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“So, you got the paperwork ready?” Jonah asks as he pushes the door shut behind him using only one foot. He’s hugging a cardboard box piled high with various articles of clothing - the last one from the back of Dina’s truck.
Amy squints at him. “Paperwork? What paperwork?”
“Like a lease agreement. You still haven’t told me about rent or your pet policy or where the smoking areas are.”
She rolls her eyes. “One, you don’t owe me anything, I’m not your landlord. Two, I know you don’t have any pets. Three, I know you don’t smoke.”
Jonah sets the box down on the floor next to a small sea of others that had gathered in Amy’s living room; now his living room, too.
“But what if I want to get a goldfish? Or take up smoking so that I can get smoke breaks at work?”
Amy sighs and slowly slides over to Jonah, looping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder once she reaches him. “Goldfish are fine as long as they’re out of Parker’s reach. And if you want smoke breaks, just start vaping instead.”
“What makes vaping better?”
“You can make it smell like bubblegum instead of cigarettes. And I’d rather have my house smell like bubblegum than cigarettes.”
Jonah tips his head to the side so that it’s resting on top of Amy’s. “Good point. And good to know where you stand on these issues.”
She hums and leans further into Jonah, tightening her grip on his waist. “I’m glad that you’re here.”
“Well, I really appreciate the invitation.”
Amy lifts her head enough to plant a kiss on the side of Jonah’s neck, then pulls away. “I’ve already got some drawers emptied in my dresser. And I know how attached you are to your side table lamp, so I’ve moved mine out here.”
Jonah beams. “Thanks. And what’s the closet space like?”
“...we actually might need a contract to negotiate that.”
He laughs. “Good to know I found the limit of your goodwill.”
“You have no concept of the depths of my goodwill, Jonah,” Amy grumbles. “I’m gonna start on lunch so I can feed Dina instead of paying her for hauling all your shit over here.”
“How generous of you.”
“Can you just start unpacking your New Yorker magazines or something already?”
“I actually switched to paperless publications a while ago to reduce my…yeah, yeah, I’ll do that.”
—
“Do you wanna marry my mom?” Emma asks without even looking away from the questionably violent video game that she’s playing. She’s sitting cross legged on the couch next to Jonah, who’s scrolling the Huffington Post on him and Amy’s joint iPad as they both wait for Amy to get home.
“I’m…what?” Jonah replies, unable to mask his bewilderment.
“Isn’t that why you moved in here? Because you want to marry her?”
“I mean, I don’t not want to marry your mom. Some day, in the future. But not right now.”
“Why not right now?”
Jonah’s brow furrows. “Why all of these questions?”
Emma shrugs as her on-screen character grabs someone by the throat and throws them onto the ground. “Just curious. My grandparents didn’t have a lot of nice things to say about you after my quinceanera.”
“Yeah…wonderful…”
They sit in silence for a full minute, Jonah scanning headlines and Emma dismembering hordes of humanoid creatures.
“I wouldn’t mind, though.”
“Wouldn’t mind what?”
“If you married my mom.”
Jonah looks over at Emma, his smile growing exponentially every second.
“Good to know,” he says, voice cracking.
“But I’m not gonna like, call you dad or anything.”
Jonah lets out a short laugh, then swiftly nods when Emma swivels to stare him down.
“Yup. That’s fine by me.”
—
“Jonah, can you grab the dustpan from the linen closet?” Amy calls out the moment that she hears the back door open.
“...dustpan?”
“I tried introducing Parker to whole peas. It didn’t go so well.”
He steps into the kitchen to see loose peas scattered everywhere; all over the table, the floor, and the countertops. A smug looking Parker was sitting in his high chair with a plastic bowl upside down on top of his head.
“Oh boy…yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Jonah dashes towards the closet, then throws the door open and scrambles to find the pan.
“Can you also get a roll of paper towels?” Amy calls down the hallway. “Someone just figured out how to throw dinnerware and smush peas.”
He chuckles to himself before calling back. “Yes, dear!”
When he returns to the kitchen with cleaning supplies in hand, Amy lets out a dramatic sigh.
“I don’t know why getting him to try solid foods is going so poorly. Emma was like a human vacuum cleaner at this age.”
Jonah scans the kitchen, then notices an untouched bowl of peas on the counter. Amy has taken the dustpan and is sweeping up the worst of the damage, so he takes the opportunity to tiptoe across the kitchen and grab it.
“Wait, Jonah, what are you doing?”
“I have an idea.”
“Wait-”
Before Amy can protest further, he picks Parker’s rubber spoon off of his highchair tray and ladles a couple of peas onto it.
