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”Are you good?” Karlie’s voice is soft and laced with concern as she squeezes Taylor’s hand in reassurance.The singer’s intake of breath at the question is sharper than she probably meant for it to be, but when she turns to look at her girlfriend there’s a genuine smile on her face.“Uh-huh, I’m great,” she says squeezing Karlie’s hand back. “Excited, 100% in the spirit!” Karlie can’t help but smile back at that, “good, me too!” She says and pretends not to notice Taylor’s bouncing leg, or how she keeps glancing out the window to see how much traffic is still blocking their path.Karlie is tempted to tell her they can still turn around, but instead she says, “I don’t think there will be much of a crowd today, it’s freezing.” Taylor smiles again and Karlie thinks she sees a hint of relief in those blue eyes,“Perfect,” Taylor says, “we’ll get a great view.”The model nods and grins, “I still can’t believe you haven’t seen the lights before.”“Well,” Taylor replies, “this is my first Christmas here.” Before Karlie can say how happy she is to be the one who gets to show Taylor this staple of New York City Christmas the black SUV has come to a stop. The model feels her heart break just a tiny bit seeing Taylor swallow in anticipation of the crowds. She almost regrets asking Taylor to come with her, at least until the blonde turns to her and places a kiss on her lips. The contact between them is so brief that the kiss feels almost stolen, but then Taylor smiles that genuine smile of excitement that reminds Karlie of a kid on Christmas morning, or of watching fireworks on the 4th of July. The smile that makes her feel just like that drop in your stomach the seconds before a roller coaster roars down its steepest drop, makes her think of falling in love quickly and suddenly and completely.“Let’s go see some Christmas lights! Taylor says, letting go of Karlie’s hand and pulling the hood on her bulky jacket up.They are a few minutes early and Karlie’s prediction turns out to be right; relatively few New Yorkers have dared brave the cold. Taylor’s security keep close anyway, but by the time the music starts Karlie has all but completely forgotten they are present at all. As far as she’s concerned t’s just her and Taylor and the Christmas lights. Of course the show is spectacular, because it always is, but truth be told Karlie isn’t paying much attention as she ordinarily would, instead she’s looking at Taylor who is standing next to her completely transfixed as the lights dance across the building’s façade.When a gloved hand finds hers in the middle of the crowd Karlie is so surprised that her first instinct is to pull hers back, but it passes and she holds on and gets to watch the rest of the show holding her girlfriend’s hand. No one even glance twice at the famous women in their midst. Taylor was right, a hood really does work wonders and besides, every single person around them are completely focused on the lights, the beautiful, magical lights that never fail to fill all of Fifth Avenue with an unmistakable Christmas spirit.Three minutes come and go and in the car on the way back Taylor turns, her five dollar hot chocolate (brought to her by a member of the security team willing to brave the line) in hand, eyes sparkling and she kisses Karlie again, it lingers this time and it tastes like chocolate and adrenaline and Christmas.“Thank you,” Taylor breathes when she pulls back. “For…?” Karlie asks, a little breathlessly and brushes some hair from Taylor’s cheek, wanting the excuse to keep her close.“Showing me Christmas in New York.” Taylor explains and when the streetlights rushing past the car hits her eyes through the window Karlie notes in awe that the Saks show has nothing on that sight.Taylor rests her head on Karlie’s shoulder, intertwining their fingers and yawns, no doubt happy to have gone out in public without causing complete uproar for once, sneaky when she wants to be as always.“You’re welcome,” Karlie says, pressing a light kiss to Taylor’s beanie-clad head not caring to point out that it’s still only November.
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"Baby, do you need any-?" Karlie Swift-Kloss began as she walked into the largest of the four bathrooms in the New York City penthouse apartment she shared with her wife of just under a year.Immediately at the sound of her voice Taylor, who was standing in front of the mirror spun around, thus foiling Karlie's initial plan to wrap her arms around the shorter woman from behind."You!" The singer said dramatically, jabbing a long, thin finger into the air towards Karlie, "this is all your fault!""What? Tay, what are you...?" Karlie's words trailed off as she took in the sight before her and knowingly smirked, gradually letting it grow into a large grin before she finally burst out laughing. "This isn't funny, Karls!" Taylor said, exasperated as she threw her hands in the air. Karlie put a hand over her mouth, trying to quiet her amusement, but wit no success. "Yes, it is," she managed to choke out between her (perhaps childish, but absolutely warranted) fits of the giggles."It most certainly is not," Taylor hissed, her blue eyes dark and her facial expression tense and unyielding. "I'm 31 years old, I'm going on stage tonight to sing Christmas songs in front of all of America as we count down the minutes to Christmas Day on national fucking television and you," she said, dramatically poking the younger girl in the chest, "gave me a fucking hickey." She whispered the word as if this act would somehow cause the large, aggressively red bruise perfectly visible on the side of her pale neck to shrink or disappear. Karlie's laughter only doubled. "I- I'm," she started to say, but it soon became very clear that she was still laughing too hard to speak. