of their privacy.

     She reads through her Twitter feed again.

     @PopCrave: Despite three years of radio silence it looks like #Tayley may have been collaborating on a secret non-musical project right under our noses. These photos, released today by @ENEWS, show Williams and York at Nashville Int. Airport accompanied by a very intriguing travel companion. What do you guys think, is this kid Hayley and Taylor's mini-me or what?

     Hayley follows the link, and her heart pounds in her chest as she stares at the startlingly clear photos of herself, Taylor, and Rowan near the baggage claim that day she and Ro had picked Taylor up from the airport. There's one of him carrying Rowan as the three of them walk out of the airport together and three more of them standing near her car.

     Of course, the photographer had managed to capture Taylor looking all domestic while buckling Rowan into her carseat and tugging playfully on the bill of Hayley's dad hat. In the last picture she's removed the cap -there'll be no use denying it was her in the photos- and is smiling up at Taylor, her cheeks flushed pink.

     She remembers the moment clearly- he'd been teasing her about her disguise. Ironically, it was right after that, after he'd poked fun at her for going incognito, that they'd briefly discussed the need to publicly acknowledge Rowan's existence. 

     The photos glare up at her from the screen of her iphone. Someone must have recognized them in the airport and then went outside and waited to catch them leaving together. She grinds her teeth.

     Asshole. 

     It's not like they weren't planning to make the existence of their child public knowledge at some point in the near future. She'd just wanted a little more time. A little time to just be them -Taylor and Hayley and Rowan- time to see what that felt like. 

     Now the coming weeks will be a complete circus. 

     She ponders her options, and her mind drifts back to a stream of consciousness that's become very familiar as of late.

     Rowan's becoming increasingly difficult to handle when it comes time to say goodbye to Taylor, which has Hayley feeling conflicted. She's glad that her daughter's bonding so beautifully with her dad. She's happy for Ro and for Taylor, but it breaks her heart to be the one dragging her child away from a place and a person that obviously makes her feel happy and loved. And the truth is, she can't really justify doing it anymore.

     She picks up her phone and thumbs through her recent calls list until she finds Taylor's name near the top. She presses her thumb to the faceless icon next to his name and waits for the call to connect.

     "Hello?" She hears Taylor's voice crackle from the other end of the line.

     "Hey, it's me," she breathes out, the tiredness showing in her voice. It's barely seven-thirty in the morning, and she already feels exhausted by this day. 

     "Hey, are you guys okay?" He asks, and her belly warms a little in response to his concern for their well-being. 

     "Yeah, we're fine," she assures before continuing, tentatively. "Have you... Uh, have you been on social media today by any chance?"

     "No, I don't really go on there much. Why?" He asks, and she can hear the slightly nervous pitch to his voice.

     "Brian called me about twenty minutes ago and told me to go check out Twitter before I got out and about today. He knows I don't have an account anymore, wanted to warn me about some information that was leaked about us overnight..." She trails off.