“Alrighty, Parker, here comes the airplane!” He gently moves the spoon from side to side, then starts swirling it around as he gets closer to the baby’s face. Parker stops babbling and locks eyes on the target, transfixed by the swirling spoon. Jonah gently pushes it towards his mouth, which he opens to accept the peas. Once he starts chewing, Jonah turns around to look at Amy, who’s glaring daggers at him.
“No way.”
Jonah shrugs. “Worked like a champ with my nephews when they were transitioning from baby food.”
Amy shakes her head and looks back down at the ground. “I hate you.”
He laughs. “You’re welcome. And my work day was fine, thanks for asking.”
She shakes her head again, but he can see her cracking a smile as she tears off a paper towel to wipe up the mushed peas.
“I should’ve put an anti-sarcasm clause in your lease.”
—
“How’s joining the Sosa household been for you?” Garrett asks one day while he and Jonah are eating lunch together.
Jonah looks down at the table between them and smiles, almost bashfully. “It’s been great.”
“Even with Emma and the baby?”
“Yeah. Emma loves that one game you play all the time, so we play together every once in a while. Parker’s been transitioning to solid food and I’m the only one who can get him to try new things. And Emma goes to Adam’s quite a bit, and Parker thankfully sleeps like a champ, so Amy and I still get plenty of alone time. It’s really…nice.”
Garrett looks slightly puzzled, but smiles and nods. “I’m glad. I mean, anything so that you don’t move back in with me, of course. I wouldn’t have pegged you as the dad type, but it’s cool that you’re doing stuff with the kids.”
“I’ve always been great with kids,” Jonah says defensively, “but…thanks. And really, you don’t have to worry about me moving back in with you. Not if I can help it.”
—
“Do you regret this yet?” Amy asks when they’re laying in bed on a rare lazy Sunday morning.
“Regret what, moving in with you?” Jonah asks in return.
“Yeah. Aren’t you sick of seeing my face every morning, noon, and night?”
“This happened during the blizzard, too.”
Amy shifts a little, adjusting the angle at which her arm and leg are flung over Jonah. “What did?”
“Asking if we were sick of each other.”
“I think we’re just really considerate people.”
Jonah laughs softly. “Yeah, something like that.” He pulls Amy in closer, his hand spreading out over her back, thumb rubbing in between her shoulder blades.
“You know, I just…”
“You just?”
“I know this is a lot. A teenage girl and a toddler living here part time is a lot. Especially since your last roommate was Garrett.”
“You know, him and Emma actually have a lot of the same tendencies.”
“Hm. Surprising.”
“But, for real…you have to know that I’m serious about you. And that means being serious about everything that comes with you.”
Amy props her chin up on Jonah’s chest and smiles at him. “Yeah, I do know. It’s just nice to hear it. That you don’t hate me or us or this situation.”
“How could I?”
Her smile wavers. “It’s happened before.”
Jonah keeps stroking her back, waiting a few moments to prepare what to say.
“I promise, Amy, that I’m not committing to you and your family because I feel like I have to. I’m doing this because I want to. I can’t believe that anyone ever treated you like an obligation instead of a wonderful, beautiful person with an amazing family.”
She tilts her head to the side, her smile stabilizing slightly. “Listen…I know you’re not Adam. It’s just that…we were together so long that sometimes, my brain tells me that every relationship will be like that. Even though you’re not like him at all. It’s just…hard.”
“I get it. And it’s okay. You have every right to question me.”
“I don’t, though. Because here you are, living in my house, trying to be friends with my daughter, and helping me take care of my son.”
“Still. I get it. It’s okay.” Jonah’s hand traces around Amy’s shoulder, then slides up to cup her chin. “I love you. And I’ll assure you that I’m here because I want to be as much as you need me to.”
Her eyes glisten, then she leans in to kiss him softly. “I love you, too.”
“And I love Emma and Parker. I’ll keep wanting to care for them, even when Parker grows up and loses his chubby cheeks.”
“Oh, don’t remind me of that,” Amy groans. “I’m still pretending that it won’t happen.”
Jonah laughs, but quickly turns serious again as Amy sits up and takes his face into her hands.
“You’ve promised us so much. So I promise that one day, you won’t have to assure me of anything.”
He smiles, then kisses her again. “I appreciate it. But don’t stress about it.”
She smiles back. “Sometimes, you’re so patient and understanding that it’s infuriating.”
“If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that…”
“You’d have?”
“...at least a few nickels, I think.”
Amy laughs and throws her arms around his chest, to which Jonah hugs her back, squeezing tightly. He laughs along with her, the way he wants to for the rest of their lives.