Northern Constellations

Summary: Explore a year in the life of Joshua Matthews and Maya Hart as they discover the wonders and woes of young parenthood. Joshaya.

Chapter Twelve

Riley and Maya sighed in unison, leaning their heads against the chilly glass of the bay window. They sat together in silence, listening to the chaos burgeoning from outside; the occasional honk, the sound of an old rap song blaring from someone's car stereo and the voices of nagging mothers urging their children to hurry up from the street below. It was a dark and gloomy morning in New York City, and the skies were uncharacteristically grey. All traces of sunlight were muted by hazy overcast weather, and the girls wanted nothing more than to stay indoors. They didn't want their summer to end...not like this, and they certainly weren't looking forward to going back to school.

"I hate that it has to be this way, but all good things must come to an end," Riley said solemnly, a blank expression on her face as she placed a hand to her chest. "We had a really good time together, and now what? Look at us."

Maya rolled her eyes, not yet moving from her spot at the bay window. She held a pillow to her chest, comforted by the extra pressure against her baby bump. Although they were both mourning the end of summer vacation, Maya dreaded going back to school the most. Her pregnancy wasn't big news before they left for break, and she was certain that only a handful of her peers knew about it to begin with. The only two people that she had seen while showing were Darcy and Yogi when they stopped by the bakery. They had been too wrapped up in themselves to question her.

Things were different now. She couldn't wear baggy clothes and get away with it. According to her family, she had popped quite a bit during her last month of summer break, and after some gentle coaxing, she flaunted her figure well. However, Maya was on the fence about her classmates. Despite being notorious for not caring about what anyone thinks, she was entering into new territory. She was a statistic. People didn't always understand girls like her. She was happy though. She was so damn happy.

"I don't wanna go to school," Maya pouted, closing her eyes for a brief moment. They had forty-five minutes left until the first period bell. Like every year before, the girls woke up early to get ready for the first day of class together. They helped each other pick out their first day of school outfit, ate breakfast together and lamented about their too short summers. It was tradition. This year was special because they had Aurora to bond over. Riley joked that this was her first first day of class too. "I would rather keep working. I don't mind making coffee and selling muffins all day...at least I'm surrounded by things I like at the bakery."

"You like me and I'm going to school too," Riley offered as a side note, completely understanding where her best friend was coming from. The girls actually enjoyed spending their days working at the bakery. Although they worked for minimum wage, it filled them with a sense of pride, and they liked getting to spend all that time together. The work there was easy, and school was arguably not. There, they would be faced with difficult curriculum and mean girls. Even though they were fairly popular among their ranks, they were still pretty low on the social ladder as underclassmen. "But I feel the same, peaches."

"I'm just glad that we have two classes together," Maya expressed wholeheartedly. Going into high school, she worried that their schedules would no longer align but it seemed to be quite the opposite. "I would probably drop-out if I only had randoms in my classes."

"Imagine how I'm gonna feel when you have to take time off during midterm season," Riley frowned. "You're gonna have so much fun bonding with your baby, and I'll be at school with my dad."

Maya snorted, removing herself from the glass window. She rested a hand on her stomach, tapping at her abdomen with her freshly manicured ballerina acrylics—a treat from her boyfriend—and shook her head. "It might not all be sunshine and rainbows. This is my kid you're talking about here. Ari might start raising hell on day one."

"I highly doubt that," Riley giggled, obviously amused by the blonde's comment. "She might be half of you, but she's half of Josh too, and he's unwittingly perfect. I bet she'll be a total sweetheart, and you guys will end up treating her like a princess."

And the, just like that, as if it were on cue, a tall figure walked past the open bedroom door, but before turning the corner, they took a few steps back to peep their head through the door frame. "I heard something about my princess?"

"You really make me sick sometimes, boing," Maya teased, feeling her heart swell at the sight of her boyfriend. Things were good, amazing between the two of them, and they had gone through so much together since the end of the last school year. It was hard to believe that only a few short months ago, they could hardly talk about their feelings. Now, they spent nearly everyday working toward something great. A healthy relationship. A healthy family. As much as the thought of being judged by her peers made Maya's blood boil, for the first time in her life, she had everything she could have ever wanted. Still, as she acknowledged quite often, they were young, but deep down in her heart she knew that they would make it. After all, they were family with or without Aurora.

"That's my job," Josh shrugged, making long strides in the bedroom until he reached the bay window. He squeezed himself in between the two girls, partially to get under his niece's skin and partially to sit closer to Maya, and looked back and forth between the girls. "First day of school, how are we feeling?"

"You already had your first day of school, Uncle Josh," Riley said pointedly, adjusting herself on the plush bench to get comfortable. "But we're feeling kinda meh."

