the sounds of giggles and half-hearted protests leak through the apartment as josh bursts into the bathroom, taking mia by surprise as she's about to put in eyeliner, and begins tickling her.
"you're gonna make me mess up!" mia yells while swatting at josh. "quit it!"
josh, who's arms are wrapped around his wife's waist, nuzzles his cheek against hers and continues tickling her sides. "nope!"
"joshua!" she squeals. her body jolts and her hips hit the sink counter, which isn't something that feels too great.
as soon as he hears her let out a sigh of displeasure, josh stops tickling mia and instantly shifts into a state of worry. his happy smile falls and becomes replaced with wide eyes. "are you okay? did you get hurt?"
she shakes her head, rubbing at her hip. "i just bumped the counter. thanks a lot, jerk."
"m'sorry, babe," josh lets off a soft laugh and kisses mia's forehead. "i didn't mean to be so rough. i was just messing around."
"you made me mess up my wing," she pouts, inspecting her reflection in the mirror. "it was almost perfect, too."
as much as he wants to roll his eyes at his wife's dramatics, josh refrains and pouts shyly instead. "well i still think you look beautiful."
"but the wing, josh."
"let me make it up to you," he suggests while stepping behind her. he slides his hands around her hips and starts slowly kissing the side of her neck while simultaneously nudging mia back against him.
"c'mon," she laughs breathlessly. "i gotta finish getting ready."
"but you already look so gorgeous," he says. he moves her hair aside and gently brings his lips back to mia's neck, littering kisses of increasing pressure. he lives for the way her breathing hitches, how her cheeks start to flush.
"we're gonna be late to our own party."
"s'okay," he shrugs. "we're late to everything. fifteen more minutes won't make a difference."
"fifteen, huh?" she muses, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. "that's cutting it short. you don't like to be rushed."
josh grins, cheeks blushing. it's not a hidden fact that when it comes to sex, he likes taking his time. "i can make it quick."
mia decides to believe him.
___________
"we're so late."
"we're not that late," insists josh, mostly because he knows it's his fault but also because he doesn't wanna see his wife look so damn upset.
but when she cuts him a sideways glance, he realizes it's better to just agree.
"okay," he nods slowly. "so we're a little late. that's okay, though. the party starts when we arrive, right?"
mia doesn't say anything.
josh finds a spot to park and cuts the engine. "baby?" he tries again, slowly unbuckling his seatbelt.
mia turns her head towards josh and he sees that she's smiling now. the kind of pretty smile that he finds to be incredibly ethereal.
"i love you," she whispers, as if there's a whole crowd of people stuffed into josh's car and she's telling him a secret. her smile turns shy and josh reaches out to cup her blushing cheek.
careful as to not smudge mia's lipstick, josh presses his lips to his wife's and rests his forehead against hers. "gosh i love you too. you look absolutely perfect, by the way. i can't even stand it."
"well you're not standing, yoshua," she points out with a cheesy smile. "you're sitting."
"smart ass." he laughs against her lips and feels a tickling sensation as mia begins laughing, too, and then they're both laughing and kissing.
it takes them an extra five more minutes to finally get out of the car. mia's hand is gently collected by josh's as they walk up the driveway to mia's childhood home. energetic, lively music plays from the backyard and josh and mia exchange knowing smiles.
josh manages to steal a glance in his wife's direction. he realizes just how lucky he is to be married to not only his soulmate, but the most beautiful girl on the planet.
because this is their wedding party, mia decided to wear a pretty white dress. one that was more suitable for partying than the long flowing gown she wore when josh put a ring on her finger and kissed her in front of cinderella's castle.
( ha yes bitch fuck it up )
after pressing the doorbell, josh looks at mia and asks, "so who's driving home tonight?"
"you're on crack if you think i'm not drinking at my own party," says the brunette, looking josh up and down.
he lets out a warm-hearted laugh, just because there's not a time when he's not amused by mia. "well maybe i wanna drink too. then what?" he counters with a raise of his brows. he leans against the side of the house and folds his arms.
mia takes a mental picture of how attractive josh looks in that moment, all serious and clean cut in his white dress shirt and black pants. she thinks for a moment and then says, "we can sleep in my room."
"your room?" repeats josh.
"well yeah, i did live here at one point."
josh teasingly leans over mia and smirks as their lips barely brush. "the sass today is unreal."
the spitfire girl, with all of her five foot stature, steps up in her tiptoes and ghosts a kiss against josh's neck. "do something about it, papi."
josh's breath catches in the back of his throat and his jaw goes slack.
before he can even think of something to say back, a middle aged woman comes to the door.
"¡preciosa!" she smiles with the same warmth and friendliness that josh has learned to expect from mia's family members. he watches as the woman, who looks around the age of mia's mom, pulls his wife in for a tight hug and kisses both her cheeks.
her attention then falls on josh with excitement. "¡hola! debes ser joshua," without warning she throws her arms around josh and hugs him like they've known each other for years. his cheeks receive a kiss and all he can do is smile politely and look at mia for help.