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself. "I'm sorry," she finished finally only to then immediately shake her head at her own words. "No, I'm not. I'm not sorry.""Karlieeeeee!" Taylor whined. "I'm so mad at you, this is wildly inappropriate and unprofessional and, I don't even know, but I'm mad at you!" She was pouting, trying to look as miserable as possible, but her wife only snickered."Oh really?" she asked teasingly and without any protests from the singer she pulled Taylor close, letting her fingers trail nimbly down the shorter girl's neck, pausing at the mark and meeting those blue eyes, no longer making an effort to wipe the teasing grin off her face. "You didn't seem to mind at the time," she said, her voice low and accompanied by a smirk that was now going from teasing to seductive. She caught sight of Taylor biting her lower lip, but no doubt feeling Karlie's eyes on her Taylor did her best to seem unaffected by what was being implied."In fact," Karlie whispered from somewhere low in her throat, her lips dangerously close to Taylor's neck, "I seem to remember you enjoying it quite a bit..." Triumphantly she felt Taylor shudder ever so slightly against her, perhaps at the words or at the warm breath hitting her skin just right. Regardless, the action caused Taylor, seemingly not even fully in control of her own actions, to press herself closer to Karlie, tilting her head up and thus exposing the unmarked side of her neck."Oh, but I would, you know..." Karlie warned into Taylor's ear and just like that the spell was broken and Taylor pushed her wife off, groaning in frustration and rolling her eyes. "Stop it, I'm still mad at you," she insisted, but her voice was considerably softer now and a light blush was making its way onto her cheeks."What if the makeup won't cover it properly?" Taylor asked and her voice was so small now that Karlie felt genuinely sorry for the first time in this conversation."Everyone is just starting to get used to the idea of us," Taylor said, sitting down atop the toilet lid as she spoke, "if I go out like this there will be a reaction, you know...And I don't know if a charity Christmas concert is the right place to open up a public conversation about all the kinky gay sex we're having..." There was a faint smile on her face at this, but Karlie avoided her eyes, knowing that Taylor wasn't joking."Hey," she said softly, "you know, one hickey isn't exactly indicative of kinky, gay-" "No, I know," Taylor said immediately, "but you know as well as I do that's where everyone's minds are gonna go..." Karlie did know, they had been out since just before the wedding, but even a year later they were still mindful about packing on the PDA too heavily in public, partly because they were so used to hiding and partly because they knew the idea of homosexuality was all fine and dandy as long as no one had to actually think about or imagine what they do behind closed doors and she knew Taylor worried."Hey I have an idea," Karlie said leaving Taylor alone in the bathroom for a second before returning with the huge, red, knitted scarf Taylor had found at a Christmas fair last year. "Scarfs are Christmas-y, right? And you look cute in this one!""Karlie," Taylor said holding back a laugh, "There's not even any snow and it's like, 46 degrees out!""All true," Karlie admitted, "but you do look adorable and very festive in this." "Thanks, I think I'll take my chances with the makeup team, they should be here any minute.""Okay, last chance," Karlie said, dangling the scarf in front of Taylor with a grin."No," Taylor said, taking the scarf out of Karlie's hand as she spoke and proceeding to press a sweet kiss to her lips, "but, since you like it so much," another kiss. "Maybe. You. Should. Wear. It?" She suggested puncturing every word with a kiss. "To make up for the matching one I'm about to give you..." At that she leaned up, sucking gently at Karlie's neck, chuckling against her skin when the younger woman gave an involuntary little gasp at the sensation when Taylor briefly added her teeth. Then she stepped back and inspected her work before holding out the scarf."Yep, the makeup team is only for the people on stage so you now need this more than I do. Besides, you look cute in it too, you know." Taylor smiled and helpfully draped the scarf around Karlie's neck. "nuh-uh," She protested when Karlie went to take it off figuring that the cameras would have a harder time capturing anything they weren't supposed to on someone in the audience and thus rendering the scarf unnecessary. "Wear it for me," Taylor explained, an assertive edge to her voice now, "and I'll make sure to give you more than one little love bite wherever you want as soon as we get back....Consider them an early Christmas present."With that she left a gaping Karlie (scarf and all) helplessly watching Taylor go, deliberately swaying her hips as she did.
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Taylor had always liked Jingle Bells, it was easy to play and fun to sing and moreover it was one of the first songs she could remember ever playing on the piano in order to entertain her family during Christmases past.So when she was asked to partake in a televised Christmas concert for charity and given free reins as to which songs to play it had been one of the first she'd mentally added to the list. Out of the five performances she'd been asked to prepare that was the one she was looking forward to the most.She could already see the view she'd have from the piano on stage, children with rosy cheeks sitting on their parents' shoulders singing along and waving at her; that alone made the song a worthy addition to her set.She'd spent the last couple of days making sure she was well-prepared and now she had only hours until she'd be going on stage. A meticulous planner down to her toes Taylor was prepared to spend those hours in her home studio, bent over her white piano, making sure she knew all the chords and all the words to all five songs perfectly. That she had spent most of her childhood singing and playing them no longer had any bearing it seemed.As her fingers danced over the keys she was so deeply engrossed in her work that she didn't hear her wife walk in.Karlie stood in the doorframe, wordlessly and perhaps the tiniest bit in awe, watching Taylor play Silent Night for a while before she spoke."Has anyone ever told you how hot you look when you play?" Despite her soft tone she almost made Taylor jump.
When did she come in?
