We flew out to Melbourne on the twenty-ninth. Just the two of us again. Mum had convinced us to spend New Year with the family ahead of the Open, and I couldn’t wait.
Twelve hours in the air, and I barely let Kate lift a finger. Every time she shifted or winced, I was there. She’d called mestupidly sweetandendlessly annoying. I’d take that.
The second we stepped off the plane, the heat hit like a brick wall. Thick and heavy, wrapping around us in that familiar way I’d grown up with. I could feel myself exhale. It was home, but the only thing I could focus on was Kate. She looked amazing, hair half up, long, fitted dress skimming over every curve, one hand instinctively spread across her belly like it was muscle memory now. She looked like she’d always belonged here, like this place had been waiting for her. I wasweakened. I’d pictured the moment a hundred times, but nothing had prepared me for this.
The last time I was home, I was a single man, career focused, ready to take on the world, but now I was bringing her home. My girl. Carrying our baby. Walking beside me, calm and radiant, and somehow even more beautiful under the Australian sun.
I’d thought about this moment too many times to count. All those months away from home in hotel rooms, tournaments, training blocks. I’d always pictured bringing someone back here. And that someone was her. The woman who kept me grounded. The one who’d flipped my whole life upside down and made me want to keep going.
We pushed through the doors at Arrivals, and then I saw them.
Mum was the first one through the crowd. Teary-eyed already, arms wide like she couldn’t get to us fast enough. Dad was right behind her, steady as a rock, his hand on her shoulder like he was holding them both together. He didn’t say much, never did, but when his eyes landed on Kate, I saw it: the smallest smile, warm and certain. That was Dad’s approval. Heavy as bricks, worth more than anything.
“Jordy!” Mum called, breathless, until her gaze caught on Kate and everything else disappeared. I watched her face cracked wide open with joy.
She barely looked at me when she finally reached us, just wrapped Kate up like she’d been hers all along. “Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered, holding her tight, her hands already brushing gently over the bump. My throat tightened. I’d brought home a lot of trophies over the years but this…bringing her home was better than all of that. ?
“You’re even more beautiful in person, love. He told me you were stunning. Let me see the ring!”
Kate laughed, blinking quickly. “He says that about all the women he brings home, doesn’t he?”
Mum didn’t miss a beat. “Darlin’, this is the first one I’ve met.”
I bit my lip to keep from grinning. Kate blushed, and I fell in love with her all over again.
My little sister Izzy came next, glowing with her own bump, practically vibrating with excitement. She hugged Kate like they werealready sisters, and launched straight into comparing symptoms before we’d even picked up our luggage.
When we got to the house, Brody and his two tornadoes came flying down the drive, barefoot with sticky stains still smeared across their shirts. Within seconds, Kate was being dragged toward the swing set, my niece shouting, “Can your baby come out now? I wanna hold him!” Kate just laughed, crouched carefully, and promised, “Not yet, sweetheart, but soon.”
Then the whole Taylor circus spilled out. Hugs, noise, arms everywhere. And Kate radiated. Like she belonged here.
I hung back for a second, just…watching. Kate was in the middle of it all, the chaos, the hugs, the noise; just laughing like she’d always been a part of it.
I’d missed them so much I ached, but watching Kate, I realised I hadn’t just brought her home to meet my family.
I’d brought a family to her.
And I was never going to get over the look on Mum’s face. Not in a million years.
Like she already loved her. Like she knew. It was all the confirmation I ever needed.
I walked up behind Kate as she was standing on the porch, slipping an arm around her waist, and she leaned straight into me without missing a beat.
“You happy?” she murmured, tilting her face up.
“Perfect,” I said honestly. “Been waiting a long time for this.”
She smiled, then glanced down at her bump with a mock groan. “God, Jord, your family are all giants. I’ve just realised this baby’s going to be fucking massive, isn’t he?”
I laughed, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Reckon so. Good luck, sweetheart.”
She elbowed me in the ribs. “Not funny.”
“Not wrong, though,” I teased, and she shook her head, laughing anyway.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Kate
