semi-automatic ; j.d

sixty six ; the announcement

unlucky number making me queezy

-

"c'mon, mia, wake up."

a mesh of incoherent noises of protest leave the brunette's lips. her face is pressed against the pillow, eyes closed.

josh stares at her. "okay i'm not sure what you even said but i'm gonna take it as you not wanting to get up."

she nods.

"i'll make you strawberry pancakes," he offers with a sing-song voice, sitting down sideways at the edge of the bed and aimlessly starts running his fingers through her messy curls.

mia turns her head.

probably should've just started with that. "you said you wanted to be on the road by noon, remember? it's almost ten, now, and i figured since you take forever to get ready--"

"i do not," she insists.

a gleaming grin spreads on josh's lips, amused at the pouty face that mia's giving him. "you do, but anyways, i don't want you to get all panicky and rushed."

"you're so cute," mia mumbles, a slow, disbelieving shake of her head following her words. she reaches out and takes one of josh's hands and hers.

his hazel brown eyes watch her play with his fingers. "alright, princess mia, go get ready. i'll get started on the pancakes."

she looks up at him with her lively eyes, lips turning up in a smile. "you're lucky i'm a sucker for strawberry pancakes."

josh grins. "i know."

"tia!" squeals the now-five year old little girl, dressed in a bright pink princess dress with a plastic crown on top of her head. she runs over to her aunt and wraps her arms around the older girl's legs.

mia reaches down to pick her niece up, kissing her on the forehead. "happy birthday, lola!"

the little girl giggles, reaching up to stop her crown from falling off. "look, tia, i'm a princess!" she exclaims once mia sets her back down, spinning around in a circle.

"the prettiest princess," says mia, matter-of-a-factly, with an amused smile. she looks at josh, who's standing next to her, and then back at the energetic little girl in front of her. "do you remember josh?"

lola nods her head slowly with a knowing grin. "mhm. he's your prince, right tia?"

"right."

"then that makes you a princess!" she giggles, small hands playing with the sparkly fabric of her dress. "c'mon, you need a crown," insists lola with a tsk before she tugs on the older girl's hand and pulls her along through the garage out to the backyard.

other young children run around, laughter echoing through the air. mia's mom is the first to notice her daughter and josh enter the party, and a warm smile appears on her lips.

"you're gonna rip her arm off, lola," calls out the older women with an amused shake of her head as she gets up from one of the lawn chairs and walks over to them.

mia grins, "hey, mom."

she kisses her cheek and hugs her tightly. "hey, baby." she does the same to josh, and after kissing both of his cheeks he makes a mental note to go see if now there's red lipstick on his face.