── 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
a/n~ a cute break from everything before we jump back into things 🥰 ALSO so this isn't too confusing, this chapter is how joel imagines things would've gone with josie if there was no outbreak, sarah was alive, and they just met under completely normal circumstances. i'm writing it normal as if it's actually happening but just incase anyone's like ???? this is just joel's imagination. and happening in current times, not 2003. so when i reference pinterest, it exists shdhdndhd
AND because i need this to be a bonding point between sarah and josie, we're saying sarah didn't get her period until 14. i know the average age is 12, and as late as 15, but yeah jahdjsxnfj
this is a long one so grab a snack! i wanted to get this all in 1 chapter, felt too much to break it into 2 and then jump back to 'real life' which is just after joel crashes the truck into the abandoned building
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IF THE OUTBREAK NEVER happened, Joel knows exactly how he would've wanted things to go with Josie. Not that he'd ever say any of these things out loud, of course.
Josie would be the age she is now, 36, but he'd be the age he was 20 years ago. That way they'd be the same age when they met, and he'd have a lot more good years with her before he got too old.
He imagines things would start out innocent enough. Maybe one day she moves in next door.
Of course, it's Sarah who immediately notices when a U-Haul pulls into the driveway, and she runs to tell her dad they have new neighbors, a guy and a girl.
At first, he gets on her about being nosy. But after she insists that she just so happened to be looking out of the window when she saw the truck, he followed her to get a better look at who'd be living right next door.
"I saw her better when she grabbed a box, she's pretty."
He wouldn't even be able to lie, he 100% agreed with his daughter. Their new neighbor was pretty. Actually, that word didn't do her justice. Joel thought she was beautiful.
"I know right. Can we go introduce ourselves?" Sarah looks to her dad, a big grin on her face. Shit. Joel didn't realize he'd said that last bit out loud.
"No why don't we let them get settled in."
"I'm gonna go say hi."
Joel sighs as he realizes she tricked him. She already had shoes on her feet and was planning to go over no matter what he said.
"Hi!" Sarah approaches Josie, unaware that she has earbuds in as she tries to get the boxes off of the truck as fast as possible.
Turning around to take her old records into the house, Josie nearly drops them as she's greeted by the young girl.
Joel steps forward to help steady the records that had slowly begun to slide out of Josie's arms.
A man pokes his head out of the house, and when he sees Josie doesn't need any help, he goes back inside.
"Give me one second I'll be right back!" Josie shouts, quickly walking inside to put them down. When she comes back out, her earbuds are gone and she walks toward Sarah and Joel, smiling.
"Sorry about her," Joel looks at his daughter and shakes his head, trying to hide his smile.
"Yeah, I didn't mean to scare you. Just saw someone finally moving in to this house and had to come and say hi."
Josie laughs. "It's totally fine, don't even worry about it. Probably not a good idea to wear both earbuds when I'm outside anyway. I'm Josie."
"I'm Sarah. This is my dad, Joel. Is it just you guys living here?"
"Sarah," he turns to Josie, "sorry she's nosy. You don't have to answer."
"It's okay, I don't mind. Oh and he," she motions back to the house, "is my brother, Pietro. It'll be just me living here, he's only helping me today. It's why I've been moving so quickly to unpack the truck. Wanted to save money so I only hired movers to pack up my stuff and load the truck. And if we return the truck before U-Haul closes, it's a lot cheaper."
Joel hates the involuntary feeling he got upon learning Pietro was her brother and not a husband or boyfriend.
He knows what's about to happen, but he doesn't have time to say anything before he hears the house phone ringing. Joel turns to Sarah, who tells him "it's probably Uncle Tommy inviting himself over for dinner".
"We'll be right back," Joel turns towards their house, motioning for Sarah to follow him.
"You go dad, I'm gonna help Josie and Pietro."
Josie is surprised, but also feels bad and can tell Joel isn't too fond of the idea of leaving his daughter alone with a stranger, as pretty as he may think she is.
"We can just hang out outside, if that's okay?" Josie offers, seeing as Sarah has still made no move to go inside like her dad asked. "We've just been unloading the truck and bringing it up onto the porch, before we start bringing things inside."
Sarah turns to her dad with her puppy dog eyes. Joel rolls his and says he'll be right back before jogging over to the house to return Tommy's call.