Realizing what her wife had said the singer grinned down at her own hands, before looking up, playing all the while and still with her back to Karlie said:"Might've happened once or twice...""Yeah?" Karlie asked while she walked over and wrapped her long arms around the figure at the piano. "...Yeah." Taylor agreed somewhat absent-mindedly, turning her head ever so slightly to smile at her wife. "Will you go away? I'm trying to concentrate." She added, only half-jokingly, as she tried to shrug her way out of Karlie's embrace."Okay," The taller girl agreed, "I love you." She said a little teasingly as she let go and Taylor smiled softly, "mhm," she said, "love you too...""You do?" Karlie questioned, an unmistakable smirk in her voice now."Yes baby, very much." Taylor, who had now clearly reached the limit for her patience confirmed."Love you too, you know what, Princess?""What, Karlie?"Silence behind her. For a second Taylor thought that perhaps Karlie had thought it better to leave her to her craft after all, but then it clicked."I'm sorry, Sir." She corrected herself and just barley resisted an urge to roll her eyes."That's better...I was about to tell you that you look really, really sexy when you concentrate..."With that her arms were back around Taylor and she didn't know why, perhaps it was Karlie's use of that specific nickname, or her teasing or the authority in her voice, but Taylor let her go back to touching her with no further protests. A familiar shiver, accompanied by an aggressive blush went through her body and finally she gave up entirely on playing and instead intertwined her fingers with Karlie's, causing the dominant to smile into her neck, before placing a kiss there, making Taylor sigh involuntarily.She even leaned back into Karlie a little bit and when her lips brushed against Taylor's neck to whisper something in her ear, Taylor jerked her head to the side and spun around on her chair.Now facing Karlie she kissed her sweetly, a kiss that her wife quickly deepened, twisting her fingers into the hair at Taylor's neck.By the time they pulled apart they were both a little breathless."Actually," Taylor admitted, "Maybe I could use a little break?""Yeah?" Karlie asked again and as she placed another kiss on Taylor's soft lips the singer smiled against her lips, "Yes, Sir."Their next lingering kiss saw Karlie's hands find their way to Taylor's waist and while lifting her with one strong arm Karlie slammed the piano shut with her other, free hand, setting her Princess down on the instrument.When her lips once again found Taylor's neck the singer knew playing Jingle Bells again would have to wait...
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”I’m very sorry, Taylor, but the weather is far too unpredictable today to take the jet anywhere.” Mark, one of the members of her security team informed her after finally getting off the phone after having had a lengthy conversation with Taylor’s pilot. The singer nodded and, feeling tears well up in her eyes she turned away briefly before looking back at Mark.“Of course,” she said, evenly and calmly. What she really wanted to do was shout something akin to: “I made someone I love a promise and now Christmas is ruined, Mark, it’s ruined!!” But of course she didn’t, instead she said: “Please, take the rest of the day off, go hang out with your families. I’ll call and update you on my situation tomorrow, Merry Christmas.” She managed a smile and when Mark and the others (after some convincing) left Taylor pulled her fox slipper-clad feet up into her comfy armchair. Hugging her legs she looked out the window at the storm ravishing New York City.The snow was everywhere, an aggressive white blanket that simply refused to lie flat. She listened to the wind for a moment, how it sang in the trees and threw the snow around like an overenthusiastic kid. She looked into the street, it seemed empty. Not even last-minute Christmas shoppers dared brave the cold or the massive amounts of white, not to mention the icy roads. Taylor sighed in her loneliness. She was supposed to be at Karlie’s this year, she was supposed to be on her way to St. Louis this very second and yet she wasn’t, because of the most ill-timed bad weather in human history…She missed her girlfriend, she missed her family and now having sent them home she even missed her goddamn security and she was angry for not having flew yesterday like Karlie had suggested.After some more sniffling she picked up the phone to call her mom.“Teffy!” A familiar voice, although not the one she’d been expecting, said as the phone was picked up on the second ring.“Austin, hi!” Taylor exclaimed, her spirits immediately somewhat lifted.She knew her brother had come to their parents’ house in Nashville the day before and was planning to stay until a couple of days before New Year’s when Taylor (after having spent most of the holidays with the Klosses.) was supposed to join the rest of the Swifts for a late family Christmas along with Karlie.Before either of them could say anything else to continue the conversation another voice was heard.“Tell he- better not be- that plane-!” Taylor had a hard time picking up what her mother was saying due to the storm messing somewhat with her connection, but Austin laughed in her ear and said, “Mom wants me to tell you to get the hell off that plane!”“That- not- I said!” Andrea protested and Taylor couldn’t help but laugh, before remembering her saddening situation.“Actually,” she volunteered, “mom can relax; I’m not on the jet.”“But Karlie-“ Austin began.“Believe me I know, the weather's too poor.”“Aww, Teff, I’m sorry! …Wait, mom incoming…” A struggle for the phone followed his words and then: “Hi sweetheart, Merry Christmas we miss you!”Taylor swallowed, feeling herself tear up again at the sound of her mother’s warm voice.“Hi,” she said, unmistakable tears stuck in her throat, “I miss you guys too.” Her voice tightened and she didn’t dare attempt any holiday greetings afraid she’d break. It was only the second Christmas since meeting Karlie she was to be away from her family (the couple had decided on alternating between their families every other Christmas) and the only thing that had kept Taylor from focusing on how much she’d miss her family was the knowledge she’d get to hang out with her fiancée and her welcoming, lovely family.“Don’t get me wrong, I am very relieved to hear you’re not in the air given the storm warning in New York, but that must have been an awfully quick trip? Haven’t I told you to be careful when you fly?”“Mom,” Taylor said feeling tears rush down her cheeks now and no longer making any efforts to stop it from happening, “I’m not in St. Louis; they won’t let us take off in this fucking storm…”Andrea was so surprised by this news she didn’t even have the presence of mind to police her daughter’s language.