joe's foster home // fillie

e l e v e n

eleven

december 25th

you wouldn't believe it but noah woke everyone up at six in the morning to open presents. despite the only gifts being under the tree being their secret santa gifts, noah insisted they wake up early to go through them. after making hot cocoa, they opened up their gifts, in which resulted in a happy, enthused group of kids.

noah went insane over the fact that millie had bought him a spongebob-themed bubble gun, and the entire house filled with the smell of the soapy substance that he continuesly spilled drops on the carpet.

from noah, finn received an onion.

a fairly fresh onion, don't worry. finn had very little use for it, but he accepted it nonetheless.

gaten's gift consisted of a little watch, that was clearly cheap as it was made of bright orange rubber, but he took it anyways, and the little watch seemed more meaningful to him than millie would've thought.

following the sincere gift, joe was given a plush baby shark doll. gaten decided to keep the performance for later.

caleb received a small piece of abstract artwork from joe that he kept to himself. from caleb, sadie received a little perfume bottle and a note she refused to share with everyone else. millie's expectations were very low for her gift. she expected either something generic or something last minute, and she entertained the possibility of getting a meme, similar to what noah gave finn.

but from sadie, she unwrapped a small little box, and within it was a little music note necklace. it spoke volumes to millie considering her attachment to music and she wanted to cry at how sincere the little hunk of metal was to her. but all she could muster up was a thank you.

after they had done a full circle, gaten turned to joe, who was trying to head towards the kitchen to cook, "wait! we all have a gift for you,"

joe seemed surprised as you could tell by his wide, somewhat proud eyes as he exclaimed, "wait what?"

"a gift. from all of us. sit," gaten demanded.

joe just chuckled as he sat back in his chair, clutching the cup of hot chocolate in his hands, crossing his legs. the rest of the kids made sure their santa hats were snug around their heads as gaten bowed, just as rehearsed. finn took his guitar and strummed a dramatic intro, as gaten said, "joe, sit back, relax, and enjoy. this may or may not be the greatest thing you are ever going to see. so savor it,"

he turned to finn.

"hit it,"

thus, began the routine. the flawless guitar riff intro followed by the seamless dancing. joe's eyes lit up once he recognized the song and he grabbed his plush shark and held it up, as if he had made a discovery. after noah started flailing his body (aka dancing), joe couldn't stop laughing. throughout the dance, millie found it hard not to smile considering how much warmer she felt within the presence of these people.

once the dance was over and noah had attempted his splits, joe couldn't contain his laughter. his hands clutched his stomach as if his insides were to fall out and he had laughed like millie hadn't heard him laugh before. through his simple cries of joy, millie's cheekbones lifted her face to a smile.

as noah attempted to recover from his splits, joe cried out, "oh my god, who's idea was that?"

gaten raised his hands, wiggling his fingers for dramatic emphasis, with a genuine smile plastered on his face.

"gaten, i'm gonna cry," joe started, as he opened his arms, "all of you, get in here,"

gaten was the first to throw himself onto joe, followed by caleb and sadie. noah was still feeling the effects of his splits but wrapped his arms around the group nonetheless. millie folded herself on top of the other kids, and finn piled on behind her. millie felt joe's long arms reach around the group, pulling them closer to him.