Natalie's eyes opened and fell on Taylor lying beside her. She smiled to herself and rolled quietly out of bed. She grabbed her dressing gown and silently slipped out of the bedroom so not to disturb him.
With the bedroom door closed behind her, Natalie retrived the anniversary present she had bought for Taylor from its hiding place (the bottom of the filing cabinet, which, given all the files lying around the house, Taylor plainly never used). She check in on Ezra (sound asleep) and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Taylor
Taylor stirred, pushing himself up in bed as he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder. He could hear Natalie in the kitchen, and debated for a moment if he should get up or not.
Eventually he pulled himself up to go and check on Ezra, then after a quick trip to the bathroom he made his way out to the kitchen.
"Good morning," he greeted, eyes still in slits as he went to sit on a stool at the bench.
Natalie
"Good morning," Natalie smiled.
She put down what she was doing and walked over to give Taylor a kiss on the cheek.
"Happy anniversary."
Taylor
Taylor smiled, slipped his hand around the back of her neck, and pulled her in for a proper kiss.
As he pulled away, his grin widened.
"Happy anniversary."
Natalie
Natalie smiled.
"I got you something," she said.
She walked over to the bench, retrived the present and handed it to Taylor.
Taylor
"Ooh, suspense," Taylor teased, taking it from her and starting to unwrap it.
His eyes lit up when he saw it, suddenly a lot more awake. Billy Joel's 12 Gardens live CD.
"Thankyou," Taylor stood up and kissed her again, "really. I was waiting for this one!"
Natalie
"Yeah," Natalie grinned at him. "I had a feeling you might like it."
She walked back to the kitchen bench again.
"Want some pancakes? Or is that a stupid question?"
Taylor
"Yeah, I'll have some," Taylor tapped the CD in his hands, then went to put it on one of their CD racks.
Having second thoughts, he stopped to put it straight into the stereo. He automatically turned the volume down so it wouldn't wake Ezra.
"Unfortunately my present for you isn't wrapped so nicely," he mused as he looked over the tracklist and pressed 'play'.
Natalie
"I'm sure I'll get over it," Natalie smiled.
She finished making the pancake mix and starting pouring it onto the frying pan for the first two pancakes.
Taylor
"I'll wait until breakfast is finished being made. I wouldn't want you to ruin it," Taylor smirked, head nodding in time to Angry Young Man.
Natalie
Natalie poked her tongue out at him.
"Cheeky," she said.
A few minutes later there were two plates of pancakes and a bottle of pure maple syrup on the table.
Taylor
"I think for some reason that anniversary pancakes taste better than normal-day pancakes," Taylor said after finishing his third.
Natalie
Natalie chuckled.
"You know," she said seriously after another bite of hers. "I think you're right."
Taylor
"But it could just be the cook," Taylor considered.
He stood to take his plate to the kitchen once he'd finished off another two, and ran the plate under some hot water before stacking it in the dishwasher.
"So. Ready for yours?"
Natalie
Natalie swallowed her last bite of pancake and nodded.
"Sure," she smiled as she returned to the kitchn with her own plate.
Taylor
"Great."
Taylor petted her shoulder as he walked past her, and down towards the studio area.
He went to the corner were he kept his boxes of files, and began sifting through them. When he found what he was after he tucked the papers into the back of his pants and made his way back out to the kitchen.
He went to stand in front of Natalie, grinning from ear to ear.
"Ready?"
Natalie
"Sure," Natalie replied.
She was definitely curious with the way Taylor was grinning at her.
Taylor
Taylor reached around,pulled out the airline tickets, and handed them to her.
"Plane tickets to Italy," Taylor grinned playfully with his tongue.
"I've planned the whole thing. It's two weeks, whenever we want, and we get to do the whole trip human-style with planes and trains and hotels and all that. Two weeks, just for us."
Natalie
"Oh!" Natalie exclaimed. "That's... that's... Oh wow!"
She beamed at him then her face fell.
"Oh... but all I got you was a CD."
Taylor
"That's completely beside the point," Taylor insisted.
"Besides, the trip is for me too. And I did really want that CD."
Natalie
Natalie smiled.
"Okay," she replied. "When you put it that way..."
She gave a girly squeal and wrapped her arms around Taylor.
"We're going to Italy!"
Taylor
"We're going to Italy!" Taylor chuckled with her, squeezing her tightly.
"Start organising what landmarks you want to see. I'll find you an Italian book so you can learn some words."
Natalie
Natalie kissed his neck.
"Okay," she said cheerfully. "Oh wow... I've always wanted to go to Italty! This is going to be so great."
Taylor
"I hope so," Taylor insisted.
"I figured we could go just before the tour next month."
Natalie
Natalie kissed his nose.
"It's not going to be pushing it a little fine?" Natalie asked with a hint of concern. "Y'know going overseas for a holidays and then just plain travelling for work?"
Taylor
"Of couse not," Taylor insisted.
"Not in the band's case anyway, we were born for the road. But if you think you might not be able to handle it so soon after... we could probably work something out. Leave sooner maybe. Or not go as long?"
Natalie
"No, no," Natalie replied. "I'll be fine. I'm just tagging along on the tour, not working like you guys."
She squeezed him tight.
Taylor
"True," Taylor nodded, swaying her a little and then kissing her on the forehead as he let go.
"Thanks. And I'm glad you like it. I'll book dates this afternoon!"