“Oh but honey, it’s Christmas Eve and you’re telling me you’re all alone in that big apartment of yours?”“Yeah for now, we’re gonna try to fly out tomorrow.” Taylor told her, absent-mindedly wiping her nose on the sleeve of her Christmas pajamas as she spoke.“Oh, no, there’ll be none of that, dad is driving us up there this instant to come and get you, you’re not spending Christmas Day flying.”“Mom, the trip isn’t long enough to take all day, I’ll be-“ Taylor tried, but it was too late.“SCOTT,” Andrea shouted to Mr. Swift in the other room, “We’re- to New- get Taylor home- Christmas!”“No, mom,” Taylor protested firmly, “no one’s driving in the city in this storm…Don’t do it, please. I have to call you back, I gotta tell Karlie. Okay, bye I love you. I’ll call in a bit, Merry Christmas!” Taylor said all of this very quickly and proceeded to hang up on her poor mother just as Andrea was breathing in to say something new.Fiddling with her engagement ring Taylor sat, waiting for Karlie to pick up, which she did, on the fifth ring.“Baby!” Karlie greeted, she sounded muffled, as if she was halfway through eating some treat or other. Taylor heard a large swallow and then, “Please, tell me you’re not calling mid-flight in the middle of a storm?” Taylor couldn’t help but chuckle at that, “you sound just like mom,” she said and Karlie laughed apologetically.“They wouldn’t clear us for take-off…” Taylor says then and her voice is small as the weight of the empty apartment fills her again. She can hear the general chaos and glee of Karlie’s huge family in the back and she sighs softly, wishing more than anything she was there with them all.“Oh, baby. City has a storm-warning though, so it’s the best decision. I want you safe, no matter how much I wish you were here stuffing your face with pie.”“I know and I wouldn’t wanna endanger anyone flying with me, I just really wish I could be where you are…”“Always,” Karlie agreed softly.“They promised me we’re gonna try to get there tomorrow.” Taylor said, allowing a hopeful note into her tone.“Okay, but stay safe; I love you!”“I will, give everyone hugs from me and I hope I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you too!”--To be continued…
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Taylor spent the rest of the day waiting for a call from the pilot telling her that the skies were clear enough to fly. That call still hadn't come at five when her lamps decided it'd be a good idea to blink, once, twice and then leave her apartment in complete darkness. At once her mind what brought to all the time she'd spent as a kid trying to combat her fear of the dark. She strongly suspected this fear was where her anxiety was rooted and she hadn't gotten better at handling it over the years.Saying a silent prayer of thanks for all the scented candles family and friends had gifted her over the years Taylor spent almost half an hour running around the apartment lightning them all, not realizing until long afterwards how weird it would smell once they were all lit at once...Oh well, it was a small price to pay and at least she wasn't sitting in complete darkness anymore.Getting up from her chair once again the singer went on a quest to find Olivia and a guitar, two of her biggest comforts in life. She found both the cats under her bed, trying to escape the scary sound of the angry wind no doubt.Back in the living room Taylor sat down, a guitar in her lap and two cats on either side of the armchair, having claimed both armrests."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," Taylor began, immediately noting just how echo-y the apartment sounded."This is so sad, you guys," She said, addressing the ladies as she put down the guitar and lifted Olivia into her lap.When it reached late afternoon a bored Taylor was prepared to cook herself up a feast, until of course, she remembered that she had no food whatsoever, having thought she'd be gone for most of the holidays.She settled with some questionable cookie dough she found at the far back of the pantry and then Karlie called again."Baby, how are you holding up?"
I'm miserable
"I'm okay, how are you guys?""Oh, we're okay too, just missing you a little extra since we just watched Love Actually. What are you up to?"
I'm starving, the power went out.
"Nothing much, just cuddling the ladies, thinking I might brave the snow for a pizza.""Okay, be careful. Love you.""I will, love you too, Karls."Just as they hung up Taylor realized there would be no pizza, she'd sent security home for the day, but god was she hungry...Maybe it was being alone behind these four walls all day that was slowly driving her crazy, or maybe it was missing her family, or the hunger...Whatever the reason international pop star Taylor Swift, now on the brink of starvation, popped an anxiety suppressor, put on her darkest hoodie and bulkiest winter jacket. Proceeded to blow all the candles out, putting Security-James on speed dial and leaving her cats alone in the dark apartment."Don't worry ladies, I'll be back!" She called, praying to God she would and that the pizza place around the corner would be open.There was literally no one else out on the streets of New York, expect for the odd car, but Taylor found she'd greatly underestimated how hard it would be to walk through all this snow. Somehow, with her heart hammering in her chest the whole time, convinced every second would be her last Taylor made it to her destination unharmed. To her delight the place was open if extremely empty and convincing herself it was too late to turn back now she entered the establishment and walked straight to the counter, not sparing the menus a glance.Ordering her usual Taylor thinks that the clerk looks twice at her, but he says nothing and she's thankful. She sits down to wait and pulling her phone out of her pocket she notices the warning: 8% soon she'll be entirely cut off from the outside world. She better make it back without needing James or anyone else, she thinks to herself, her chest tightening at the idea.When she gets back to the apartment (because thankfully she does) the smell hits her immediately and it takes a while for her to understand that it's all the candles. Putting her arm up to cover her nose an overwhelmed Taylor steps inside, shivering from the cold. Not knowing what else to do she lights the candles again and makes peace with the fact that the smell won't leave these rooms for weeks, but at least she won't have to eat in the dark.--Taylor was drenched in sweat and her breathing was shallow. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table, 2:38AM. The apartment was quiet and unnaturally dark, but quiet. She took a shaky breath and was just about to chalk what she thought she'd heard up to a dream when she heard it again, the unmistakable sound of the doorbell.Taylor's heart almost jumped out of her chest. This is it, she thought, this is how I fucking die, alone on Christmas Day.
