Pictures that tell 1000 words

The in-laws (part 3)

1st March 2034

"So how was your lads trip out?" Dianne questioned, her voice rife with sarcasm as she referred to her middle aged husband and her six year old son as 'lads'.

Giving her a slightly confused look - his eyebrows furrowed, and a slanted smile strewn across his lips, Joe slumped down onto the side of the bed from which Dianne was sat under the covers, her back resting comfortably onto the large backboard.

"It was good." Joe retorted softly as he bent down to untie his shoe laces, before neatly taking them off and carrying them over to the small cupboard in their wardrobe that housed the pairs of shoes he owned. The cupboard that at first was neat and organised, but was now a complete mess thanks to the encroaching of his wife's many pairs of trainers and heels.

"We had a laugh, and a good chat and - "

"Did you find any pirates?" Dianne interrupted, her voice once again overly sarcastic.

"Unfortunately not." Joe replied, musing the white lie he had told his son the night before.

"Aww shame."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a buzz kill truth be told."

The two of them laughed slightly. The same laughter that had carried them through every fight they had ever had, every day, every single loving moment they had shared over the past 16 years, echoed out in that very room.

"But on a serious note," Joe continued once the laughter had subsided, "We had a really good time. I got to tell a couple of stories to him.. we had a bit of a heart to heart... and..."

Joe paused for a moment. Taking off his t-shirt and gently hanging it back up into the wardrobe, he stood there just in his jeans. His chest rising and falling as his mind ran crazy for a moment or so.

It had been evident to anyone that knew Joe that ever since he was a child he was a real thinker. He wasn't excessively bright or overly confident. He wasn't great with emotions and he often found it difficult to trust people. But one thing he always had was his brains ability to think. He was creative by nature - he had a thirst for adventure and was willing to give anything a try. But most importantly, Joe spent a large portion of his childhood just simply thinking. Thinking of stories or comics that he could draw. He thought about the lyrics to songs that he knew off by heart. And he thought about his life a hell of a lot.

And that was a habit which he had continued all throughout his adult life.

He thought about every decision he ever made, probably to much. He would spend most of his life thinking of new video ideas. Thinking of what he was going to eat for dinner that day, or what he would wear to that night club he would be going to with the boys later that month. He would think about even the most mundane things, far to much.

It was a habit that even after one week of training sessions, Dianne had picked up on. And over the past 16 years of loving the man who was clearly conflicted, it was a habit which she had learned to both love and to tolerate about him.

"And what?" Dianne questioned softly as she held her gaze onto the tensed nature of her husbands back muscles.

Joe sighed softly, running a hand through his hair as he turned on his heel and walked back over to the red head who was sat there expectantly.

Settling down on the bed next to her, his palm resting gently over knee which was embedded under the covers, Joe looked into the comforting hazel eyes which had helped him through every decision and thought process he had had for nearly two decades.