Pietro comes back out less than a minute later, and Josie laughs as he turns stacking boxes into a game with Sarah.
"You were right," Joel tells his daughter as he comes back, "Tommy asked if he could swing by for dinner." He looks at Pietro a little wary, but any skepticism he had goes away when Pietro stops what he's doing and properly introduces himself to Joel.
Pietro moves as close to the edge of the truck bed as he can, and as Josie goes to help him, Joel interrupts.
"Here, I can help with that."
Josie puts her hand to her heart as she steps aside. "We just met but I think I love you already. That looked really hard to lift."
A few minutes later, when they return to the truck, Joel suggests putting the mattress just past the front door, that way it's not laying on the dirty porch.
"Oh I didn't mean to make you feel like you had to help," Josie feels guilty. Truthfully, she was just grateful that she didn't have to lift the dresser. It was an antique one from an estate sale years ago and the thing did feel like it weighed a ton.
"S'alright, I'm offering. We were just watching a movie inside anyway."
As Joel and Pietro take the mattresses and another dresser into the house, Josie and Sarah settle down on the grass.
Josie asks Sarah about good places to eat and fun things to do, and Sarah's face lights up as she starts naming places.
The next hour goes by quickly as they all work to empty out the back of the U-Haul. Josie repeatedly thanks both Millers, who insist it's really no trouble.
"I have to pay you guys somehow."
"Could I come listen to some of your records?" Sarah popped her head out of the back of the truck.
"Sarah," Joel sighs. One thing his daughter is not, is subtle. Ever since she was old enough to understand what dating was, she'd been trying to set her dad up with any and every woman even close to his age.
"You got a deal," Josie holds her hand out for a high-five, and Sarah happily obliges.
Only a few minutes later, Pietro's phone rings. He steps into the house to answer it, returning again a couple of minutes later.
"Sorry Jo, that was work. I'll take you to return the truck and then bring you back but I won't be able to stay for dinner like I thought."
"Oh okay," she turns to Joel and Sarah, "I seriously can't thank you both enough, and I will be repaying you somehow."
After another insistence that no payment is necessary, Joel and Sarah say goodbye as they head back into the house.
A few hours later, just as the sun begins to set, the doorbell rings at the Miller home.
Tommy answers the door, surprised to see a pizza guy. They were just discussing what to order, so he knows he and Joel didn't order anything. "I think you have the wrong house."
The delivery guy checks the name on the order. "Joel Miller?"
Confused, but also hungry, Tommy accepts the boxes once the driver says that payment and tip are already taken care of.
"Oh sweet you guys decided pizza!" Sarah makes a beeline for the boxes once Tommy sets them on the table.
"You ordered pizza?" Joel looks at his younger brother. When he opens the first box, Sarah and Tommy know something's up when his face goes a little red.
Sarah spins the box around, smiling as she lifts the lid.
She had to have called the pizza place and asked the favor, because on the inside of one of the boxes, written in black, is a message.
Thank you for the help! Dinner
is the least I could do.
~ Josie
"Who is—"
Sarah interrupts Tommy. "Our new neighbor. Dad thinks she's pretty."
"Sarah! I do not—"
"So she's ugly?"
Joel stutters. "No, I— of course she's pretty. We helped her unpack a moving truck and she wanted to pay us back, that's all."
Sarah looks to Tommy, wiggling her eyebrows. "You know she's the exact same age as dad. I asked her."
Tommy grins. "Is she now?"
"That's enough out of both of you."
"We should invite her to come over! Remember dad Pietro said he couldn't stay for dinner so she's by herself."
Before he can even ask, Joel answers Tommy's question. "That's her brother."
"Yeah Joel, you should invite her over."
"I don't wanna bother—"
Sarah hops up from her chair and practically rushes to the door. "I'll go ask her!"
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Years from that moment, Joel would remember it fondly. He couldn't have known it then, that Josie moving next door was the start of something extraordinary.
She ended up accepting Sarah's invitation to have dinner with them, after repeatedly asking if Joel thought it was okay.
As soon as Tommy saw the way Joel smiled when Josie walked through the door, he knew, even if Joel didn't quite yet.
It was summer, so Sarah's days quickly began being spent with Josie. Turned out she loved to garden, and Sarah spent hours every day helping her repot plants, and plant some seeds.