Someone recognized me on the street and followed me home.
God, why would I send security away?
It didn't stop and eventually she got up, because she had to and on bare feet she padded towards the door in the dark trying to hold in the panicked call for help.Security aren't here she reminded herself, I'm on my own.She looked through the peephole and when she had she couldn't get the damn door open fast enough but eventually she did and she stumbled into her mother's waiting arms."MERRY CHRISTMAS!!"That's when Taylor became aware that there were more people here and she looked them all over: dad, Austin and Karlie!
Karlie's here too!!
"Hey you guys, come in! How did you make it here? Oh my God, Merry Christmas!!""Your father is a good driver," Andrea revealed."So is Karlie, she agreed to drive to us the second I called" Austin added"I told you not to drive in this storm!" Taylor exclaimed and though she was trying to sound stern as she hugged her dad hello she couldn't stop the wide grin. "And you," she said, gesturing to Karlie, "You lied to me, you said you were home watching Love Actually when really you must've been calling from the road!""I'm sorry," Karlie admitted softly, wrapping her fiancée in a warm hug, "but I didn't wanna spoil the surprise, were you surprised? I tried to call and warn you just before we got here so you wouldn't get scared by the door.""I'm sorry," Taylor echoed, "my phone died.""Why didn't you just charge it?" Austin asked his sister, who was currently very preoccupied saying hello to her girl...With her tongue...Before Taylor had time to respond to him the youngest Swift covered his nose and half-shouted:"Teffy, what the fuck is that smell?"Laughing a little sheepishly now, Taylor said, "It's candles, a whole bunch of scented ones...The power went out, okay?!"The room erupted in laughter immediately and Taylor hit her brother on the arm, "Be nice to me, it's Christmas!"
And Christmas it was, at last.
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“Morning,” Taylor said, her face inches from Karlie’s. The model, having just woken up took no note of this; instead she lazily wrapped her arm around Taylor’s waist and pulled her girlfriend onto her chest.“Mornin’,” She mumbled into Taylor’s hair, by all appearances she was planning to go back to sleep; but the singer had other plans.Rolling out of Karlie’s light grip Taylor attached her mouth to the taller girl’s neck and when this elicited no reaction Taylor resolutely added teeth to the equation, causing Karlie to shift slightly away from the contact.“Taylo’, ‘m ‘sleep.” She muttered, attempting to roll over and away from her girl, but Taylor leaned down, “Mhmm,” she agreed darkly, biting Karlie’s earlobe and causing her to moan softly, half in her sleep.“But you said my name in your sleep…” She whispered, proceeding to straddle Karlie and kiss her way down her throat, feeling skin warm from sleep under her exploring tongue. Karlie opened her eyes at the sensation and intensely green eyes looked up at Taylor.“I did?” She asked, almost startled, as a light blush crept down her exposed skin. Taylor hummed in response and left small, wet marks in her wake, her nails digging into Karlie's sides.“Taylor,” Karlie said softly as if tasting the familiar word, but the one to whom it belonged just shook her head, a barely noticeable smirk on her lips.“Not that one…” She was teasing, enjoying this. She could see Karlie swallow at the exact moment that every last detail of her dream came back to her, vividly.“Domina,” It was a sigh falling from lips belonging to someone who’d picked up on that specific edge in her dominant’s voice and was now wide awake.“That’s right, Angel, good girl…”
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"Karls?" Taylor calls uncertainly, a note of panic in her voice."Kitchen, baby!" The model calls back at once, seemingly picking up on Taylor's concern. Seconds later Taylor storms into the room, holding their four-month old kitten in her arms and looking distraught, holding back tears she really didn't expect would come to her eyes so quickly."Hi, baby, did you wanna help with the first batch of Christmas cookies?" Karlie asks and Taylor, who's been looking forward to the annual Christmas baking after a long day, can hear the smile in her girlfriend's voice, but she's too worried to retaliate."Did you feed Dibbles anything weird?" She asks instead, as calmly as she can, but now finally, Karlie seems to notice how upset Taylor is. The taller woman spins around, away from the cookies and spots the cat in Taylor's arms."No why, is she okay?" In a few quick steps Karlie has reached the pair and kisses Taylor's forehead in concern, placing a hand on the cat's fluffy head."Well, for one she's thrown up all over the living room carpet!" Taylor says her voice hollow with worry."I'm sorry baby, I should've kept a better eye on her," Karlie says, pulling Taylor close, "cats do throw up sometimes, hairballs and stuff..." She almost coos into Taylor's hair in an attempt to comfort her."B-but," a harsh sob interrupts the sentence and she sniffles a little, "there's blood in it." Karlie pulls away slightly and Taylor can tell she's trying very hard not to look as wide-eyed as she does."Okay," her voice is surprisingly calm now, "that admittedly doesn't sound good. Do you want to go to the vet?"Taylor shakes her head at once, "I don't want to ruin a Christmas tradition, I've been looking forward to baking with you all day..." Taylor