Anything for You

YAS IT'Z okay I'm not re-writing that title again. Part 2

Josh's POV

After Maya said that, I pulled her onto my lap and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Well, the point is, you're fine now." she turned around and looked at me. It was kind of a worried look. That look said it. Something was wrong, and I needed to know.

"Right? You're okay aren't you??" I asked urgently.

She was about to answer when Cory, Topanga, Riley, and Auggie came into the kitchen.

"Happy birthday!!!!!" They all yelled.

"UNCLE JOSH!!" Auggie ran over to me. Maya slipped off of my lap so Auggie could hug me.

"Oh," Auggie made a full-on U turn. "you aren't wearing a shirt. Gross! I don't wanna hug that!" Auggie shuddered.

Everyone laughed at Auggie's response to his shirtless uncle.

"Yeah, I should probably get dressed. Mom, Dad, Eric, Katy, and Shawn should be here soon."  I said.

I went back to my room and emerged from it in 2 minutes. When I came back, Eric, Mom, and Dad were there!

"Mom! Dad! Enrico!" I made fun of Eric's habit of getting names wrong.

"Hey Jumanji." Said Eric. "Happy birthday!"

We all sat down on the couch.

"Hey, Josh." I heard a tiny, shy voice from behind me. It was Maya.

"Hey, Papaya." I gave her a warm smile.

"Um... I uh-" she hesitated.

"Don't be shy. What's up?" I asked.

"Here." she finally blurted out.

She handed me a box and a bag of chocolate.

"I'm gonna have to explain why I got this for you." she said.

I took her hand and sat her down on the couch next to me.

"Go ahead." she nodded towards the box. "Open it."

And so I did.

"Huh." I said. "Binoculars. Now would be a good time to explain." I laughed a little.

She blushed. "Remember when we were up at the ski lodge? We talked. You said you just watched your brothers and sister because they were much older than you. You figured out that I was trying to protect Riley even before I  knew. These will help you explore and observe even more."

"There is no manly way to react to this." I laughed, and so did everyone else.

"Open the binocular case." she said softly.

I opened it. There were 10 slips of paper in there. I examined them.  Plane tickets?

"10 plane tickets to Trinity County, California?? How did you get these?" I asked. I was shocked. Her job at Topanga's doesn't pay much!

(Trinity County)

"A few days ago, I asked Shawn what I should get you for your birthday. I was kinda thinking out loud. He joked about plane tickets to California, and I actually liked that idea. He helped me get the tickets after we organized the trip logistics. I've been setting away money for a while, I worked a couple extra shifts, and when you came, I decided it would be the perfect time to use that money. The tickets are for a flight next month at 5am. We'll land at the Trinity Center Airport, take a taxi to a nice cabin, explore the woods, maybe go to the beach, although, it would be a bit of a drive. The tickets are for your brother, Topanga, you can pick a friend to bring, my parents, Riley, Eric, Farkle, and you. I'm included there, too. The trip is two months long, so we'll be living in the cabin. It's really big. So... What do you think?" she asked.

"What do I think? I think you're amazing. This is so cool! Next month? So in March. What about getting back?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that. I got it covered." she said.

"Oh, so now you're an insurance company? Kidding." I laughed nervously. "Words cannot describe how thrilled I am! I'm so happy I could KISS you! Thank you so much, Papaya!" I smiled... Then I kissed her... I ACTUALLY kissed her. On the lips. With the entire family. Watching. CRAP I'M AN IDIOT!

Oops...

I forgot they were here. My entire family and Maya's were staring at us, except for Eric, who was attempting to lick his elbow. Everyone froze. (Including the elbow licker)

Silence.

Eric finally looked up and broke the forbidding, unforgiving silence. "Ohhhhh snap." he laughed. "Jumbalaya messed up!! Hahaha In front of the entire family, too!!!!!! Oh crabapples!!" he laughed hysterically.

Cory spoke up. "Meh, they just got caught up in the moment. Don't pay attention to that." Big brother to the rescue. I winked at Cory, who rolled his eyes at me and grinned. He kept digging...

"You know. 'Cause "I'm so happy I could kiss you" is an expression and he was so excited he did it." Cory explained further.

Everyone laughed and had a good time after that. We exchanged gifts and candy hearts and rainbow sunshine crap that seemed to come from Riley's mind. Maya and I tried to avoid each other just a bit to convince the others that we didn't have a relationship.

I did speak to her once.

"Papaya, we can't hide this forever. We have to tell them some time." I whispered to her.

"I know, but just for now. The time will come for us to tell the rest." she responded.