She should have known.
That's all that runs through her mind as she stares at her phone, the text message glaring at her through the screen.
Travis had only left New York last night, after a wonderful weekend: one filled with plenty of time with Matilda, a fun night at SNL - that Tree dubbed their 'hard launch' - and a date night at Waverly Inn, one of her favourite restaurants in the city.
She was flying high from the endorphins, from the feeling of just simply being in his presence for five straight days, practically skipping into the studio with Jack this afternoon. He'd noticed, too, remarking how happy he was for her, that she was feeling so good.
She'd returned home and relieved Hannah of her duties, giving Matilda her dinner and a bedtime feed before they FaceTimed Travis to say goodnight, the baby settling pretty quickly after the exciting events of the last weekend.
Taylor was just getting into bed when she heard her phone ding, and she thought it was Travis - his usual good night text, just for her, before they both went to sleep. She excitedly lifted the phone to read what he had written for her, when the name jumped out at her, and she flung the offending item across the bed as if it burned her.
Swallowing down the tears she could feel forming already, she picks it up, hesitantly, reading the message that she'd just received.
Joe
You better not be allowing my daughter around that man, Taylor. I've instructed my lawyers, and I'm filing for custody. Good luck.
She reads it over and over and over, so much so she thinks the words might imprint in her brain or on her phone screen, at the very least. The tears flow, her mind racing and her head dizzy as she processes the words she had always dreaded.
Taylor had longed for the day that Joe would show an interest in Matilda: not for any romantic notion (that was killed the moment she saw him in bed with another woman) but for her daughter to have a father, one that was interested in her life. That knew she couldn't sleep without her bunny rabbit's ear tucked under her chin; that her favourite food was sweet potato, and she despised avocado; and that she loved watching Bluey on the TV, but Peppa Pig scared her.
And then her mind flits to the man who does know these things. Sweet, kind, wonderful Travis, who had opened up his arms and his heart to both of them, loving them as a package deal, stepping up for Matilda even though he'd only known her for a fraction of the time Joe had. She couldn't help it - she already viewed him as a better dad than Joe; and she wanted it to be permanent, he did too. The very idea Joe was using him to get at her - to use Matilda in his war with Taylor - would crush him, too, she knew.
But she also knew the only thing that would calm her down right now would be to hear his voice, to close her eyes and let his words wash over her. He always knew the exact right thing to say to her, especially when she would work herself into a state. He'd never seen her quite this bad, but she didn't care. She took a screenshot of Joe's message and sent it to Travis, barely giving him a minute to read it before she was calling him.
He picks up instantly, clearly already on his phone when she'd texted.
'Tay, it's going to be okay. You're going to fight him on this. In no world will anyone take Matilda from you'.
Taylor opens her mouth to speak, but all that comes out is a strangled sob, and she lifts the pillow beside her - the one that still smelt of Travis - and buries her face in it, breathing him in.
He continues, knowing what she needs, but she can hear the emotion in his voice. 'He's scum, Taylor, not talking to you for six months and then sending this. The only good thing he's ever done in his life is give you Matilda. And you're going to fight him, baby, and you're going to get full custody. You have it already, really, it will just be formal'.
