I bleed when I fall down

'It don't make sense, the way things go'

Warning: This chapter mentions having a Tonic-Clonic seizure. Read at your own risk.

Wednesday 27th November 2030

'Are you sure you don't want me to stay off?' Dianne hesitates, looking between the girl on the sofa and her dad. Joe shakes his head. 'Seriously Di, go. We'll be okay.'

'If any-'

'I'll call you.' She nods, not making eye contact with him. Their daughter was sick. It's the run up to musical week in strictly, Joe knows Dianne should be there. He's capable of looking after her, she had a headache and hadn't slept well, he's dealt with his children being sick before. 'Seriously, you'll be late.' She nods, kissing her daughter's forehead.

'I love you so much baby girl.' She smiles weakly, snuggling down into the blanket Joe had put over her when she came down this morning.

'Love you too mama.' Joe takes the boys to school, he had debated if he should take Amelia or not, but she was asleep. He didn't want to wake her up, and what Dianne didn't know, it couldn't hurt her.

About 11 he got a phone call from Dianne.

'How is she?' He's met with that as soon as he picks up the phone, rolling his eyes. She needs to give him some credit, he knows how to look after her.

'Why hello Joe.' He mocks. 'I'm good, how are you?'

'Joe stop it.' He can tell she's getting a bit snappy. Since Amelia had become sick, she seemed to have lost all her sense of humour, and it was taking its toll on the whole family. 'I am out of my mind, she didn't look great this morning, but I was late and-' He can tell that she's stressed over their daughter, and probably a multitude of strictly related drama's.

'She's fine Dot.' He can tell that she isn't really reassured. 'I'd let her speak to you, but she's sparko out on the sofa.'

'Can you wake her up?' He sighs, torn between letting his wife speak to her and wanting their daughter to be able to sleep. 'Please Joe?'

'Okay, let me bring her some food.' He compromises, saving what he was working on. 'How is strictly?' She tells him all about it, as he makes the ham and cheese sandwich that their daughter loves. He's not expecting her to eat all of it, but he can try and get her to eat some of it.

'Hey princess' He crouches down to the height of the sofa, gently tapping Amelia, whose eyelids flutter. She used to do it when she was a baby, when he was able to feed her, typically at night when Dianne had expressed some milk. They had read somewhere that a feed at night was usually a good way to keep the baby asleep for longer, and a good opportunity for the dad and the baby to bond. It had been different to the boys, when she was little. It was harder with twins and already having Amelia. He would go as far to say his bond with Amelia was better than his bond with the twins. Not that he didn't love them the same, they just had a different relationship.

'Mummy wants to speak to you.' She makes a noise, as Joe passes over the phone. He can hear Dianne asking her questions and her not really being in the mood to answer them.

'Are you sure she's okay Joe?' He watches her take slow bites out of one of the squares Joe had cut, slowly chewing it.

'Honestly Dianne, she's just been woken up. She's going to be groggy.' She seemed relatively satisfied at this, as she hung up the phone.

'Mummy's silly.' His daughter says, smiling a little as he nods.

'Mummy is silly, but she's worried about you. You know that, right?'

'Yeah, I don't want her to worry though.'

'I know baby girl. It's a mum's job to worry though.' He spies the remote control on the floor. 'Do you want the TV on?' She nods a little,