Josh was excited. His parents just told him that his brother and his family were on their way to visit them for the weekend. His mom had sat him down earlier trying to explain some things to him. "Cory's coming over with his family," she'd said, "they're also bringing Riley's friend Maya." Josh nodded in understanding. "Now Maya's a little sad right now, so I want you to be extra nice to her, okay?"
Josh frowned and looked up at his mother, "Why is she sad?" He asked her.
Amy smiled sadly at her youngest son. "I don't really know. Cory and Topanga have tried to talk to her, but she just wouldn't tell them."
Confused, Josh nodded at what his mother said. "I'll try my very best to make her happy again," he told his mom with a lot of confidence.
That was almost an hour ago. Since then, Josh had been sitting by the window, waiting for the others to arrive.
When he finally noticed the car, he jumped out of his seat and ran to open the front door. He watched as his brother and sister in law helped the two younger girls get out of the car.
This was the first time he'd seen the blonde little girl and she reminded him of the princess from the storybook he'd read the night before. He smiled at the thought and decided in that moment that he'd be her knight and bring back her happiness.
He hugged his family first, then turned to the blonde. "I'm Josh," he told her. "Do you want to play?"
"Yay!" Riley exclaimed, while the other girl just shook her head sadly. He frowned but went to play with his cousin.
Later that night, he was walking through his bedroom when he passed by the girls' room. Through the open door, he could see his cousin sleeping soundly with her best friend sitting up next to her wide awake. "Can't sleep?" he asked her softly, mindful to not wake up the younger brunette.
Maya shook her head no. He reached his hand out to her. "Come on. I'll get some hot chocolate and we can talk." The little girl hesitated for a second, before grabbing his hand and following him out the door.
The two of them snuck down the stairs and out the backdoor. They quickly hid in the treehouse. "Will you be okay here by yourself, while I get the hot chocolates?" He asked her and waited for her to nod.
He wasn't gone very long when he reappeared carrying a tray with their drinks and some cookies he'd found in the kitchen.
"Do you like your hot chocolate?" Josh asked after a minute of silence.
The little girl nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. "Thank you," she spoke for the first time that day.
"I'd like to be your friend," Josh said then, looking at her reaction. "Will you be my friend?" Again he received a nod as an answer. "Great," he smiled at her. "Friends tell each other why they're sad, right?" He asked her carefully.
The little girl silently looked down the smile that had started appearing now completely vanished. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Will you tell me why you're sad?" Josh asked. When he didn't get a response, he added: "I want to help make you happy again, but I can't do that if I don't know what's wrong."
The five-year-old girl hesitated for a second then finally opened up. "My daddy left." She said.
Josh frowned. "What do you mean he left?"
"My mommy and daddy were fighting a lot. It's always so loud," she closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears. "Then it was silent. I was scared so I went looking for them. Mommy was crying and daddy was gone. Mommy said that he isn't coming back." With that, the little girl burst into tears.
The eight-year-old didn't really know what to do or say. He didn't really understand how this could happen. How could her daddy just leave her like that?
He thought of what to do and remembered his mom pulling him into a hug when he was sad and how it always made him feel better. Slowly, he reached out his arms and pulled the crying girl into his arms.
When she calmed down a little, she told him she was scared and that she didn't want to be alone.
"Don't worry," Josh told her, not letting go of her, "you will never be alone."
"How do you know that?" she asked desperately.
"Because," he shrugged and pulled her tighter against his chest. "I will protect you."
A smile spread on Maya's face. They stayed there for a little longer, before sneaking back up to their beds.
The following day, everyone was relieved to see Maya smiling. Josh stayed the whole weekend glued to the girl's side. The two of them, along with Riley, played together the whole time.
Eventually, it was time for them to leave. Maya was crying and wouldn't let go of Josh. She did not want to go home. She was scared and didn't want to be alone.
"Come on Maya," Josh tried to comfort her. "You have to be brave. You'll never be alone. If you go home and you're scared, you go to Cory's and ask him to call me, okay? Then I will protect you."
"Promise?" she asked, looking up at him.
"I promise," he responded confidently.
For a year, the two of them would talk on the phone regularly. Then it started to get less and less frequent until eventually, they lost sight of each other. They didn't talk or see each other for a long time, until that one Christmas day a few years later.
