A/N: Wow, hi. I don't want to bore you with excuses to why this is so late but I was sick and I'm now better and I'm here. So basically enjoy the chapter and I'm sorry and I love you all!! xx
Third Person.
After a slightly awkward breakfast with Josh's parents, Josh takes Maya around the house, giving her a tour. Seeing childhood photos of Cory all over the the house is both weird and funny to Maya.
When she thinks about how if she marries Josh, Cory would become her brother-in-law, she cringes. She could never see him as anything but her teacher and her best friend's father.
After the house tour, the two stay upstairs together and hang out. They chat and talk about Maya's eventful Christmas Eve yesterday, before Josh tells her to take a nap, seeing how clearly she's exhausted.
While she naps, he begins to plan things to do with her for the week. He'd already planned to go back to New York on New Year's Eve since Riley loves having parties for it, but now he's definitely going to so that Maya can be back for her birthday.
That means they have exactly one week to spend together in Philly, a place she's hardly been to. Plus, he wants her to meet all of his friends here and see all of his favorite places.
He writes all of his ideas down, working out which things can be done on the same days and which will take a whole day. As he does that, he also texts all his friends to make sure they keep a day free to meet his girlfriend.
As the hours tick by, Amy comes up with some snacks for them, finding the room silent since Maya is asleep. She places the plate of food down on the desk next to Josh and admires the young girl on his bed.
"Mom, stop watching her, it's weird!" Josh whispers at her, his eyes washing over Maya's peaceful face. Her blonde her is flowing out behind her and both her hands are tucked under her cheek.
Amy waves him off. "No it's not! I used to watch all you kids sleep." He can see how reminiscent she's becoming and rolls his eyes at her.
"And that's also weird." He rolls his eyes but decides to change the subject. "What time is everyone arriving?"
"Oh, in about," She checks her watch, "Two hours. But your sister will probably get here earlier than that. You know how she is."
"Yeah, I do." Josh nods, a smile on his face as excitement grows inside him at the mention of his sister.
"Alright, well," Amy pats down her hands on her skirt and smiles. "I've got things to do so I'll leave you. Bring the plate down when you're finished."
Josh nods and offers her help but she politely declines before leaving the room. Once she's left, Maya sits up, having been woken by the two of them talking.
"Did we wake you?" He asks, an apologetic look on his face.
Maya nods but offers a smile. "It's fine. I need to get ready still anyway, so it's probably a good thing I got woken up."
"Well, you've got about two hours so there's no rush." Josh informs her, standing up from his desk, taking the plate of snacks over to her. "Want any? Mom just brought them up."
The blonde takes some cheese and crackers, happily eating them. The two sit together on the bed, silently eating, the only sound is their chewing and the muffled sound of the vacuum downstairs as Amy cleans.
The silence between them is nice though and Maya relaxes into it, leaning her head against Josh's arm as they eat. He smiles to himself and waits a little longer before breaking the silence finally.
"I've been planning the week, I hope you don't mind." He says. "I just want to make sure you see everything and get to meet my friends and stuff."
Maya glances up at him with a smile. "I can't wait."
The two sit together for a little longer, talking and enjoying one another's company before Maya stands and goes to get ready for the day. Although Josh insists she looks amazing, she has another outfit she wants to wear for Christmas and so, she gets changed.
Since it's cold, she puts on a beige coloured turtleneck sweater that fits her snuggly, and then she puts on a warm, red skirt that has snowflakes around the bottom. With that, she puts on thick black stockings and then fixes her hair and make up.
(A/N: Maya's Christmas day outfit attached below. But imagine the skirt is more Christmas-y with large snowflakes around the bottom edge).
As soon as she feels complete, she leaves Josh's connected bathroom and steps out into his room, waiting for him to notice her. As soon as he hears the bathroom door close behind her, he looks up from his phone and his eyes nearly bulge out of his head.
He looks her up and down, drinking her all in. She looks absolutely stunning and her outfit is incredibly hot. The way her sweater fits tightly around her, showing off her curves. And her skirt is just the cutest, with its snowflakes to make it more of a Christmas look. And then, she smiles and he completely loses it.
"Fuck." He groans. "How am I meant to keep my eyes off you at all today when you look that incredibly beautiful."
Maya's cheeks instantly blush from the compliment but she rolls her eyes, trying to control her internal screams from his words.
"I'm serious!" Josh insists, stepping over to her to wrap his arms around her waist. "You look absolutely gorgeous. And you smell amazing too! What is that?" He leans down and smells the top of her head, soaking it the sweet scent.
"Some perfume. I think it's peaches or something."