tries her hand at a smile, but the weak attempt falters from her lips as soon as she realizes Karlie can see right through her."Well, if Olivia is sick you won't be able to enjoy it the way you should, let's go make sure the baby is okay." Before Taylor can protest her girlfriend has turned off the oven and is already on her way towards the door.Not one to bother her security for naught Taylor realizes how truly beside herself she must be when she unceremoniously bangs on their door. John, the newest addition to the team opens up at once."Is everything alright?" He asks immediately, glancing at Karlie, searching for some explanation to Taylor's wide-eyed stare."I'm sorry to bother you, but our kitten is sick!" Taylor explains gesturing to Olivia; hanging ruefully on the girl's arm."Aww, I'm very sorry to hear that, would you like some of us to take her to the vet?""Actually I'd like to go with!" Taylor says at once and Karlie nods beside her, adding: "I'm coming too!"John nods curtly, "very well, let's go, ladies!"Spending their baking day in a veterinarian's office wasn't exactly what either of them had had in mind, but when Taylor sits at the back off the room, (to avoid such a public place as a waiting room the doctor was kind enough to offer the celebrities stay in the room) head on Karlie's shoulder as the doctor examines their cat Taylor is nonetheless glad to have her girl there, even if they could've had a much nicer night at home.After what feels like hours upon hours of slow torture (but is probably closer to half an hour) The doctor finally turns to them and Taylor's hand squeezes Karlie's way too hard."Ladies," the doctor says, daring to smile, "I have good news, it seems your little critter hasn't quite learnt how big of a hair ball she's able to swallow yet, she's taking too much and causing excessive vomiting, leading to blood. It's nothing dangerous and will pass as she gets older!"Relief washes over Taylor and she can feel Karlie relaxing next to her as well.
Nothing is wrong with their little baby
In the SUV on the way home Taylor finally turns to smile at Karlie where they sit, cuddled up in the backseat, arms tightly around each other."Hey," she says softly, meeting the other woman's eyes, "We have cookies to bake!"Karlie smiles back and they kissfor the first time that night, protected by the car's tinted windows as thekitten slumbers on Taylor's other side. Karlie runs a hand through Taylor'shair and grins against her lips, something that, at once causes Taylor to grinjust as widely. "I'm glad everything is okay," Karlie says softly and Taylor nods, "everythingis perfect!" She agrees.
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As a child Taylor Swift used to write long lists for Santa every Christmas. She’d stopped at age 7 when she, through several completely accidental turns of events had come to the somewhat heartbreaking conclusion that there was in fact, no Santa. Following this she’d deemed the practice of list-writing utterly unnecessary and had since made peace with the fact that this little bit of magic would be lost to her forever.Instead she wrote other types of lists, to-do-lists, to-read-lists, grocery-lists and all kinds of work-related lists. Thus it felt more than a little weird to sit down at age 32 and proceed to write a letter to Santa Claus on the blank piece of paper before her.She paused and caught herself biting the top of her pencil the same way she used to as a kid when trying to figure out how to continue.This was an assignment from her therapist to alleviate some of her stress and nerves and she was hoping against hope that it’d help.
Dear Santa,
My name is Taylor and you probably don’t remember me, I haven’t written in a while. I know you have a lot to do this time of year, but
I’m writing now to tell you about my daughter. She hasn’t been born yet, but she might be on Christmas day. We thought she might be born on my birthday, but she’s a little late, which is fine, she’s just taking her time. Anyway, what follows is a wish list from me for this year; it might be her first Christmas.
Keep her safe and warm
Make sure she gets to see some snow
Get her one of those first special Teddy Bears
Promise to come visit every year until she turns 18
Make sure she knows just how much her mommies love her
Do this, Santa and I will keep your magic alive for her as long as I can.
Merry Christmas, Love Taylor, Karlie and Peanut
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The kiss tasted like berries, like a freshly cut fruit from an orchard in the warmest climate in the middle of freezing New York December. Taylor bit her girlfriend’s lip, pulling it sharply—enough to make Karlie gasp slightly, but not enough to draw blood.Then Taylor pulled away slightly and the blue in her eyes had started dissolving, the sea retracting from the shoreline.Then, as if one cue, the moment was interrupted by a loud crash from the living room.Understanding immediately the two women rushed into the room only to find exactly what they’d been expecting.Karlie had questioned both once and twice whether the cats actually needed their own stockings, but Taylor had been confident in her decision…Until Meredith attacked hers and brought it to the floor and desperate search of the catnip, of course.“Well, merry Christmas, ladies!” Taylor exclaimed as Olivia joined the chaos and as they both started laughing Karlie left the I told you so hanging in the air as she helped Taylor clean up the mess.
