•Blue Moon• /Joshua Bassett\

41

"Eh?" Josie shrugs from a few feet away from the couch. This was normal for her, but she's never done it around family members.

Josh and I were sitting on the ground with her as our family watched TV. Mason had already finished the dishes, so we were all relaxing in the living room.

"Eh?" Joshua calls back, earning a giggle from her. She giggled as she begins to stand up against him. He lifts her onto his lap as he watches the TV show. She starts squirming in his arms, and eventually climbs out of them and back to her toys.

"I'm going to use the bathroom. I'll be back." Joshua quickly says, standing up and making his way upstairs.

After a few minutes of him being gone, my throat started feeling dry. "I'm going to get a drink, anyone want anything?" I asked as I stood up, Josie not even looking up from her toys.

"No thanks. Thank you though." They chorused. Nodding, I made my way to the kitchen with no problems. As I began to pour myself some chocolate milk, I heard Josie start crying.

"What did y'all do?" I asked as I put the container away. "We didn't do anything! She looked up and didn't see any of y'all and started crying!" Mason replies as Joshua walks downstairs. "I got her." He smiles, briskly walking to her and picking her up. I took a sip of the chocolate milk as he calms her down with toys and affection.

"Hey, it's getting kind of late, you wanna head home soon?" Josh whispers as he joins me in the kitchen. "Yeah, just let me finish my chocolate milk." I agreed.

"I can't believe she turns one in three months." Josh sighs as he leans against the counter with Josie on his chest, who was wiping away her tears.

"Me either. Seems like just a few days ago I was in the hospital room giving birth." I sighed, kissing her cheek. She blushes softly as she yawns. Drowsily, she leans her entire body into Joshua's chest and closes her eyes. "We should get her home." I gently rubbed her back before setting my cup in the sink.

We said our goodbyes to our family and led their house, somehow never waking up Josie.

•••

"Ba-ba!" Josie calls out from the living room at Josh. Laughing, I looked down from the game I was playing on the PlayStation and to where Josh and Josie were playing.

Over the weeks leading up to her birthday, she began talking more often. We learned that ba-ba mean bottle, and 'oi' was toy.

"Come on, munchkin." Josh chuckles, standing up with her in his arms. Smiling, I leaned back against the couch and continued playing my game.

They returned a few minutes later with Josie holding her bottle to her lips. She watches me play the game as she drinks. Joshua crouches back down and cleans up a bit.

"Hey, Hailey wants to know if we wanted to go on a picnic with them in a couple days?" I asked Josh, referencing to what Hailey had told me a couple hours ago when he was still asleep.

"Who's them?" He questioned, sitting on the couch beside me as he brushes Josie's hair out of her eyes as she drank. Pausing the game, I turned to him. "Ryan, Iris, and Xander." I replied. He nods as Josie hands him the bottle. Josh's large hand gently takes it and sets it on the table.

"So? You down?" I question. "Yeah, I'm down." He nods, watching Josie. "Until then, can we just cuddle?" He pouts, looking down at me with soft eyes. Josie makes a small fist with her hand, hitting Joshua in the chest. "Ow, baby girl!" He begins to play with her. She giggled in his arms and leans away from him, sitting up and looking at him.

•••

After dinner that same night, we watched some movies while Josie played with her toys in front of us.

My head was on Joshua's chest while he twirled a piece of my ponytail around his finger. The two of us laughed at a funny scene in Boy meets world. When I glanced at Josie to make sure she was okay, she was standing up without holding onto any furniture.

"Josh-." I gingerly hit his chest. "What?" He asks, leaning his cheek against the top of my head. Josie starts to take her first step. Josh and I both sit up as we cheered her on.

"You got this, baby girl!" Joshua exclaims, holding his arms out for her. She smiles, taking a step in his direction, and a few more.

The small girl walks straight into his arms. "You did it!" We both cheered, Joshua lifting her up and kissing her cheeks.

She laughed in his arms, clinging to his chest. "Stop growing up so fast." I pouted, leaning my cheek on Joshua's shoulder. When she sees me, she reaches for me, obviously making my heart melt. Smiling, I gently took her from Joshua's arms. Her small little head nuzzles into my neck as I leaned back into the couch. Joshua's arm rests behind my head as I leaned my head on his shoulder.