Joel ended up joining them most days, and Sarah took notice every time her dad and Josie looked at each other then the other was looking away. Knowing her dad wouldn't make the first move even though he probably wanted to, she came up with a plan.
One afternoon a few months after they first met, Sarah invited Josie over for dinner that night. Josie happily accepted, not knowing that Sarah wouldn't even be home.
A new horror movie had just come out, and she informed Josie days later that "Hey I asked you to come over for dinner, I never said I'd be there! Uncle Tommy lost rock paper scissors with dad on who had to take me. Dad hates scary movies."
When Josie knocked on the Millers door, Joel answered and immediately invited Josie inside.
Once they both worked out what Sarah had done, Josie grew embarrassed and offered to leave. Deciding his daughter was right, he needed to be bold, he said no, that she should stay.
Luckily he had actually prepared dinner. Just some pasta dish, but Josie was thrilled. It was then Joel learned that if she could only eat one thing for dinner, it would be some type of pasta.
"I think this situation may be my fault." Josie laughed, wondering if this confession was a mistake before it was even made.
"Why's that?"
"I— you'll think it's stupid," she turned a little red, taking a sip of wine from the glass Joel poured for her. Now she was stalling.
"I promise I won't."
Josie looked at Joel, and she smiled at how genuine he was being.
"She asked if I was seeing anyone, and I had a feeling she was trying to set us up, but I told her the truth, which was no. Then we got to talking about other random things and then you were brought up and I... accidentallyletitslipthatithinkyou'rehandsome."
Now it was Joel's turn for his face to get a little red. Although she spoke fast, he heard every word. Josie had told Sarah that she thought he was handsome.
"If it makes you feel any better, I let it slip I think you're beautiful, before we even met for the first time."
By then they'd both finished their food, so they sipped on their wine as they processed what the other just confessed.
After Joel cleared the plates and denied Josie's offer to do the dishes, they moved to the couch. Both too nervous to talk about the elephant in the room, which was that they both clearly felt something for the other, they talked about other stuff.
Joel learned that Josie and Pietro's parents had died when their apartment building collapsed, and they left New York shortly after for a quieter life in Texas. He, in turn, surprised himself by being so open about his struggles as a single dad. He worried about if that would drive Josie away, but wanted to be honest.
They moved on to lighter topics after that. They learned that they had the same taste in music, and had the same dislike of horror movies.
When Joel got a call from Tommy saying they were on their way back from the movies, it dawned on him that his own brother was part of this set up date with Josie. He'd taken Sarah out to scary movies many times and never once said when they were on their way back, they usually just showed up since both carried spare keys.
Josie took that as her sign to head home.
"You can stay, hang out with all of us if y'want to."
Josie placed her empty wine glass in the sink, then followed Joel to the front door. "Wine makes me sleepy, I really should go home before I fall asleep on your couch. Plus, I kinda wanna just relive tonight, in my head," she smiled.
Hearing that made Joel's heart flutter. "Can I walk you home?"
Even though home was a 10 second walk away, Josie still accepted his offer.
When they stepped outside, Joel held his arm out. Josie laughed as she held his arm as they began the very short walk. She was definitely feeling the effects of the glass of wine, and was glad Joel walked her home.
"This wasn't just Sarah's doing," Joel spoke as they stood on Josie's porch. "I did want to ask you on a date, she just, sped up that process, I guess."
When Josie smiled at Joel, he reminded himself to thank Sarah later.
"Thank you, not just for tonight, but for everything these past few months. I was nervous about moving, but I'm really happy I did."
Knowing the night was coming to an end and it was now or who knows when, Joel closed the distance between them. He put a hand a hand on either side of Josie's face and slowly leaned his head down.
He paused for a moment, a little from worry that he was reading things wrong and that she might not want this. But when she looked up at him and smiled, he knew she was feeling the same way.
Joel was never one for cheesy stuff, but in that moment when he and Josie finally kissed, he'd later swear that it felt like magic.
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Just as that first meeting was the start of their friendship, that date and kiss was the start of things becoming romantic.
It scared Joel a little, how seamlessly Josie fit into their lives. He got a kick out of hearing her and Tommy bicker, and told them that if anyone else heard them, someone would think they were the siblings instead of him and Joel.
He was nervous to tell Sarah about how he felt for Josie, but there was no need to be. Sarah was thrilled, almost as excited as he was, that he finally had someone like that in his life.
