Star Shines In Her Eye

Christmas with the Kiszmierski's

After the holidays the boys would be going on a spring tour in South America and then they would be breaking for several months before recording again. They've basically been going nonstop for the last 6 years so it will be nice to see them finally get a well deserved break. They were all addicted to the lifestyle so I thought it will be hard for them to put the breaks on. I decided to stay home for the last leg of the tour because Josh, Jake and I would be moving to LA in the spring and I needed to find an apartment and begin the moving process. Danny would also be moving but he will be moving in with Kenzi. Sammy chose to stay in LA for the break but he didn't want to set down roots yet. This basically meant I would be finding an apartment for 4 of us since I knew it was inevitable for him to join as well. They needed roots, despite their nomadic lifestyle. Moving was going to be really hard because we are all leaving our families behind in the Midwest but we all really thought of it as a piece of our story, not something that's forever.
     I woke up on Christmas morning next to Josh. Everyday we got closer to being apart, it made me sad and Christmas was no exception. I spooned his sleeping body and pulled him close to my chest. "Merry Christmas, J." I whispered. "Merry Christmas, sweet girl." Josh responded. I decorated his room with a mini tree from my old apartment and twinkle lights. He let me keep them on all night because he knew how much I loved it. I started getting sad and blinked the hot tears out of my eyes. I sniffled which made Josh turn towards me. "Leah, what's going on? Please don't cry, we still have 3 days before we leave, don't be upset." I put my head on his chest and listened intently to his heart beat, memorizing the sound, his smell and everything about him. He stroked my hair as I let the tears fall from my eyes, making the lights around us blur and dance. Josh hummed "Silent Night" which made me cry more. I couldn't handle the idea of constant togetherness turning into never together for months. Josh let me cry it out before we went down to be with the family, he may have cried a little too, I couldn't be sure.
     I splashed cold water on my face before we went down and put on my happy-Christmas-smile. We greeted the rest of the Kiszka family and sat down for hot chocolate. The snow was falling and it felt like the purest Michigan Christmas Day. We opened presents and I said my goodbyes after lunch. I headed home, wearing an ugly Christmas sweater that Sam got me. My parents were relaxing by the fire, the tree was decorated and it made my heart warm. I snuggled between them to watch the fire crackle on, I was going to miss them very much but I wasn't meant for life in Michigan, for now. Josh, Jake, Ronnie and Sam eventually joined, as per tradition, to watch Christmas movies and eat cookies. It was turning out to be my favorite Christmas ever and I was sad that it was over so quickly. We drank spiked eggnog and we all fell asleep watching A Christmas Story.
The couple of days following were filled with prep for tour while I helped Mackenzi prep for Danny's birthday. They would be in South America on his actual birthday so we wanted to go all out. We wanted it to be a big surprise so we were setting it up at my house. Kenz and I were close but it always felt like the guys were always our point of conversation so it was nice to do something without them, even if it was for Danny. We were chatting about fashion and life in LA and we were both getting excited for the times ahead. "Kenz, do you think Danny will ask you to marry him, eventually?" She set down the streamer she was holding. "I mean, we've talked about it, we've been together for so long but we're still young, so who knows. Do you think you and Josh will?" I laughed at her tone, she said it like we were teenagers talking about our crushes. "You know Josh, I doubt that will ever happen, he's made comments before but... I don't know, I think we can all agree that the idea of marriage is archaic... it would be nice though, to lock that shit down." We both laughed and continued decorating.
     They had a long day of rehearsal but I asked the brothers to get Danny to come over without being overly suspicious. My house was filled with friends and family from Danny's life. We heard the car door close and the crunching of the snow as they guys walked up to the house. Danny opened the door and everyone shouted "Surprise!" He was absolutely shocked and couldn't stop smiling. There are so many times when Daniel doesn't get the most attention or the love her deserves so it was really good to have something specifically for him. Our group took shots of Fireball and got the night started off right. Our moms watched us and rolled their eyes. Josh kept his arm around my waist for most of the night. It hurt knowing how badly I would miss him but I kept drinking to try to stay in the moment, a classic mistake I made on many occasions.
     I had a sad girl moment, staring off into space while Josh was off talking to someone, making wild gestures with his arms as he spoke. Sam noticed and came to sit across from me. "You know you could have come with us, lil one." Sam said pouting his big lips at me. "I know, Sammy, I just need to prepare for the move and I'll only be sad for a little. I'm happy you guys get to continue to travel and spread your music and your vision, it has always sucked having you guys far away, this time it's just 10 times harder. I can't pretend like I'm not nervous about him traveling without me there." I glanced at Josh and Sammy patted me on my knee. "I don't think there has ever been a person more loved than you are by Josh, plus he knows I'd kill him." I laughed and gave Sammy a hug around his neck. "I'm going to miss you, Samuel Kiszka." "I'll miss you so much, Leah Kazmierski, now take this shot with me."
     Josh came back to my side and asked me if I would go outside with him for a smoke. I smiled and stood up to go out with him. We stood on my patio, there was an above ground fire pit were we had a nice warm fire going. Josh handed me a cigarette and lit it for me. "Momma Kaz is going to kill you." I said as I inhaled the smoke into my lungs. "Yeah but you look so sexy when you smoke." I rolled my eyes at Josh as I flicked the ash off. It was very quiet, I could only hear the crackle of the fire. I gazed at it, making my eyes feel dry and hot. "I have something for you." Josh said quietly. "It's not MY birthday silly!" I half joked. "I know, think of it as a belated Christmas gift. I want you to have something to remind you of me while I'm gone for the next couple of months." I started to shiver in anticipation as Josh pulled out a little box. "Now, it's not one of those rings, please wear it on any finger you'd like." Josh opened the box revealing a thin gold band in a semi circle with two raw diamonds at each end, it was simple and so lovely. "Joshua, it's beautiful." I took the ring in between my fingers and placed it on my right pointer finger, we didn't need any confusion. I kissed him passionately. I was a little drunk and a lot in love.