Ain't This Life So Sweet | Joanne

Chapter Twelve

Joe pushed open his front door and walked into the hallway. It was silent.

He was sure that Dianne and Emelia would have been back by now. He walked slowly into the living room, and noticed their bags and shoes were sitting on the breakfast bar.

Turning to look at the sofa, he melted at the sight before him. Dianne was laid on the edge of the couch, fast asleep, with her daughter curled into her side, snoring lightly. Joe pulled out his phone and snapped a quick photograph.

It was not yet evening, but it was already dark outside. Joe carefully turned on as few lights as possible and walked into the kitchen. He began to pull out ingredients from the cupboards and, as quietly as he could, set to work on cooking dinner for them all.

Dianne stirred from her sleep first, stretching out and turning to look at Joe. She waved slowly as she sat up, careful not to disturb Emelia. Walking over to Joe, she stood behind him and wrapped her hands around his waist, leaning in to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Hey" she said quietly. Joe turned his head to kiss her hairline. "What are you cooking?"

Joe opened the oven door to show Dianne the meal he had prepared. "Cottage pie. Emelia will eat it, right?" Dianne nodded.

"She'll eat whatever you put in front of her."

Joe smiled. "It's almost ready. Do you want to wake her up?"

Dianne walked back over to the couch and bent down, running her hand slowly over her daughter's hair.

"Come on, my big girl" she whispered gently. "Time to wake up".

Emelia mewled, just like she used to when she was a baby, and Dianne chuckled. "Come on. Or you won't sleep tonight. And mummy and Joe will not be impressed. Because mummy wants some wine and some grown-up time."

Joe watched their interaction, smiling to himself. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that they had quickly become two of his favourite people in the whole world.

///

"Six again? I think you're cheating." Joe put his hands on his hips and pulled a stern face at Emelia, who just giggled.

"Nope. I'm not cheating, I'm winning." After dinner, Joe had suggested the three of them sit down and play a game together. Emelia and Dianne had gone through the toys Joe had put in Emelia's bedroom and had come back with one of his all-time favourites: Mousetrap.

Emelia rolled again and moved her piece. "And... I win!" She grinned. Joe held his hand up for a high five, moving it away at the last minute.

"Aaah, too slow!"

Dianne sat back and watched the two of them interact. The way they had warmed to one another was more incredible than she could have even dreamed. Joe was cheeky, and silly, and Emelia absolutely adored him. Dianne was falling more and more in love with Joe every day. He was showing himself to be much more of a man than she had ever anticipated, and every new surprising thing he did was turning up her attraction more and more. Since she had arrived back from Australia, they hadn't had a lot of time together just the two of them. She was determined that was going to change tonight.

"OK. I'm going to go and start running you a bath."

Joe leaned into Emelia's side and said "because you stink" out the corner of his mouth.

Dianne pushed his arm playfully. "Be nice."

Emelia sighed. "Mama, do I have to have a bath yet? Can't I stay up and play one more game? Please?"

Dianne rolled her eyes. "While I sort your clothes out, you and Joe can play one" she held up a finger, "one more quick game." She eyed both of them. "But you should have been in the bath a while ago." She was talking to herself now more than either Joe or her daughter. "Could have been in bed by now, but Moustrap takes fifteen years to set up. Especially when Mr 'I used to play this all the time' refuses to read the instructions..."

Joe and Emelia weren't even listening. They were over in the corner, picking out another game to play from the selection in front of them. Dianne walked into Emelia's room and tied her hair up.

"Bath. Bed. Boyfriend time. Come on, Di. You can do this."

She ran a bath, crumbling in some of the bubble bar that Emelia had picked out from Joe's stash. Laying Emelia's pyjamas on the towel rail so they would be warm, she grabbed towels, a hairbrush and some baby lotion from the side.

Walking back into the living room, Joe looked up at her and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey. How's your game going?" She asked, leaning against the door.

Joe looked down at their Guess Who boards. "I think I'm about to get beaten again. OK, last question. Does she have glasses?"

Emelia shook her head and Joe groaned. "I thought I knew who it was then. OK, your turn."

"I'm going to guess. Is it... Max?"

Joe threw his hands up as Emelia clapped. "I can't believe this. Beaten twice in one night by a six-year-old!" He began to pack up their game. "OK, your mum is waiting. I'll tidy this, but you need to go with her."

Emelia nodded and obediently walked into the bathroom. Dianne called to her "I'll come in to help you in a second, OK? You start getting undressed."

Walking up to Joe, Dianne quickly kissed him on the lips.

"What was that for?" He asked, inquisitive but quiet.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I... I just wanted to. I've been wanting to kiss you all night. For some reason, you just look really good today. I can't stop thinking about you. So..." she turned to check that Emelia was definitely still in the bathroom. "So I think we get her to bed, open a bottle, put on a movie that we don't see the end of..."

Joe's breath caught in his chest as Dianne whispered to him. "I haven't had chance to show you quite how much I've missed you." She leaned in for another kiss.

Joe opened his eyes slowly. "Oh... ok. Well, in that case, you should probably get bath time sorted. I'll open the wine."

Dianne smiled to herself as she walked back into the bathroom, leaving a slightly stunned but definitely excited Joe in the kitchen.