Maya's blonde hair fell around her shoulders as she pulled the straps of her dress up around her shoulders. The soft blue tones of the dress made the pink blush on her cheeks pop as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Every single strand of blonde hair that lay on her head was caught in bouncy cascades of blonde hair that framed her face. Her mouth created a perfect pink pout as she brought herself back into the moment. Josh walked up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "You look beautiful," he said as he looked at her in the mirror. "Are you ready?"

Maya looked back at her husband and turned in his arms and took his hand. "Yeah, I'm ready."

They each took in a deep breath and embarked on their journey. The couple soon found themselves outside behind their home. It was peaceful, quiet, secluded. Just the two of them. They walked into a clearing of trees. Maya fiddled with the ring on her finger as she watched Josh spread out a blanket and hold out his hand for her. She placed her hand in his as he helped her sit down on the blanket. He wore a short sleeve button up that left a few unbuttoned near the neck. He sat down in front of her and held her hands gently. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Yeah," Maya breathed. "Do you have the paper?"

Josh reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper and a few photos. Josh handed Maya the paper as he held on to the photos in his hand. He smiled sadly as he ran his thumb across the face of the ultra sound in his hand. "We love you," he whispered.

Maya looked over at him and took in the sadness on his face. She reached a hand out and caressed the side of his face with the palm of her hand. She hated seeing him so sad but she knew this was hard. "Would you like to do the honors?"

She held up the folded piece of paper and smiled sadly at him. Josh took it and gave her the ultrasound photos in exchange. Unfolding the piece of paper, he sighed and looked at the writing and felt a tear start to slip out of his eyes. He let out a sob and felt Maya wrap her arms around his neck. When she pulled her arms away and guided his face so that he was looking at her, he noted the glossiness in her eyes. "It was a boy," he cried.

A boy. They were going to become parents to a baby boy. The tears that were welling up in Maya's eyes finally fell as she too broke down. In that moment they just held each other and cried, comforting each other in their moments of grief, trying to navigate it together.

.:.

Grief was a weird thing. It was a hard thing but grieving something that could have been but wasn't was new to the both of them and more difficult than either could imagine. After finding out that they were going to have a boy, the two them moved in silence. Simply holding hands or giving soft kisses in moments that called for it. Still dressed from earlier, the pair sat down quietly in their new living room as Josh flipped through his script, leaving Maya to stare at the wall. "Do you mind putting that down for a second?"

Josh looked up from his work at Maya's request and set it down beside him. "Sorry," he apologized. "I was just trying to distract myself."

Maya flipped her hair over her shoulder and nodded. "I know. I just want to be here together right now. After this morning I just-"

"I know," Josh said, cutting her off. "Me too."

They sighed and Josh grabbed Maya's hand, rubbing his thumb across hers as he gripped it tight. "You would've been amazing mom," he whispered. "You will be, one day."

Maya let out a deep sigh. "Yeah. One day." Maya took a moment and turned to face her husband. "Josh," she began. Josh lifted his eyebrows, acknowledging her. "I don't think I want to have kids for a while."

Josh sat back, a little uneasy. "Okay," he breathed. "How long is a while?"

Although Maya was deeply saddened and honestly traumatized by experiencing her miscarriage, a part of her was deeply relieved. Everything wouldn't have to change so fast. She could have a chance to grow. They could have a chance to grow. "At least a few years," she answered. She began to fiddle with the hem of her dress with her other free hand. "Are you okay with that?"

Joshua Matthews always knew that he wanted to be a parent. He had seen his brother raise his own kids and it pushed Josh to want to be a great father himself one day. It had felt perfect. They were just about to get married when Maya first told him she was pregnant. It felt like everything was coming together how it should. Then the press tour happened, then Andrew happened, and then the miscarriage happened. Maybe he was wrong about the initial timing. "I honestly would love it if we could start trying again but I understand you wanting to take your time and wait. A few years is just a little longer than I had hoped."

"Well I still want to build my career. Having kids puts a stop to me dancing you know? The whole being pregnant and then taking time off to be with them those first few months would be a major hit to my own goals. And it's not that I don't want them or don't want to do that, I just want to do it when I'm ready. And based on how I was feeling not too long ago, I don't think I'd be the best mom right now. To anyone."

Josh took a minute to digest her words. He wanted to make sure he was listening and not just reacting. "Okay," he answered. "I respect that." He took her other hand in his. "We will wait until the time is right for the both of us, before we start expanding our family."

Maya smiled softly, grateful that she chose to marry him. "Thank you."

"Of course. Speaking of your career, what were you thinking?"

