Joey helped carry cutlery through to the dining table, feeling more at home than ever. He stopped to kiss Lauren's forehead as he passed her, and felt warmth fill his heart at the fact that they were doing this for real now.
The four of them stayed at the kitchen table long after dinner was over, talking and laughing and telling stories, and Joey couldn't help but think that they truly felt like a proper family.
"My mom always makes her own cranberry sauce that her mom taught her how to make," Joey said as they got onto talking about their Christmas traditions.
Lauren laid a hand on Joey's arm. "Remember when I made those white chocolate cranberry cookies?" she asked him.
He nudged her shoulder with his. "Like I could forget those. I think I ate half the batch in an hour." Lauren laughed loudly, her eyes sparkling as she looked up at him, and Joey wished he could have just leaned forward and kissed her properly right then. He squeezed her hand tightly under the table instead, and she pecked his cheek.
None of them realised how late it was until Lauren checked her phone and gasped at seeing it was almost 1am. The tiredness seemed to hit her full force then, and Joey gently suggested that they go up to bed. She nodded, leaning against him as they went upstairs. He helped her into her pyjamas and brushed her hair for her as she brushed her teeth.
When he had finished getting ready, Joey slipped into bed beside her, pulling her into his chest. She looked up at him with a sleepy smile.
"Merry Christmas JoJo," she whispered, as she leaned in to meet his lips. And even if it wasn't exactly how he'd been expecting to spend the holidays, Joey felt like all his wishes had come true.
The first thing he saw when he woke up on Christmas morning was Lauren, her hair falling into her eyes as she lay tucked into him, fast asleep. He gently brushed her hair back behind her ear, and she wriggled closer to him. He smiled to himself, carefully rolling over to pick up his phone and send an early Christmas message to his parents.
He looked up from the screen a little while later when he felt Lauren move, her eyes open now. She shuffled up the pillows to press a slow, lingering kiss to his lips. He put his phone back on the bedside table and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"This is our first Christmas together," she said softly, leaning her head against him.
"First of many, I hope," Joey replied, hugging her more tightly to him. She hummed in agreement, tilting her head up to grin at him.
"Do you want your present? I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to wrap it," she asked suddenly, sitting up.
"Lo, you didn't have to get me anything else," he said, touched, as she climbed out of bed to get the gift. Not only was waking up beside her one of the best gifts he could ask for, they had already given each other their presents before they came, thinking that they weren't going to see each other over Christmas.
"Well I'm not taking it back now," she said with a smile, as she slipped back into bed, and Joey laughed.
He took the box from her, which she had haphazardly tied a ribbon around, seeing that it was a tripod. "For your videos. I mean, I guess it's kind of a present for Brian and Corey too, but-" she said, before he leaned in to kiss her in thanks.
"It's what I actually went out for the other day," she told him when he pulled away. He reached out for her hand, squeezing it.
"I got you a present too."
He delved into his bag and pulled out a small jewellery box, passing it to her. She opened it, her eyes widening when she saw the earrings inside.
"They're beautiful," she whispered, immediately taking out her earrings to put in the new ones.
"I saw them at the market and knew I had to get them for you," he said. Lauren's lips parted slightly as she was lost for words, and Joey couldn't help himself leaning forward to kiss them. Her hand flew to the back of his neck to hold him there as she kissed him back.
"So how do they look?" Lauren asked as she pulled away, angling her face to the side.
Joey glanced briefly at the earrings, then back at her face. "Perfect."
She grinned, before wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you," she murmured.
When they went downstairs so Lauren could open the rest of her presents with her parents, her mom commented on the new earrings, and Joey's cheeks turned pink as Lauren gushed about how thoughtful he was. He pulled her into his side, and she smiled happily up at him, her eyes soft. Joey couldn't have felt happier about getting to spend Christmas with her. As usual, Joey offered to help out with the dinner preparations, but was swiftly turned down by her mom who insisted that he just relax.
He quite happily took her up on that suggestion, cuddling up with Lauren on the couch and absentmindedly stroking her hair as they talked. Joey felt more deeply happy than he had done in a long time, and he told Lauren so, her eyes softening before she kissed him gently.
Her brother arrived at around 1, and the five of them sat down at the table to eat dinner together.
"Is this Christmas dinner as good as your mom's?" Lauren asked cheekily.
He rolled his eyes at her. "It's definitely better than when you cook me dinner," he shot back with a grin before turning to thank her mom, who was smiling between the pair of them.
"You two are like an old married couple," she said.
"Mom!" Lauren protested, her cheeks turning red. Joey patted her thigh to let her know it was okay. More than okay. They exchanged a brief look, Lauren turning away not before Joey saw her smile.
While they talked after they'd finished eating, Joey rested his hand subconsciously on Lauren's thigh again. She laid her hand over his, and he turned to look at her, but she wasn't looking back at him.
He got lost in thought about how happy he was that he and Lauren were together now, and didn't realise he was being talked to until Lauren eventually turned to look at him, calling his name and waving her hand in front of his face.
"JoJo!"
"What?" he said, shaking himself out of his daze as Lauren laughed.
"What?" he asked her again as he got no reply, laughing himself.
"My dad asked if you got to speak to your parents yet," she said, still laughing.
"Oh, kind of. I sent them a text this morning," he said. Her dad nodded with a sympathetic smile, and the mood at the table fell slightly.
"I hope it's still been a good Christmas?" Lauren said, looking up at him.
He gazed back at her honestly, picking up her hand and holding it tightly in his.
"The best Christmas."
Even though he missed his parents, Joey had to admit that he wasn't quite sad about not being at home with them. Mostly because he was here with Lauren, and there was nowhere he wanted to be more than at her side. And partly because her family went out of their way to include him and make him feel at home, which warmed his heart. His eyes scanned around the table, coming to rest on Lauren, a huge smile on her face as she listened to the conversation, and he knew that this was what he wanted for the rest of his life.
