Taylor's POV
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When the males in your life are as longstanding and devout as the two standing before me; both of them caring for my baby, moving furniture around in my home. Then you must treat them to a slap up meal. I've asked them of course what they would like, steak was the top choice and so as I fry up the two rumps and sirloin I listen to my playlist and their idle conversation as they sit around my kitchen table happily bathing in the quiet of a content baby.
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Henry has had a full day of milk, let's be honest I'm sure that he has all but emptied me of breast milk I think laughing to myself as my playlist switches up to Madonna and I instantly turn to face Matthew laughing. He smiles, holding his beer, and I instantly remember our first date. He had taken me to a restaurant acting like the ultimate gentlemen before I asked him to take me out to a party with the others. We were eighteen, and I had been madly in love with him as he drove me home to his place for the first time. I had asked him to play his most embarrassing favourite music and Madonna had been his choice.
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"What guys!?" Ross laughs as Matthew stands and dances with me briefly in my kitchen almost ten years on from the first time I told him that I loved him.
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"Doesn't get old does it" he laughs down at me all charm as he ignores Ross.
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"Not at all" I giggle as he sways with me in my kitchen, his hands around my waist.
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"Taylor, on our first date" he begins turning to Ross, a broad smile on his lips as I watch him irresistibly. Matthew's brunette hair is tousled back as he grins and holds onto my waist like he used to.
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"Asked me to play my most embarrassing music in the car and so I put on Madonna and sang it to her." He laughs.
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"If I remember correctly it was like a prayer and then after that for months we listened to Madonna and sang in the car" I say softly, flipping the steaks, before rustling up the peppercorn sauce.
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"I didn't know that you could sing Matthew" Ross smiles pushing his blonde hair back and smirking.
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"I can't" Matthew laughs and I protest ruffling his hair briefly as Ross eyes the gesture inquisitively and I turn quickly to cook instead of touching his chest and hair. Fresh memories in my head of him kissing me in between brushing our teeth after our date, unable to keep our hands off of each other in our old home.
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Instead of reminiscing on a past life, I serve up the steaks with the sauce. Removing the excess oils from the hand cut fries and placing it all on the table in front of them. A selection of sauces and a bistro salad finishes off my thank you meal as I sit opposite Matthew, my ex lover. Who has become an integral part of my life.
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I watch as he blushes looking down at the plate before tucking in, miraculously Henry remains asleep throughout our meal. I check him twice to find that he is just fine, snoring away happily.
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"I wonder when Rachel will have her wedding" I say aloud and Ross smiles.
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"Can you see her being able to wait any measure of time now that she is engaged?" He laughs and I sigh.
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"So a Christmas wedding then" I smile realising that Henry will be almost four months old by then.
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"That would be quite fun actually" Ross surmises and I begin to wonder what to wear already, should I have lost all of the remaining baby weight by then, I shall look forward to wearing a tight ball gown again without feeling like I've been stuffed into the fabric.
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"This is wonderful Taylor" Matthew smiles up at me.
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"I'm glad you like it, I just needed to find a way to thank both of you for being so present and helpful to me and Henry over the past couple of days. It's been a god send" I say honestly.
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"It's not even a thing we've loved being here" Ross smiles widely and I stroke his hand briefly.
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"Stop I will cry, I'm not quite over the hormones" I laugh and he chuckles.
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"It's been great hasn't it" I say looking down at my plate, the single lit candle on the dining room table and sighing as I finally gaze out of the large windows at the pool.
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"It's been lovely" Matthew says, he regards me with his green eyes and I smile pushing away any negative thoughts. It's not that I'm not absolutely excited to be in Italy for a prolonged amount of time. It's just that eventually I know that everybody will leave, after the christening and once normality resumes I just wonder what it will all look like. What my every day routine will be and indeed how often Jay will have to leave. And most importantly how I will keep my days rolling with the baby without finding myself stuck or stressed.
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"You know" Matthew says openly, eyeing me before speaking again.
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"You'll have to let us know when Jay's next business trip is, and then we can visit you in Italy" he explains as if he is reading my mind.
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"That would be amazing" Ross smirks and I laugh imagining him helping me pick the lemons and ferment the grapes for the wine.
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"I would love that" I smile up at Matthew and his eyes glisten. As we finish all of the food I lounge back in my chair and relax listening to my playlist and staring at the two of them cleaning up and chatting to one another as they do. Henry murmurs and I collect him up in my arms.
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"I'm not too sure there's any left baby" I joke with him unbuttoning my dress and placing him to feed. He relaxes instantly, enjoying his dinner. I'm sure that he will have several more dinners throughout the evening.
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"Hey, shall we all bathe him for the first time" I ask them as he unlatches. Ironically the idea of dunking such a teeny tiny baby in water is daunting for me. Yet another thing I worry about doing alone, wondering whether he will enjoy the bath or if he will squeal.
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"That's a great idea" Ross smiles turning around to me as Matthew finishes up wiping down all of the sides.
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Bathing a newborn, is an experience, thankfully Henry quite enjoys water, which is definitely promising seen as each house we own has a pool. I hold onto Henry in the small baby bath supporting his head as he kicks his legs around splashing water everywhere. Continually checking that he hasn't gotten too cold in the water as he merely enjoys his bathing experience and soaks the rest of us. For a tiny human being he sure has a kick on him.
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"Okay" I smile over at Henry lifting him gently out of the water and placing the towel over his head as he purses his lips at me for spoiling his fun.
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"Oh look at that face" Ross chortles and I smirk.
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"He's not happy being taken out is he" Matthew giggles.
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"He'll catch a cold and shrivel up if we leave him any longer" I laugh, Henry yells at me as I place him down on the dry changing table. Matthew hands him a small rattle which distracts him as he thrashes that instead of that water.
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"Good idea" I smirk whilst placing the diaper underneath him hearing the beads crash around in the rattle as he shakes away at it. Putting baby lotion on him and practically giving him a massage before I place his white sleep suit over him for bed. I dare not take the rattle away from him as he seems to be having a good time with it, so much for going down for a sleep.
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"Looks like we will have Henry's rattle music as we watch our film" I smile over at Matthew as he chuckles.
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"Tomorrow we can set up the baby gym with the toys over it" I laugh as Henry smashes at his rattle content with the noise he is making. I hit play on the rotating mobile over his bedside crib and he stares up at the moving sheep and lights happily grasping onto the rattle happily as he watches.
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"Good luck taking that rattle off of him" Ross laughs sitting up in the other bed that we moved into the room. We stick on a movie, on the large flatscreen in the bedroom, Henry falls asleep watching his mobile and I slowly retrieve the rattle from his hands.
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Matthew had considered the massage chair earlier, his eyes raking over it before climbing in next to me, clothed in his joggers and shirt. Ross hasn’t said a word. But honestly it’s not as though we are kissing and touching one another. Matthew merely sits with his hands behind his head watching the alien movie that they chose as I lay next to him resting. I watch the expressions on his face as he regards the movie; a cheeky grin that falls over his face when the aliens get zapped. A small laugh as he agrees with Ross that the hero character is overrated. Eventually my hand rests on his side under the cover, feeling his chest rise and fall steadily. He gazes down at me briefly with a small smile before the action sequence in the film tears his eyes away. I fall into a deep sleep knowing that my baby has two protectors watching over him all night long.