Josh smiles at her. "Well, I love it. It smells amazing. And you look amazing." He leans down and connects his lips gently to hers, keeping the kiss soft and tender.
When he pulls away, Maya's cheeks are warm and blushed pink and Josh smiles affectively at her.
"You're so handsome." She compliments. "I'm so happy I get to spend Christmas with you."
"Me too, baby." Josh agrees. Before they can say anything more, they hear Amy's voice calling them to come downstairs. Josh presses a kiss to Maya's forehead and then lets her go. They can hear voices coming from the living room and Josh knows that his sister has arrived. "Morgan must be here."
Maya nods and follows him out of his room and towards the staircase that leads into the living room. As they walk down, the voices from the living room become louder and louder and the nerves in Maya's stomach begin to grow.
She's nervous to see Morgan since she's here as Josh's girlfriend. She doesn't know how his older sister will react and she's a little scared that she'll react badly.
However, her worries are washed away as soon as she steps down from the last step. Morgan looks up and instantly smiles at them.
"You two! Oh you look so good together!" She comes rushing over, arms spread wide to wrap them around the both of them. She hugs onto them tightly before pulling away, smiling widely. "When I found out you two were dating, oh man I thought mom was lying! But nope! Look at you. Oh Maya, you've grown up so much since I last saw you!"
"Morgan." Josh says, his voice stern.
She looks at him and rolls her eyes. "How have you both been?"
"Good." Maya answers, feeling nervous.
Josh notices and decides to take over the conversation a bit, asking her how she is and how her baby is. Maya didn't even know she had a baby so she starts to look around for her but only sees Amy, Alan and their eldest son, Eric.
She guesses that the baby is in a different room with Morgan's wife, Laura, a lady that Maya has only met a handful of times. Josh only speaks with his sister for a little longer before she excuses herself and heads to the kitchen.
"Sorry, you know she can be a bit much." Josh apologizes.
"I know. It's fine." Maya smiles.
Then they go to greet Eric who is extremely excited to see the blonde. He talks with her for a while and as time passes by, Morgan comes back into the room, now carrying a baby in her arms while Laura follows behind.
The baby is absolutely adorable, with big, dark eyes, blonde hair and dressed in an adorable Christmas-y outfit. She looks so much like Morgan that it makes Maya question how she came to be in the family. She's unsure if she was adopted or which of the women had her.
While she's deep in her own thoughts, Alan calls out for Eric to help him in the kitchen and so he excuses himself from the conversation. Once he's gone, Josh looks down at his girlfriend and notices her curious expression.
"What's on your mind, Maya?"
She looks up at him. "I don't mean to sound rude..." She trails off for a moment, glancing over to Cassidy before looking back up at Josh. "But how did they have her? Was she adopted?"
Josh lets out a quiet laugh. "No, she's not adopted. Morgan gave birth to her. Laura couldn't have babies so her twin brother donated his sperm so they could have their mixed DNA still. It's super sweet."
Maya smiles and looks at the baby in Morgan's arms. "That is sweet."
Morgan catches Maya looking at her baby and walks over to them. "Oh Maya! I didn't introduce you to baby Cassidy yet, have I?"
"Ah, no, you haven't."
"Well this is Cassidy." Morgan's smile radiates brightly and Josh takes this moment to walk away to get some drinks for them. "She's four months old today." The baby coos. "My mom was just telling me how your mother's pregnant! When is she due?"
"In about a month, I think."
Morgan gasps with excitement and her baby coos. "That's so exciting! Do you know if it's a girl or boy?"
"A girl." Maya answers, her eyes watching as the baby puts out her hands towards Maya.
"Awh, just like sweet Cassidy here." Morgan says and then notices how she's reaching for Maya. "Do you want to hold her? It'd be good practice for you."
She doesn't wait for Maya's answer and begins to hand off her baby to the young blonde. Maya takes her awkwardly into her hands and then looks back at Morgan. "She likes you. That's great! Well I'm going to pop to the bathroom if that's okay?"
Maya's eyes widen but Morgan doesn't give her a chance to respond. She walks off rather quickly, leaving the blonde holding baby Cassidy in her arms.
She looks around at everyone else in the room, noticing that Amy and Laura are conversing by the fireplace while Alan and Eric are in the kitchen. Josh is still in the kitchen with the men, a drink in each of his hands, waiting to get back to his girlfriend.
After a few minutes talking with his dad and brother, he finally leaves the kitchen, stepping through to the living room. His mother is still stood by the fireplace with Laura but now Morgan has joined them too.
He finds Maya sat on the couch, baby Cass on her lap. He takes a moment to admire them, the ladies by the fire noticing the fondness in his eyes and they can't help but smile.
