Pictures that tell 1000 words

The end

2nd July 2034

"LILY, ARE YOU READY YET?!" Dianne yelled from her position at the bottom of the stairs. Her stress levels clearly at an all time high as she impatiently looked at the time on her phone once again.

"Di it's fine." Joe muttered from his place in the kitchen where he was stood sipping the remains of orange juice from his glass.

"No Joe it isn't fine, we said we'd be at Zoe and Alfie's at 12, because lunch will be ready at 1." The red head mumbled grumpily as she bore a gaze into her husband.

"Yeah we've got loads of time then Di."

"No we haven't Joseph. It's already 10:30 and it takes a good hour or so to drive there. Besides it's a Sunday with bloody good weather and we're heading towards the coast. Do you think there's going to be no traffic Joe... Do you?"

Rolling his eyes gently, Joe stifled a laugh as he rinsed his now empty glass under the tap, before placing it face down on the draining board.

"Dianne, calm down okay." He responded as he placed a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her to go into his office. "So what if we're a little late. It's only family."

"I know that Joe but... wait, where are you going?" She questioned angrily as she watched her husband amble slowly down the hallway towards his office.

"I just need to get something for Alfie alright... Look, Alex is already in the car watching SpongeBob on my Ipad so he's fine, just wait for Lily to come down and then we'll go." He responded, attempting to keep his voice as neutral as possible so as not to irritate the big ball of anger who he could feel staring daggers into the back of his head anymore than he had done already.

"Fine, but please don't be long." 

"I'll be literally two, maybe three minutes tops." The blonde responded as he walked through the door to his office, out of sight from Dianne and into the organised chaos which he had been stuck in all week.

The large desk in the corner of the room covered in neat stacks of paper, all of which were far less interesting than he hoped them to be, various pieces of tech equipment scattered about around his PC monitor, and various glowing lights of those various pieces of tech that felt the need to shine despite the fact they were switch off.

"Right, now where did I put it?" Joe mumbled to himself softly as he began searching through not only the stacks of paper on his desk, yet also the files upon files of paper on top of the cabinet across the room.

His search for a business proposition which he wanted Alfie's opinion on being accompanied by the distant shouts from his two girls.

"Mum, have you seen my charger?!"

"Maybe it's in the car, where you are mean to be Lily!"

"No I left it upstairs somewhere!"

"Well Alfie will have one so just for the love of god get in the car!"

Joe chuckled gently at his wife's irritation. He knew he should have been more understanding, but the sound of the usually happy, bubbly woman he loved being angry was something which had always made him laugh. It being possibly the one thing that she just couldn't pull off.

Turning back to his desk, Joe felt his searching hands and eyes stop for a second. The glimpse of what he was looking for poking out from underneath the photo album after he had placed it down on his desk after the previous night. 

The front cover was a light skin cover. A clean swept facade which had the least amount of dust on it compared to anything else in that room - proof that it had been used far more than it ad previously. The edges were bound with leather, with soft blue lettering engraved into the cover reading, 'Pictures that tell 1000 words.'

Picking up the book, Joe ignored the surrounding sounds of his daughter hurtling down the stairs. And instead Joe decided to take one last look through the book which, up until a few months ago, had been all but forgotten.  

Flicking through the pages, Joe took in the images of himself and the woman he loved. The familiar faces of Strictly Professionals and the cast of 2018 greeting him as he flicked over the first few pages. Before the images of times with family and with friends passed through his eyes. The times that he and Dianne had travelled the world together - and also the times where they had travelled it alone. A whole heap of memories flooding past his eyes and through his mind until eventually, he reached the end.

"JOE, COME ON!" 

"Yep, I'll be out in a sec!" He responded back to his wife's holler as he shut the book. Before turning on his heel and looking down at the blaring gap in the bookshelf in the far corner of the room where his son had found it all those months ago.

Bending down, feeling the strain in his knees as he did so, Joe gently slid the album back into the place where it had been resting for 9 years after he and Dianne moved into their forever home. 

There was a sadness, he thought, to putting it back where it had originally been found, yet at the same time a feeling of comfort now knowing that it will be there forever. A heap of memories right at his fingertips which he was certain he would continue to look back on till the day he passed.

"JOSEPH!"

Adhering  to her shout, Joe got up from his crouched position in front of the bookcase. Now watching as the gap that had been there was filled, and all that remained was a shelf full of books.

But as he grabbed the file form off his desk, jogging lightly out of his office and out of the front door towards his beloved home, Joe allowed a thought to pass through his mind.

There was an evident sadness that one part of his life was over. That the stories of how he met the woman he would end up marrying, and the mother to his children, were now no more than memories. Yet Joe felt a very clear sense of Joy flood his veins as he got into the family car, taking in the sight of his beautiful family.

A very clear sense of Joy which took over the sadness he felt and instead told him something else.

The chapter of how he met them was over. Yet the chapter in which Joe was a husband - in which he was a father... That chapter had only just begun.

And what a chapter it would be.

--THE END--

A/N Hey people! So, that is it. I have absolutely loved writing every single second of this fanfic. I think it is probably the best work I have ever done, and despite the fact that I am proud of my other four books, I think this is the one I am proudest of. 

I Initially thought of this idea when I was helping my Nan sort out all her old Photo albums. Looking back at the pictures of my Mum and my Aunt when they were my age was both really weird, yet also really nice - and so I wondered if I could turn the feelings I felt that day into a fanfic. I always thought it was a relatively good Idea, but I never expected the response that I have got from it.

As always you who have read this have been so kind to me and given me such incredible feedback from this idea of mine. You have inspired me to be better at writing, and given me the motivation to keep on going with writing, even at times when I have felt like I'm not good enough or just want to give up. I have so much love for you all, and I really can't thank you enough  for your kindness and support.

I of course have a few more ideas as to what I am going to write about next, and I would love your opinion. I have one idea which will bring my writing back into where I feel like I thrive best, which is the drama - and the sort of writing which you both want to read out of love, yet also out of fear as to what it is I'm going to put you through next. Or, there is a the second idea I have which would sort of be like an extension onto this one, with Dianne and Joe in the future with their kids. But in all honesty I haven't quite worked all of that one out yet and don't know how I feel about it.

Either way, please let me know what you guys think, and once again thank you so much for your support. I'm sad that this book has come to an end, yet so excited for you all to see what I come up with next. Once again, I have so much love for you all, thank you! xxxx