I’ll be cleaning up catnip with you on Christmas Eve…
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"No offense Taylor, but like, objectively that is awful!" Karlie Kloss was trying desperately (and failing miserably) to hold back a laugh as she stood in the middle of the living room trying to take in what her fiancée insisted was a tasteful Christmas decoration.Taylor pouted at her, "He's cute!""It's way too big," Karlie argued, gesturing to the rest of the Santas that Harold The Pride Santa (as Taylor had dubbed him) overshadowed in both color and size in his rainbow Santa robes."Size doesn't matter, Karlieeee," Taylor insisted, dragging the E and doing her best to keep a straight face."Taylorrrr," Karlie copied, "he is literally the first thing anyone is going to notice when they walk in here.""So what?" Taylor said shrugging with a lopsided grin, "we're gay; Harold will help clear that up to everyone this year.""Everyone already knows we're gay, I think Santa playing for the other team may be bigger news at this point." Karlie countered, causing Taylor to roll her eyes."Isn't it obvious," The singer asked, giggling now, "I mean he does have a beard!"At this Karlie's response was to turn and look into an imaginary camera as if she were on The Office. "Brilliant, she'll be here all week, folks; try the veal!""You don't eat veal, though." The shorter girl pointed out, lopsided grin back on her face."I do not, I also don't think we should put Harold on the coffee table, but nobody ever listens to me in this house...""Where do you think we should put him then?" Taylor questioned, offering a shrug."Preferably somewhere where no one can see him," Karlie muttered and was rewarded with a ice blue glare."Karlie Elizabeth Kloss, do I need to remind you he was a gift from GLAAD?! He needs a place of honor where he commands respect!"Taylor sounded like this was the most offended she'd ever been in her life. The effect was only undermined by her immediately walking over to pick Harold up, scanning the room for an alternative placement."Fineeee," Karlie sighed, "Gay Santa can stay on the coffee table, if I get to put my planet ornaments on the tree, all nine!""Okay you nerd, that's a deal." Taylor agreed, "let's kiss on it!""Ha gayyyyy!" Karlie teased."So gay," Taylor nodded, "Merry Christmas, Harold!"
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"Um Karls, I'm not sure girls are supposed to kiss each other, maybe we should-" Taylor started but Karlie just smiled at her, her sunshiniest smile that sometimes (now was one of those times) made Taylor feel as if tiny butterflies were trapped in her belly."You're not a girl," Karlie reminded her, "you're a prince, remember? And that," she said, pointing above their heads, "is definitely mistletoe!"Taylor didn't know much about kissing, but she knew you were supposed to kiss if you ended up under mistletoe together, her mother had told her as much when she hung it up. Tomorrow was Christmas and it did seem wrong to break a Christmas tradition so close to Santa's imminent arrival.Nonetheless it felt a little weird that this was about to be Taylor's very first kiss with someone outside the family After all, neither of them were boys and girls were supposed to kiss boys, right?That, she'd seen in the movies, not in the movies she usually watched of course (unless it was a princess movie in which the prince and princess got married at the end) but the movies that her parents watched after she went to bed. The ones she sometimes caught a glimpse of if she ever got up to have a glass of water, or if she had a nightmare.Taylor had begged mommy to let her watch those movies sometime, not necessarily because she wanted to see the kissing (she didn't, boys had cooties) but because of the girls, they were always so pretty in those movies. They got to wear long dresses and glittery make-up, Taylor thought they looked more like princesses than the actual princesses from her Disney movies.Besides the princess ladies there wasn't much about those grown-up movies that appealed to Taylor, though. She'd heard somewhere that they were called romantic comedies and she knew comedy meant funny, but she didn't think they seemed very funny, everyone sounded serious all the time and the princess ladies cried in the rain a lot.One time there had been something on late at night where a girl kissed another girl, but her uncle who had been to visit at the time had quickly changed the channel when Taylor happened to enter the room and muttered something under his breath that sounded bad.For some reason that made Taylor's heart drop into a cold pit in her stomach.Why was a girl kissing another girl so bad? She wanted to ask, but she didn't, she just let dad tuck her back into bed and tried not to think about it.Now almost a year later she'd forgotten all about that movie, but the memory of it came back to her as she leaned in and kissed Karlie.Karlie's lips were soft against Taylor's though and it felt nicer than she's expected and nothing at all like kissing mommy or daddy, or Austin. No this, this felt soft and different and she was half expecting a chorus of birds to start singing, like in the Disney movies.They stood there with their lips puckered up against each other for a few long seconds, so long that Taylor considered closing her eyes and elegantly putting her foot up in the air, like the princess ladies always did, but that'd probably look weird. She wasn't supposed to be the princess here after all and she wasn't wearing pretty high heeled shoes so she refrained.Karlie was the first to pull away and Taylor beamed at her, "My princess," she said as solemnly as she could, "You're safe now. I, Prince Taylor of the Rose Kingdom have saved you from the evil dragon!"As Taylor presented princess Karlie with a deep bow she smiled back and looked like she was just about to thank the prince when the latter saw her little brother move out of the corner of her eye. She instantly interrupted their game and whirled around to stare at him."Austin!" She exclaimed accusatory, "Why the hell are you moving? You're dead!"The three old gasped sharply and even Karlie looked mildly horrified, but Taylor remained unruffled and continued giving her brother a dark glare."You can't just move, that ruins the game, I'm supposed to have killed you and besides-""I'm hungy!" Austin interrupted, "it's no fun anymoe, I always have to die and just lie still-""Well, that's because you always want to be the dragon and-""I'm going to get a snack and I'm telling mommy you said a bad wod, Teffy!" Austin cut in and an evil grin spread across his lips.Finally he had something to hold over his sister that'd not only get him her desert at today's dinner, but probably all the deserts for as long as he demanded."If you do that you can't be in the tree house!" Taylor shot back, matching his evil grin."Well if you do that I'm telling mommy you kissed Kalie.""Well, it's a game, the prince is supposed to kiss the princess after he saves her and besides, that is a mistletoe!" Karlie said suddenly, Taylor had almost forgotten she was there, but now she was thankful for her interference. Austin wasn't listening though; he'd already run off towards the kitchen to get his snack and left the two girls alone."I have to go home, Tay." Karlie said suddenly and Taylor felt disappointment well up. "Already?" she asked and the other girl nodded."Oh okay, will I see you tomorrow?""Tomorrow's Christmas, Silly!"Taylor giggled, "Oh, that's right, but what about the day after, will I see you then?""Yes." And with that simple word Karlie pressed a kiss to Taylor's cheek.Taylor felt her face go all warm, "W-what was that for?""We're still under the mistletoe," Karlie explained simply and grinned.Before Taylor could respond to that Karlie was out the front door, but at the last second she turned around and smiled again, "Merry Christmas, Taylor!""Merry Christmas!" Taylor shouted to the closed door and then she absent-mindedly touched her cheek where Karlie had kissed it. "Merry Christmas..." She said again softly.For the rest of the day (Even when Austin got her dessert because of that bad word) she found she was unable to wipe a smile matching the one Karlie had flashed her before leaving off her face.