Maya is oblivious, too focuses on the baby in her arms. Cass is very chill, sitting there cooing and smiling up at the blonde, fully intrigued by her. When Josh finally sits down next to them, Maya is relieved.
"I thought you were never coming back!" She exclaims, reaching for one of the drinks he's holding. "I'm so thirsty."
Josh laughs but apologizes and explains how his father and brother kept him talking forever. Then he asks her about the baby.
"Morgan handed her to me and then just left." She explains, glancing over to the ladies and then back to Josh. "But it's okay. I'm having fun with her."
"That's good." Josh smiles fondly. "You know you can give her back whenever you want though."
"I'm good." She responds quite defensively.
"I'm just saying." He laughs. "She's a pretty chill baby though. I thought she'd be crazy like Morgan but she's completely like Laura."
Maya nods and admires the baby for a moment. "Well she definitely looks more like Morgan though."
Josh agrees. "She does." He reaches out and touches her little hand, smiling at his niece fondly. Maya notices and offers the baby to him but he shakes his head. "You can hold her, it's okay."
Maya nods and moves Cassidy slightly so she's more comfortable and then her and Josh start chatting together. They get Cassidy to start giggling and it doesn't take long before the three of them are giggling together.
Laura comes over to investigate the laughter while Amy and Morgan go into the kitchen to finish up lunch preparation. Laura is lovely and admires how well Maya does with her daughter, letting her stay holding the baby.
A few other family members, such as Amy's brother, Nathan and Alan's sister, Kathleen show up with their children and Maya instantly feels awkward. She's met these people plenty of times since she's best friends with Riley, but it's different seeing them now that she's here as Josh's girlfriend.
They don't seem to act any different with her though, and greet her as warmly as they always would. Kathleen's got two children, both in their thirties, Jackson and Jillian. And Nathan has a forty year old daughter named Tracy.
Laura stands up to go over and chat with them all, leaving Maya and Josh with Cassidy. Jillian comes over, a hand on her pregnant belly and instantly begins talking with Maya. Josh smiles to himself, loving how welcomed she is.
Eventually, they're all called into the dining room for lunch. Maya walks in with Cassidy and hands her off to Morgan before finding her seat next to Josh. A little name tag sits in front of her, made special by Amy.
Food is spread across the table and everything is set up beautifully. The smell is incredible and everyone excitedly else excitedly sits down, ready to eat.
Amy says a few things before they all begin eating.
~
Lunch flies by, everyone happily chatting together. No one is left out and Maya feels completely grateful for that. She didn't know what to expect when she sat down because she's never had Christmas with them all before.
But it's absolutely lovely and afterwards, they all gather in the living room to play some games. Amy and Kathleen stay in the kitchen cleaning up and readying for dinner. Maya decides to leave the games after a while of playing to go help in the kitchen. She wants to make a good impression as Josh's girlfriend.
Amy is appreciative and with the extra help, they get getting cleaned and then set up again much quicker than expected. Everyone is then called into the dining room once more for dinner. The aroma is just as incredible as earlier and everyone sits down, ready for their next meal.
Dinner is just as amazing as lunch, with everyone chatting together. There's a lot more questions directed to Maya during this meal however, which makes her a little overwhelmed.
Just after Jillian asks about her, she feels her head begin to spin. She can feel a headache throbbing in the front of her head and winces slightly.
Josh notices and underneath the table, he moves his hand over to her leg to squeeze it. "You okay?" He asks quietly, a concerned look on his face.
Maya looks up at him, a tight smile on her lips. "Yeah I'm fine. I, uh, I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."
She excuses herself and moves through to the kitchen to go up the stairs in there. She knows there's a bathroom downstairs but she can't remember where it is and so she pushes her way upstairs despite the pain in her head.
Josh can't shake his worries and looks up to his mother who nods for him to follow her, also having noticed that Maya seemed a little zoned out. Josh nods and excuses himself to follow his girlfriend.
He walks up the same stairs she used and goes to the bathroom where she's locked herself inside. He knocks gently on the door and calls out to her.
Maya sighs and opens the door, falling straight into his arms. "My head hurts." Her voice is muffled by his shirt.
"Oh." He says and hugs her back for a moment before pulling her away to find something to help with the pain. "Why do you think it hurts?"
"Noise? I think."
"Well here, take a couple of these and hopefully that helps." He hands her a bottle he pulled out of the medicine cabinet above the sink. "You can always lie down and rest if you want too. No one would mind."
She shakes her head and takes two pills from the bottle before handing it back. "No. I don't want to look like a baby."
