A rare moment of stillness #2022 #LeoG #lilnephew #leftyLeo #familytime❤️ #familyaboveall (at New Rochelle, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm0Mw_DuKdA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Someone needs a haircut 😍 #2022 #leftyLeo #lilnephew #familytime❤️ #familyaboveall #LeoG (at New Rochelle, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmzI90fLttM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
I will get all of these done before next advent, I swear! Josh is a little nervous at just how well his mom gets along with his in-laws, for leftyleo. Rated G.
Also on AO3.
He waves a hand toward his mother and Donna’s parents, who are sitting together at the dining table. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’
‘This is disastrous,’ Josh mutters. When Donna doesn’t respond, he raises his voice a little. ‘This is a disaster.’
She looks up, eyes narrowed, from the recipe book she’s poring through as she sits on the kitchen counter. ‘In what sense is this a disaster?’
‘Look at them.’ He waves a hand toward his mother and Donna’s parents, who are sitting together at the dining table. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’
Donna glances over at them. ‘Knitting, I think.’
Josh gives a disbelieving huff. ‘Yeah, okay.’
‘Probably. My mom is really into knitting right now. She keeps hinting about making baby hats.’
‘Does she really?’ Josh asks.
She nods. ‘Yeah.’
They exchange a small smile.
‘Knitting,’ he repeats, mostly, it seems, to himself, like he’s testing out how realistic that theory really is.
She rolls her eyes. ‘What do you think they’re talking about?’
‘I don’t know, but I’d imagine it involves me being mortified in some way.’
‘You ever notice that any time your mom speaks you seem to think it’s going to end in your mortification?’
‘What’s your point?’ he asks.
‘That I think I need to hear more stories about your youth.’
‘You don’t,’ he says firmly.
She grins. ‘Okay.’ She sits up straight, rolling her shoulders back and hopping down off the counter to stand next to him. ‘I’m going to start on dinner.’
***
‘Okay.’ Josh comes into the kitchen and begins pacing. ‘Okay. It seems like you might have been right. They were talking about knitting. Does your dad knit too, or—?’
‘Taste this,’ Donna orders, turning around and shoving a spoon at his mouth.
He obediently swallows the mouthful of sauce. ‘Delicious,’ he says. ‘So, now the question is: what are they talking about when I’m not around?’
‘Oh my god, Josh,’ she snaps, opening the cupboard above her head and adding a healthy dash of oregano to the sauce. ‘Can you act like a normal person for two minutes?’
‘I think it’s pretty normal to be nervous that my mom and my in-laws are getting along so well.’
‘It is, after all, all about you,’ she says, trying to sound stern but failing to hide her amusement.
‘Hey, maybe if one of them could come help you in here—’
‘Don’t you dare! They’re our guests, and I already told all three of them no twice. Plus my dad can commandeer a kitchen faster than you’d believe possible and I want to feel like I’ve contributed something. You know who could help me out in here?’
He thinks for a second. ‘Me?’ he suggests, somewhat sheepishly.
‘Correct.’
‘You want me to…’ His eyes fall on the counter. ‘…Keep chopping those carrots I abandoned earlier?’
‘You’re an excellent sous chef,’ she tells him.
***
‘Could you hand me the tomato puree?’ Donna asks. She sighs. ‘Josh!’
‘Hm?’ He turns away from the open kitchen door. ‘Oh, yeah.’ He hands her the tube and then jerks a thumb over his shoulder. ‘They’re laughing pretty hard about something now.’
‘Heaven forbid our parents get along with each other.’ She squeezes some puree into the saucepan and puts the lid on, turning the heat down low. ‘Listen,’ she says, turning around and leaning into him, putting her hands on his waist. ‘I know this is kind of weird for you. I know it’s just been you and your mom for a long time. The idea of your family suddenly growing has to be strange, right?’
Josh flushes. ‘It’s not that I don’t want—you know I think your parents are wonderful.’
‘No, I know,’ she says, nodding reassuringly. ‘And maybe we should have waited until later to do this. We’re just past Christmas and it might not be a holiday you or your mom celebrate but it’s hard to get away from, and if it’s… I don’t know, if it feels too much like a family gathering—’
‘No!’ He shakes his head at her. ‘Seriously, it’s just me being stupid.’
‘Well, I knew there was a little of that.’
‘Yeah.’ He gives her a quick hug and then pulls back, touching her stomach gently. ‘It couldn’t have waited much longer, really, could it?’
She smiles. ‘Let’s tell them now, before dinner.’
‘You mom will be especially pleased,’ he remarks, smiling back. ‘And I’m relieved to hear we won’t have to buy our own hat.’
‘They give you a hat at the hospital,’ she tells him. She takes his hand. ‘What do you suppose they’ll talk about for the rest of the night?’