"Meh is the word," Maya agreed, resting her head on his shoulder. She let out a yawn, and he chuckled in response, kissing the top of her head. He had spent the past few nights sleeping at his older brother's house instead of at Shawn's apartment with Maya, and even though they still saw each other everyday, he still treasured tiny moments like these.

"Well for what it's worth, I think you look beautiful," Josh expressed to Maya before turning to Riley. "Both of you. You guys are gonna kill it today. Don't sweat it."

"We'll be fine because we have each other," Riley shrugged. And Lucas, Farkle, Smackle and Zay, she wanted to add. After facing countless highs and lows during their freshman year of high school, they knew that they would always be alright as long as they had each other to lean on. "It just feels like summer went by way too fast, and the weather is not our friend today."

"Yeah, the weather could be better," Josh said, checking the time on his phone. Riley peaked over his shoulder, smiling to herself as his lock screen flashing before her very eyes. It was a candid of Maya sitting on the front porch of Shawn's upstate cabin with a mug in her hands, a photo that Maya probably hated herself. "Need a ride? I can drop you guys off before my nine am."

"We're gonna ride with my dad today," Riley sighed. As if her dad wasn't already her teacher, he insisted that they ride together to school, at least on their first day.

"Cory insisted," Maya said with great emphasis. It wasn't a secret that Cory Matthews loved Maya like a daughter, but now that she was pregnant with his niece, he had been a bit more overbearing lately. "Geez, all you Matthews' are crazy."

"You too, Maya Matthews," Riley poked fun. "Guess it's kinda unavoidable that you're gonna be my aunt."

"At this point?" Josh asked redundantly. "Yeah, she's gonna be your aunt."

"Sorry not sorry," Maya said. "It has a certain ring to it, don't you think? Aunt Maya."

"Yeah, yeah. Now come on, peaches, we gotta finish getting ready for school."

Maya wasn't quite sure what to expect on her first day back at Abigail Adams High School. Their first day of freshman year had been memorable but for all the wrong reasons. It took them time to get into the flow of things at school. They had been the kings of their old school, but now they were patriots, and every day held a new battle. When Riley and Maya swung open the front doors, they were welcomed by both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Riley and Maya found it easy to pick out the younger kids, and they understood now that they tried too hard in the beginning. High school was a new ball game, and Maya learned that life outside of it was even trickier to deal with at times.

"How does it feel to be back?" Riley asked her best friend as they started to put things in their lockers. Their lockers were right next to each other, a big perk to having a relative on payroll, and it helped alleviate some of the worries that they girls had about being apart. "I'm still feeling meh, but at least everyone has been nice."

It was true. Everyone was nice. For the most part, students kept to themselves when they saw Riley and Maya. They weren't freshman anymore and there were new targets for upperclassmen to pick on. Not to mention the fact that Maya was cool even if she refused to label herself as such. Before they were let out for summer vacation, Maya had established herself as one of the coolest girls in their grade. Boys wanted to date her, girls wanted to be her friend and Riley was certain that her being pregnant didn't change the fact that she was the Maya Hart. Sure, people asked about Maya's pregnancy, but no one made her feel bad about it to her face.

"It feels like school," Maya said. "I don't hate it."

They continued to get their books ready for first period, World History with Mr. Matthews, and waited for their friends in a comfortable silence. Moments later, they were greeted by a charming face, one that they had not seen much of throughout the summer due to travel.

"Hello, ladies," Farkle Minkus greeted, walking hand-in-hand with his longterm girlfriend, Isadora Smackle.

"Hi, Farkle," the girls chimed in unison, earning a toothy smile from the tall, lanky boy.

"Maya!" Smackle beamed like a lightbulb went off in her head. "I am correct, you're well into your third trimester now. You look bigger than you did the last time I saw you. Bigger, but still beautiful.

"Thanks, Smackle," Maya expressed genuinely. As blunt as the short brunette was, she had learned to find it endearing. She knew that, after everything her group had been through, Smackle truly cared about each and every one of them. "I feel huge, but it's kinda nice. I know she's growing."

"You must be able to feel her move around a lot," Smackle added. "If not now, then soon."

"She can't keep still," Maya replied. It was an exaggeration, of course, but her girl was most definitely active. "It's crazy because I used to be the laziest kid ever."

"I still think you're lazy," Lucas said, jumping into the conversation as soon as he came within earshot. Zay followed closely behind.

"Very funny, Ranger Rick," Maya deadpanned, playfully punching him in the shoulder when he stood in front of her. Lucas flinched.

"Gotta be careful with mama bear," Zay inserted. "She packs a mean punch nowadays."

The group shared a laugh together before walking to first period.