"Ready?" Joey asked Lauren with a smile as she finished zipping her coat up. She nodded, returning the smile and reaching out to take his hand, but pausing when he frowned at her.
"One second," he said, disappearing into their bedroom. Lauren stood at the door, shifting her weight from one foot to the other until he returned, holding a hat, scarf, and gloves.
"You don't think this is a little bit unnecessary?" Lauren asked, looking up at Joey as he pulled the hat over her head and wound the scarf round her neck.
"You were sick yesterday," Joey said, picking up her hand and pressing a kiss to the palm before he slipped the glove over it. "So I want to make sure you're warm enough," he finished, as he did the same with the other hand.
Lauren rolled her eyes. "It's still like, 50 degrees out there," she said, which was a lot warmer than the winters she'd had to endure in Chicago.
"Humour me?" Joey pleaded.
"Fine," she conceded, slipping her hand into his and linking their fingers together.
They had planned to go into the city yesterday to look at the Christmas lights, but that was before Lauren wound up sick. Today they'd both agreed that all they really needed was each other's company, and decided to take a walk and just look at the lights people had put up on their street.
Lauren kept sneaking glances up at Joey as they walked. He was enraptured by the lights, which glowed in his eyes. She couldn't help but begin to stare as she admired the soft smile on his face, and Joey must have clocked her because he looked down and met her eyes before she could look away, his smile growing wider.
"I'm really happy we're here together," she told him quietly.
He squeezed her hand, tears welling up in his eyes. He laughed as Lauren reached up to brush them away. He enveloped her in a hug, holding her tiny form tightly and feeling overwhelmed with gratitude that his wish to have Lauren with him for Christmas had at long last come true.