Maya let out a shaky breath. She had yet to tell Josh any of this but she's had a lot of time since they moved down to Atlanta for Josh's work. So she definitely had some ideas swirling around in her head. "Well there are a few things that I've had in mind. Even something outside of dance that I'm not sure about anyway."

Josh tilted his head and laughed. The first laugh he'd had in a while. "Oh really? Something outside of dance? Please do share."

Maya smiled softly and got up from her seat. "Hold on. I'll be right back."

Before he knew it, Maya had returned with a keyboard and set it down on the ground before sitting in front of it. Josh raised his eyebrows. "A keyboard? Maya when did you get that?"

Maya shrugged. "I found it in the house one day while you were at work. I just started playing around with it and wrote a few things."

Josh sook his head in disbelief and held up his hands before slowly lowering himself to the ground. "Wait. You wrote a song? You better play it for me right now!"

Maya rolled her eyes and placed her tiny hands on the keys before the melody began to echo out in the room. Each individual note rang out as she hummed along with her melody. As her fingers pressed down on the keys she opened her mouth a began to sing. Her voice was smooth and velvet like as she sang. Her voice full of color and tone strong. Josh just stared in awe as she sang. He never knew that she could sing. Sure, he's heard her hum along to the radio but he didn't know she could sing like that.

As she finished her voice rang out in a slight echo as Josh just stared at her in awe. "Maya," he breathed. "That was amazing. How come you never told me you could sing like that?"

Maya's cheeks started to flush as she shrugged her shoulders. "It never came up." She took a deep breath and slapped her hands down on her knees. "So what did you think? Did you like it?"

Josh smiled at the side of his mouth and eased himself down on the ground in front of her. Grabbing her hands he stared her deep in the eyes. "I loved it."

For the remainder of the day, the couple simply lounged around with each other just allowing the time to pass. Keeping their minds off of their difficult morning. Maya's head lay on Josh's lap as he stroked her long hair. With every move Maya melted into his touch. She missed this. She missed feeling close to him. It felt like they hadn't been close in forever. Granted, things weren't perfect or one hundred percent back to the way they were before but she felt good. She knew deep down that things would never truly be the same again, so she realized she had two things to grieve now. Their family and their relationship before everything went down.

"What are you thinking?" Josh asked, interrupting her thinking.

"Nothing. Just letting everything whirl around up there."

"Well I've been thinking."

Maya rose her brow and turned so that the back of her head rest on his lap, so that she stared up at him. "Oh yeah? What about?"

"You. And that song you played me earlier. It really was beautiful. I know you're not one for the spotlight but what if you actually produced a record? Or at least that song? We could even choreograph a piece to it and post it online. I mean come on, think about it. When was the last time we really got to dance together?"

"You do make an excellent point. I'll have to think about it."

Josh smiled brightly, feeling like he had made some real progress in being more involved with Maya and their marriage. Now to just get her on her feet again. Josh tapped her cheek and kissed her forehead before forcing her to get up. Groaning, Maya begrudgingly sat up and watched as her husband took off his shirt. Maya's jaw went slack as focused in on him. She'll never get tired of seeing him like that. Smirking to himself, Josh enjoyed Maya's staring at held out a hand towards her. "As much as I love your gawking at my body, I was actually hoping you'd dance with me."

Maya smiled and gave him her hand. "You know I'd never pass up on a chance at that." Standing up from the couch, she pulled down her dress to reveal a lacy bra underneath along with a pair of dance shorts she was wearing. "Not my usual attire but it will have to do. Shall we?"

Josh grinned. "We shall."

Moving all the furniture out of their way, they locked eyes with each other as a slow instrumental played. Reacting to the other's movements the pair found themselves in this enigmatic routine that allowed each to interact with the other in the most beautiful of ways. Josh grabbed Maya by the hips and pulled her close to him, pressing his forehead against hers, breathing heavily as the sweat glistened on their skin. He felt her wrap a leg around him as he soon found himself guiding her back as leaned backwards. Guiding her back up he lifted her with ease as she continued to move and dance around him. With every isolated beat and syncopated rhythm, their bodies ticked and moved together. As the track faded away, the husband and wife just stared at each other, a mere few feet apart, their chests rising with each breath they take.

"It's been a long time since we've done that," Maya breathed. "It felt nice."

Nodding Josh said, "I agree. That felt just as intimate as sex."

Maya looked down at her feet and started to play with her fingers. "So what happens tomorrow? When you go back to work I mean. Are we just going to revert back to-"

Josh shook his head. "No. We'll figure this out. We'll work on us and figure all of this out. Together."

Together. That's a funny word isn't it? Although they each felt good in that moment, they couldn't help but wonder how long together will last.