Emma-Lou // Taylor Swift Adoption Fic

June 23rd, 2026

It's the last week of school and I'm so glad to be going into the summer. I won't have to worry about school work or people like Alesha. I can hang out with Javia when I want. Summer is going to be amazing.

I was worried at first since being home more means being around Taylor and her family more, but ever since Saturday, Taylor and I have been creating some sort of bond.

By that I mean it's a little easier to talk to her and I've noticed that I'm starting to trust her. I still don't talk very often, especially when Joe is around. It's not that I don't like him, I think he's really nice and a cool guy, but I'm too nervous to speak around him.

Taylor has assured me that it's okay not to speak to Joe until I'm comfortable, but I have a feeling she can tell I'm feeling bad about not doing so.

This past weekend, when her and I were finishing up our lunch (Michael had finished his nearly before I started eating), she began asking me a few questions related to that.

She asked me what my comfort level is with Joe. I had to think about how I wanted to respond, but eventually, I just did a so-so gesture.

She then asked me if there's anything we could do to make me more comfortable.

I'm not used to all these questions or people even being concerned about my issues. It's beginning to occur to me how lucky I've been to be adopted by Taylor. I didn't want to be adopted at first, but I was never treated this nicely at the care home or in past foster homes.

When I haven't responded, Taylor suggests an idea that I hadn't thought of.

"What about learning ASL? Have you ever used it?"

It's been so long since I had learned any of it and even then, it was only a bit because we had a girl in our fifth grade class who was deaf and used it. I learned it because I wanted to see if I could make friends with her. I did.

"I know a little bit," I said.

"Okay. Well, Joe and I could learn it and then you could communicate with us that way on days where you don't feel as confident in speaking to us," she explained. "Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Really?"

I found it hard to believe that they would take the time out of their day to learn this for me.

"Yes, of course. Anything to make you comfortable and make you feel at home here," Taylor said.

For the past few days, I've felt so different. I feel cared for and loved. I never thought this could come out of being adopted. It's lingered for so long that I happened to ramble to Javia about the plan that Taylor and I set in place. She thought it was amazing and now she adores Taylor even more.

"This is good that the adoption is working out for you. You were worried about it," Javia said during our lunch break today. "I remember how shocked you were when Taylor came to the care home to adopt you."

I smiled. "I'm glad I had to go with her. It's starting to feel like I'm living a normal life now."

Finally, I'm somewhere it feels I'm meant to be.

...................

A/N: happy birthday to the person who commented on the author's note earlier this week!

Updates are going to be every Saturday for the next few weeks until I can update twice a week again.