Plus, she shyly admitted that she loved how Josie was pretty much like a mom to her.
One afternoon while Joel was still at work, he got a text from Josie. It was Saturday, so Sarah was just home by herself. At this point, Josie had been in their lives about 8 months and in a relationship with Joel for a few of those months.
josie 🦋
hey! just incase you get home
from work in the next like 30
minutes or so, sarah and i are
headed to the store for some
things 😄
joel 👨🏻🥰
everything okay? i'll be leaving
work soon, i can just grab whatever
it is on the way if you'd like. job
finished a lot earlier than we
thought it would.
josie 🦋
all good! i'll take her if that's
okay?
josie 🦋
we just need some girly things.
joel 👨🏻🥰
ah, gotcha. of course
joel 👨🏻🥰
thanks baby
When Joel got home from work that day, the sight that greeted him nearly stopped him in his tracks.
Josie sat on the couch, and Sarah lay with her head on Josie's lap. Josie was absentmindedly playing with Sarah's hair as she explained periods and what was now going to happen every month.
They both looked at Joel as he walked in, and before either of them could get up he said he was going to go upstairs to shower, and it was unspoken that he was also doing so to give them privacy to finish their conversation.
About 15 minutes later when Joel emerged from the bathroom, he saw that Sarah was now in her room. He popped his head in and talked to her for a few minutes, and she reassured him that she was absolutely fine, and she knows she could've come to him too but Josie was home and this felt like something she wanted her help with.
Heading downstairs, Joel finds Josie on the couch again, this time reading a book she'd brought with her.
Without saying a word, Joel gently removes the book from her hands, making sure to put the bookmark in between the pages. He mimics Sarah, laying down with his head now in Josie's lap.
As she runs her fingers through his damp hair, he closes his eyes, a sigh of content as he exhales.
"I know I said it over text, but thank you baby. Sarah mentioned twice while I was up there, how happy she was to have you for this stuff."
Her face beamed with pride. "Of course. I had her write down my number too, said if she ever needs something or just wants to talk, she can call if I'm not home."
"Stay over tonight?" Joel asked. Although she'd spent the night quite a few times, he still got nervous.
Josie nodded, a yawn slipping out. "Think we could go upstairs and take a nap? I got up earlier than usual this morning."
Joel stood, holding a hand out and pulling Josie up with him. "You read my mind."
Only a few minutes later, they were cuddled up in bed. It was Joel's favorite way to fall asleep, with Josie in his arms.
She was first to fall asleep, which usually happened. And as he lay there and looked at the woman he'd come to love, he wondered if it was too soon to ask her to move in.
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It was on their one year dating anniversary that Joel finally worked up the courage to ask Josie to move in.
By that point Josie's one-year lease had ended and she was renting month to month, so when the time came around they just moved Josie's things over. Luckily her house was much smaller, which meant less to move next door.
Josie liked to collect random things. Joel would huff and jokingly refer to it as clutter, to which she and Sarah would scoff and say no, they were treasures. Whatever you called them, a lot of the things now found places in the Miller home.
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About a year and a half after they started dating, Joel asked Tommy to go with him to pick out a ring. Sarah over heard (was eavesdropping) and ran into the room screaming as she practically tackled her dad.
She said she had to go with them because she knew exactly what kind of ring Josie wanted.
"Pinterest, duh."
"Pin— what?"
Tommy sighs, putting a hand on Joel's shoulder. "I know you're older than me but I didn't think you were that old. We'll explain in the car, come on grandpa."
On the ride over, Joel tells Sarah he was going to ask for her blessing to propose to Josie, he just wanted to look at rings first to get an idea.
"You already have my blessing dad, you have since she came over for dinner and I saw how you looked at her."
At the mall, Joel had to ask Sarah multiple times to slow down. There were a few jewelry stores in the mall but she knew exactly which one they should go to.
"Think she might be almost as excited as you are," Tommy laughed as he saw Sarah waiting impatiently for them in front of the store.
That made Joel happy to hear. He knew Sarah saw Josie as a mom, and she'd have no issues whatsoever with Josie becoming her step-mom, officially. She did already live with them. But it was still a big step.
Half an hour later, the 3 Miller's walked out of the jewelry store, Joel's pocket now containing a small velvet box.