Josh puts the bottle back while she swallows the pills dry. He then looks back at her and shakes his head. "No one would think that. Maya," He steps closer and puts a hand on her cheek, making her look up at him. "If you need to rest, no one would think that you're a baby."
She stares into his eyes for a moment, savoring their warmth before forcing out a smile. "It's fine. Really. Lets just go back down."
He studies her for a moment but decides not to push her, and instead, takes her hand to walk with her back to his family. As they walk through the kitchen, Maya takes her hand back, feeling slightly self-conscious. Josh glances at her but doesn't say a thing.
When they return to the dining room, no one mentions her leaving, instead Amy decides to make a speech thanking everyone for coming. The rest of dinner is a little quieter and eventually turns into dessert.
The desserts are amazing and everyone speaks about how much they've enjoyed themselves. Maya sparks up a conversation with Jillian, who seems to be a lot nicer than her cousin Tracy.
After they've finished eating, the family moves into the living room once again and begins handing out presents. Maya sits down on the couch, watching them all happily exchanging gifts and thanking each other.
She feels slightly awkward because she has nothing to give them and they don't need to give her anything. This is the only time she's felt out of place during the whole day and so she ignores the feeling and just watches everyone else.
They're all so happy and she's happy to see that. She keeps her eyes mostly on Josh, who's super enthusiastic about his gifts. And then she watches Cassidy for a bit while the baby squeals in excitement over a stuffed toy.
She's too distracted by the adorable baby that she doesn't notice Amy walking over to her until the older woman is sat on the couch next to her.
"Maya." She says, smiling at the young girl while she hands her a box.
Maya takes it hesitantly. "You didn't need to get me anything."
"Of course I did." She says, still smiling. She's looking expectantly at the blonde, waiting for her to open the present and so Maya does.
She pulls the ribbon to untie it before moving it off the red and white checkered box, and then, she lifts off the lid. Inside, she's greeted by red tissue paper which she lifts out to find a sweater inside. She's pulls it out to see that it's a dark red Christmas sweater, with white around the neck, hands and waist of it. There are small snowflakes around the neck too.
Amy nudges her and asks, "So, what do you think?"
Maya looks up at her, willing the tears in her eyes to disappear because she doesn't want to look like a child. "I love it. Thank you!" She hugs the woman, feeling so incredibly grateful and happy that she's been so accepted and welcomed into the family as Josh's girlfriend.
"You're very welcome, Maya." Amy says as they pull apart from the hug. "I make all the kids a Christmas sweater and since you were coming, I made one for you too. We used to wear them on Christmas day but that tradition ended a while back when the older ones moved out."
Maya looks down at the sweater, smiling widely. "If I knew, I would have worn it today."
"That's okay, dear. You can always wear it tomorrow." Amy responds. "Has Josh told you what we normally do after Christmas?"
"No."
Amy laughs. "Of course he hasn't. Well, I'll leave that up to him. I've got a few more presents to hand out." She places a hand on the blonde for a moment before standing up to continue handing out all of her presents, leaving Maya on the couch with hers.
Maya admires how perfect the the sweater is, from the stitches to the little details of the snowflakes. As she looks it over, Josh sits down to join her, a smile on his face when he sees the sweater.
"Oh, so that's who she made it for!" He realizes. Maya gives him a questioning look and he explains, "I saw her working on all of them and asked who's that one was and she told me it was for a friend."
"Oh." Maya nods.
"It's going to look so good on you." Josh says, looking at her with fond eyes. He goes to lean in to kiss her but she pulls away to stop him.
"Not in front of your family." Maya blushes and Josh just shrugs. "What are we doing tomorrow? Your mom said you guys normally do something after Christmas?"
Josh nods. "It's nothing special. We just go to the mall and normally have lunch and hot chocolate at a café near the water."
"Oh, okay."
"Is that okay? I'm sure if you don't want to go then we could stay home."
Maya can see the concern in his eyes and she smiles softly at him, grateful for how much he cares for her. "It's okay. It sounds like it'll be fun."
"Great! We normally go a little early though. But I could convince mom to leave at 10 instead of the usual 8am." Josh suggests and Maya nods frantically.
"Yes please. I do not want to wake up early again."
Josh lets out a soft laugh and puts an arm around her, ignoring the way she tries to shy away from him. Everyone knows they're dating and he knows they won't judge him for cuddling with his girlfriend.
None of his family is that judgmental. His mother is probably the only judgmental person in the family and she's shown complete and utter acceptance of Josh and Maya dating so he's not worried about anyone looking at disapprovingly.