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”Are you sure I should come with you?” Karlie asked and her tone registered somewhere between excited and anxious.“Yes, of course,” Taylor said, giving her fiancée a vibrant smile. “But if you really want to be a part of this you should help me wrap these!”Taylor was sitting on the floor in the bedroom of their New York apartment, wearing her Deadpool onsie and a Santa hat. She was surrounded by wrapping paper and various gift that she and Karlie had picked out for a selected few Swifties who all had no idea what was about to hit them in just a few days’ time.“You’re the one on wrapping duty,” Karlie protested, “I can’t help, you put me on filming, remember?”“I’ll help,” A third voice offered and Taylor shook her head, “Tree no, you’re keeping the ladies away from all the stuff; eyes on the job, please, woman!” The redhead threw her head back laughing and managed to grab Meredith just in time to stop her from putting her claws into a cat-themed throw pillow.“No Mere, that’s not yours, that’s Anton’s!” Taylor warned, carefully wrapping the rainbow Christmas sweater laid out before her as she spoke.“Anton?” Karlie questioned, “Is he the one who just came out?”“Nope,” Taylor shook her head, “he’s the one whose wedding we were invited to, whose husband sent you the video thanking us for the flowers.”“Oh, that’s right,” Karlie nodded, doing her best to keep up with Taylor’s photographic memory.It had been about two months since they had publicly come out and simultaneously announced their engagement.In that time they’d gotten countless messages from supportive and overjoyed fans, thanking and congratulating them and now Taylor had deemed it time to give back, big time.“Okay, baby,” The singer said putting her thumb up to show she was ready, “action!”She adjusted her Santa hat slightly and proceeded to wave at the camera before returning to the wrapping.Karlie panned around the room once or twice to show the scope of this, all of the gifts, the presents that had already been wrapped and of course, the paper the cats had already massacred before Tree came to assist them in keeping Meredith and Olivia entertained enough to stay away. Then she walked over to Taylor proceeded to ask a few questions about the gift she was currently busy wrapping and explain she had been the one to pick it out. Before finally turning the camera on herself in her matching Santa hat, waving at their future audience and leaning down to kiss Taylor’s cheek.
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A few days later the question slipped out again when they were already in the car, “Are you sure I should come with?”“For the millionth time Karlie, yes. It’s going to be fine, baby.” She pressed a reassuring kiss to Karlie’s lips as she said that and Tree who was on camera duty was of course sure to be quick enough in turning on the camera to capture the kiss.“Are you excited?” She asked and at once Karlie’s look of nerves were replaced by her trademark sunshine smile, “So excited!” She agreed and Taylor nodded next to her, “Excited and festive!” She pointed out, gesturing to the Santa hats.Taylor held onto Karlie’s hand as the singer rang the doorbell in the perfectly normal, suburban neighborhood and Karlie had to confess that the fear and hesitation had largely been replaced with excitement and Christmas spirit at that point.“What if they’re not home?” She half-whispered in a suppressed giggle just before the door swung open.The young woman in the doorway couldn’t be a year past twenty, she had slightly frizzy, but cool multi-colored hair and was wearing a reindeer pajamas. When she saw who had come to visit she stumbled backwards ever so slightly and immediately covered her face in an attempt to either mask her complete surprise or stop the tears.“Oh my God,” She squealed, “Oh my-Oh my GOD, Taylor and-and Karlie Kloss!! What-What is-!”Taylor laughed, interrupting her babbling by pulling her into a one-armed hug, holding out the presents for Karlie to grab so that she could hug Miranda properly.“Hey Miranda, it’s so nice to see you in person!”“Y-you too, oh my god!” When the two women finally pulled away from each other the fan kept staring from Taylor to Karlie in complete awe.As Karlie went in for her hug Taylor made sure to hold out the presents and drily announced:“I think there has been a misunderstanding,” Miranda took the gifts, but stared at Taylor with fear in her eyes now, misunderstanding?“I’m not Taylor,” She continued, not noticing the startled look that was now slowly fading from Miranda’s face, “I’m Santa and as you may have heard this,” she put her arm around Karlie as she spoke, “is Mrs. Claus-To-Be!”