"How'd you know her ring size anyway?" Tommy turns around to ask Sarah as they head home.
"Oh that was random actually. She let me use her phone to scroll pinterest and I saw a board with jewelry. She mentioned that she liked to buy rings online from this one shop on Etsy and I asked how she could do that without trying them on. She said because she had one of those free ring sizers that jewelry stores give you if you ask. I asked to see it and she showed me how to find my size, and hers. It was pretty cool."
Joel never loved Sarah's curious nature more than he did in that moment.
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Joel proposed on his and Josie's 2 year dating anniversary. With the help of Sarah and Tommy, it took a couple of weeks to plan and work the whole thing out.
On the actual day, Joel said he'd planned a surprise in the evening. And he had, but it was so much more than that.
The first part of the plan was on Sarah. After lunch, she said she'd gotten them presents as a couple, but also had things individually. She told Josie her surprise was that they were going to get their nails done, her (Joel's) treat.
A few minutes after they left, Joel called Tommy who showed up about 10 minutes later.
The brothers quickly got to work, bringing down boxes and bags that were carefully hidden away in the attic.
Nearly 2 hours later, their work was almost finished. Fairy lights lit up the ceiling, and those small tealight candles form a heart in the middle of the living room, just waiting to be lit.
The couch and all bigger furniture items had been moved to either the kitchen or basement, and balloons were scattered around the floor and some blown up with helium were on the ceiling, with glitter ribbon hanging down.
Attached at the bottom of each ribbon was a Polaroid of Joel and Josie, taken throughout the 2 years they'd been together.
Those had been arranged a certain way, so that if you walked around the living room the photos went in order. The first Polaroid was of their first date at home, when Sarah had quickly come down to ask if she could take a photo. Ending with the most recent one take just that morning.
Sarah considered herself an expert at distraction, which was why she and Josie were still out after their manicures and pedicures which took less than an hour. She'd been asking to borrow Josie's phone, texting her dad, then deleting the texts to get rid of the evidence.
josie 🦋
hi dad, we just finished
getting our nails done, i
asked if we could go to
the bookstore before
heading home. will be sure
to take my time browsing 😉
josie 🦋
it's still happening around
dinner, right? if that's the case
i still have to distract her for
a while but idk if she'll want
to see a movie
joel 👨🏻🥰
thanks babygirl. uncle
tommy and i are almost
done, will call josie to ask
where you guys are and
come meet up with you.
josie 🦋
copy that 🫡
Once Joel and Tommy were finished setting up, Joel called Josie and asked where she and Sarah were.
When she said at an outdoor craft fair, he laughed. Josie and Sarah loved to bond over random projects and arts and crafts, so he wasn't at all surprised.
He mentioned coming to meet them, loving how happy Josie sounded when he spoke.
The doorbell rang just then, and Joel went to answer it. He let Pietro in, giving him a hug and thanking him for coming.
"Of course," Pietro smiled. "I knew you guys would get married eventually, when she called me after having dinner at your house the first time we all met. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of tonight. You headed to them now?"
"Yeah, Tommy's gonna drop me off with them and then come back to help you, I'll text him when we're leaving so you guys can start lighting all of the candles. The craft fair is only ten minutes away."
As he got in the truck, nerves started to set in. Not out of fear of rejection, he knew she'd say yes. But this would be one of the most important moments of his life, and he wanted it to be perfect.
After Tommy drove off, Joel immediately scanned the area for Josie and Sarah. He saw Sarah first, who waved him over.
He snuck up on Josie, putting his arms around her from behind and spinning her around.
"You're here!" Josie turned and gave Joel a kiss.
One of the things that made Joel's heart flutter every time was how even if they only spent a few hours apart, Josie was still just as happy to see him like she was in the beginning of their relationship.
The 3 ended up wandering around the craft fair for another half hour, Joel carrying all of the bags as Josie and Sarah walked, arms linked. Seeing them grow so close over the last couple of years made Joel even more excited for what was to come.
Joel made up an excuse about Tommy needing to run errands so he dropped him off, and offered to drive Josie's car back home.