As everyone gushes over their new presents with excitement, Morgan excuses herself to put Cassidy down for the night. Morgan, Laura and Cass are staying in the downstairs guest room for the next few days, something Josh realizes he never told Maya.
He turns to her, catching her eyes already looking at him. She quickly looks away, her cheeks instantly blushing red with embarrassment.
Josh smirks. "Were you staring at me?"
Maya rolls her eyes and pushes away from him. "Of course not." She answers defensively and Josh laughs. "I wasn't! I just looked up at you at the same time you looked at me."
"Likely story." Josh amuses. He can see her getting riled up and his eyes soften. "Well, it sure looked like you were. Which is cute. Just like you are." He pulls her back into his side and she lets him.
He's warm and she loves how he smells.
They sit like that for a moment, both savoring the moment before Josh tells Maya about Morgan and Laura staying over for the next few days. Maya obviously doesn't mind and honestly feels a little excited to hang out with baby Cassidy a little more.
Josh smiles hearing this. Before they can talk about anything more, Amy comes over with some of the other guests and they all gather around on the couches, chatting loudly. Maya moves slightly away from Josh, and to make sure she's comfortable, he moves his arm from around her.
He gives her a quick smile and then they're both immersed into conversation with the others.
~
With all the loud chatter around them, Maya couldn't last that long before she needed to excuse herself upstairs with the excuse of exhaustion. Everyone understood after hearing she had to travel pretty early this morning to get to Philly.
And once she left, Josh lets them know she also has a headache. When Amy hears this, she sends Josh up to be with his girlfriend and even though he wants to continue Christmas night with his family, he would much rather be with Maya.
He walks by Morgan's old room and notices it's empty so he continues down the hall and into his own room. Inside, he finds Maya laying on his bed, already changed into comfy clothes and looking at her phone. She looks up at him and offers him a smile which he returns.
He then closes his door and goes to get changed into something more comfortable in the bathroom. Afterwards, he joins his girlfriend in bed, snuggling up next to her under the covers.
"Ah, it's nice and warm under here." He relaxes into the bed after wrapping his arms around the blonde.
"Yeah, I put on the electric blanket." Maya explains. "I hope that's okay?"
"Of course." He smiles. "Are you feeling okay? How's your head?"
Maya sighs. "I took some more meds so it'll be fine. Can we watch a movie?"
Josh looks down at her, wanting to tell her she should rest if her head hurts but the pouty look on her face stops him from arguing. "What movie?"
"Something quiet." She answers, thinking for a moment. "A Christmas movie of course."
Josh nods and grabs the TV remote from the bedside table and begins scrolling through Netflix to find a movie. There are so many different choices and the two clash with each suggestion before they finally agree on The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
It's not a very 'quiet' movie, but they both love it so neither can complain.
As the movie begins, Josh switches off the main lights, leaving on his warm fairy lights that go around his bed. Maya snuggles in closer to him and they eagerly watch the movie.
Twenty minutes pass and Maya begins to struggle to keep her eyes open. They're heavy with exhaustion and paired with the comforting scent of Josh, along with his warmth and the sound of his breathing next to her, she begins to fall asleep.
It takes Josh ten minutes before he realizes the blonde has fallen asleep in his arms. He looks down at her and notices her closed eyes and the extra weight leaning on him now that she's asleep.
He can't help but stare at her for a moment and smile, seeing how peaceful she looks while she sleeps. He slowly leans down and carefully presses his lips to her forehead before whispering, "Goodnight, love."
Then, he returns to watching the movie, consciously aware that his beautiful girlfriend is asleep in his arms.
Before the movie even finishes, his mother comes into the room without knocking. Josh is quick to shush her before she even has a chance to speak and points to the sleeping blonde in his arms.
Amy looks at her and can't help but smile softly, seeing her asleep in her son's arms. She wants to tell him to leave her sleeping in his bed and for him to sleep in Morgan's old room, but Amy can't bring herself to say that.
She makes a conscious decision, seeing clearly that Maya is fast asleep and that there is no chance the two can do anything if they share the bed. And so, she doesn't kick her son out of his room.
"Just this night." She says, her voice stern, but Josh knows he can push the limit if he wants. He doesn't say anything yet to challenge her though.
Instead, he whispers, "Thanks mom." Amy nods. "Goodnight. I love you."
"I love you too, Joshua." She smiles at him. "Goodnight. Don't forget, we're leaving at 10 tomorrow."
He nods at her and watches her leave the room, amazed that she actually closed the door behind herself for once. Josh looks down at his sleeping girlfriend and presses another kiss to her forehead, glad that his mother didn't make him leave her tonight.
~