"this is my tia nelly," mia, bless her soul, says to josh.
josh decides in that moment to try to make a good impression on his wife's family, so he says - his accent a little far off - "mucho gusto."
this makes nelly smile with both appreciation and amusement. "muy bien, that wasn't half bad, josh. come inside you two, everyone's out back mingling."
mia squeezes josh's hand reassuringly as they step inside the house. she looks up at him, thankful for him trying to speak spanish because he knows how important it is to her and her family. above all else, josh is selfless when it comes to her.
"you have some weird friends, quierida," says nelly, her tall heels clacking against the tile floor of the kitchen area as she picks up her glass of sangria. "your one loud friend - he likes to drink."
oh so zach did show up.
they walk out to the backyard, going past the sliding patio door, and find that the area is filled with friends and family. mia's eyes gaze around at the huge backyard that's been transformed with fairy lights and picnic tables and tastefully simple centerpieces and bright music and warm smiles. there's a long table with tatiana's three days worth of cooking spread across, a bar area which, if mia knows her family, is stocked full of everything from wine to heavy liquor and a dance floor built into the middle of the yard.
tatiana is the first to see mia and josh arrive and when she does a happy gasp draws everyone's attention. "they're here!"
josh squeezes mia's hand to hide how nervous he feels as everyone starts applauding and and cheering for the couple. a shy smile brightens josh's face and pairs with a laugh while the pink haired male takes a dramatic bow. jordan, his brother, whistles at this.
however, through the laughter and clapping, one voice breaks through them all.
"tio josh!"
lola, who's wearing a sparkly pink dress with flowers on the trim, sprints as fast as her little legs will carry her through the crowd of people.
a small, excited gasp falls from josh's lips as he spots the little girl running his way. he crouches down, arms spread wide, and catches lola as she runs into him. "hey cutie! i missed you!"
"i missed you more!" giggles lola, wrapping her arms around josh's neck as he sets her on his hip. she frowns at him before saying, "momma told me you and tia got married. without me."
josh sighs heavily. "yeah, sweetie, we did. but in my defense, it was all your tia's idea."
"what?!" the five year old gawks at mia with disbelief, her mouth falling open in a perfect o. "tia, how could you?! you said i could be your flower girl! with a pretty basket, remember?!"
mia glares at josh who just looks back at her hopelessly. she finds it incredibly sweet how badly josh doesn't want to upset lola, so she decides not to rat him out.
"well, mi amor," she sighs. "tio and i were at disney world and i really really wanted to get married in front of cinderella's castle because-"
"-because you're a princess," lola fills in, nodding like this is a common fact.
mia smiles half-heartedly at the pouty child. "right. but cinderella was very busy, and she said we could only get married in front of the castle that day. all the other days it was being used to host all the fancy princess parties."
"ohhh," she nods. "that makes sense. but guess what, tia?"
"what, baby?"
"abuela let me help put pretty flowers on all the tables, and she even gave me a basket! so that does make me the flower girl," lola hums, matter of a factly. for a five year old, the girl has enough sass to end someone's
existence.
josh kisses his niece on the forehead and sets her down. she quickly runs off to go play with her cousins.
"she's so frickin cute," he says to mia.
"she is," mia nods. "and you're an asshole for blaming the whole thing on me when getting married was your idea."
"hey, you know lola thinks i'm the coolest person ever. i couldn't break her heart like that."
"but you have no problem with lying to her?"
"so cute, you two are already arguing."
tatiana, whose smile is bright and inviting, rushes over to hug her daughter and newly son in law.
she's wearing a dark purple dress and look incredibly beautiful, proving to mia yet again that her mother is like wine. she gets better with age.
"look at how beautiful you look," she gushes. "mi niña bonita."
"don't cry, momma." mia smiles happily at her mom and rests her head on her shoulder as they hug. one thing that has always remained constant in mia's life is how comforting tatiana's hugs are.
the older woman wipes under her eyes, careful as to not smear her makeup. "i know i know, i'm trying not to. i'm just so proud of you." she shakes her head with disbelief at the fact that her only daughter is now married.
"oh - josh!" tatiana blinks with realization and tightly embraces the pink haired male.
he smiles and returns the hug, giving her a tight squeeze. "hi mom."
"i just met your family, they're all lovely. your mother's a little quiet but that's okay, i'm sure once everyone starts drinking she'll open up more."
josh laughs at he thought of his faithfully religious mom drinking. in his life, he's probably seen her have at most one glass of wine with dinner.
"yeah, she's just kinda shy," he explains, shrugging his shoulders. "but if anyone can get her to have fun, i'd bet my money on you."
"bendito, you're such a sweetie." she pinches josh's cheek and smiles approvingly at him. after blowing them both a kiss, she walks away to get herself a drink.
josh looks at mia with utter happiness and fulfillment. "have i ever told you how much i love your family?"
"our family," she says.
there's something so comforting about that to josh, as he glances around at all the people in the backyard in celebration of him and mia. all their friends and family, coming together because of two people who decided loving each other was a hella good idea.
josh looks at her again. squeezes her hand. "yeah," he nods. "our family."