Sarah called shotgun, and Josie just laughed as she accepted defeat and climbed in back. Before she got in, she whispered to her dad that it was she could text "Uncle Tommy" to let him know they were on their way. Joel gave her a thumbs up before getting into the drivers seat.
joel 👴🏼
on our way!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JAHDJXJSJDC I'M SO
WXCITED ITS FINALLR
HAPPENINF!!!!
tommy 👶🏻
😳
tommy 👶🏻
roger that 🫡
Josie's car pulls into the driveway almost exactly 10 minutes after Sarah sent the text from her dads phone. Luckily she's distracted trying to gather all of the bags in the trunk.
Normally Joel would insist on carrying them in. But he notices Pietro's car in front and realizes none of them thought to have him park down the street, so he's counting on Josie's not noticing.
Sarah runs ahead, saying she'll get the stuff she bought later.
Joel feels his phone vibrate and sees a text from Tommy saying that he, Pietro, and Sarah are upstairs.
Seeing Josie still trying to gather the bags to only make 1 trip, Joel finally scoops them all up and quickly ushers her inside. Thankfully the distraction works, as she doesn't mention her brothers car.
Before the enter the house, Joel sets the bags down on the porch and tells Josie he has a surprise. They remove their shoes and he covers her eyes as they step into the home.
When he slowly moves back and Josie opens her eyes, her hands cover her mouth in shock, and tears are already forming.
"Joel, this is— this is beautiful," Josie stands there, a little speechless.
Joel takes her hand and leads her to the living room, and sees the moment Josie starts to connect the dots about what might be happening.
A little nervous and stuttering at first, he continues to hold her hand as he leads her around to all of the balloons, stopping to hold each Polaroid and explain why they're part of his favorite moments with her.
Finally, he steps over the tealight candles, holding Josie's hand as she follows him.
"Josie, baby," Joel puts his hands on either side of her face and kisses her, and tears threaten to spill when they step apart as Josie sees the tears in his eyes too. "When you moved next door and Sarah told me we had a new neighbor who was pretty, the first thing I thought was God she's beautiful. I didn't know it then, that you'd turn out to be one of the most important people in my life. These past two years, and even before I was lucky enough to be able to say you were my girl, have been some of the happiest years of my life."
Josie stepped closer to Joel to give him a kiss, sensing his nerves.
"Seeing you bond with Sarah, makes me happier than I can describe. For a long while it was always just her and I, and I was content with that. Even if I was single, I had her and that was more than enough. And then you came in to my life and suddenly I wanted so much more. I'd forgotten what it was like to be with someone, to be in love. You've given me so much, and I'd like to spend the rest of our lives showing you how much you mean to me."
"Joel," Josie speaks softly, putting a hand on his cheek.
Finally, he gets down on one knee and pulls the velvet box from his pocket.
"You are everything to me, and I'd love to spend forever being able to call you my wife. Josie, will you marry me?"
Tears do finally spill as Josie nods yes, too excited and still stunned to even speak. Joel stands and puts the ring on her finger and pulls her in for another kiss.
A minute later, Pietro, Sarah, and Tommy come running down the stairs.
Josie is once again surprised when she sees her brother, who picks her up and spins her around as he yells "my sisters getting married!", and Tommy gives Joel a hug, saying he called it on day 1.
Sarah stands off to the side snapping a few Polaroids of everyone, until Josie motions for her and she joins her and her dad in a hug.
As Sarah and Joel talk, with Sarah already saying she has so many ideas for the wedding, Tommy pulls Josie in for a hug, saying "you've been part of the family for a while now, but welcome anyway sis".
"Mama!" Sarah tackles Josie, and they fall to the floor, laughing. It had been almost 6 months since she shyly asked Josie if it was okay that she called her that. She wanted to a while ago, but didn't have the courage until then.
It started after she was on the phone and Sarah heard Josie say "with my daughter Sarah", and that had followed the young girls confession the night before that Josie was the closest thing she had to a mom.
Sarah insisted that the newly engaged couple take the 'typical' announcement photo, with Joel's arms around Josie from behind as she puts her left hand up with her right one pointing to her ring.
After the picture is taken, Josie steps forward as she says she wants to see how it turned out. But she doesn't get any further than that as Joel's arms gently pull her back so she's standing with her back to his chest.
"Just wanna stay like this for another minute," he speaks softly.
As he holds his fiancée in his arms, Joel wonders how on earth he got so damn lucky.
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If only that life was real.
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a/n~ not me now wanting to start a completely new story all about joel's no outbreak happy life. he deserves it so much 😭
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