A Sequel To "Eternity"~ While She Was Sleeping.

Chapter Eight~The Scrapbook Diary.

-Joe-

April had now arrived and nothing had changed. I was at home alone for the weekend as the kids were staying at my Dad's to keep their minds off things. I was scrolling through Twitter and through all the lovely messages from fans under the hashtag #thatcherjoe when I came across a video request that read "Joe should do a video where he reads us the passages from his scrapbook diary about Elena with her, am I the only one who wants to hear their memories? #thatcherjoe #elenasuggcollaborationplease" That was from the 23rd December last year but people have recently retweeted it and put things like "#doitforElena xx" I smiled and agreed. I set up my camera and mic before searching for my diary in my stash of stuff under the bed and started to speak. "Hello everyone! I was just scrolling through Twitter and saw that you would like to hear the memories I had with Elena from these various diary entries that I put in a scrapbook. I was going to do this very video with Elena with her reactions as she's never seen or read this diary, but under the circumstances and from your kind words, I am going to do it anyway to relive those memories, as they're from when everything was okay and happy. Okay. So I took to Twitter and asked you to give me random dates and years and whichever ones are in here, I shall read that passage from them years." One by one I recalled different memories...

-September 12th, 2000-

"I am officially 9 and 4 days old. I was very happy to receive a letter from Elena (the girl I met at the beach in August). She sent me lots of lollipops in a bag which is WICKED! Her letter said: Dear Joe, I hope you had a really good ninth birthday. You deserve fun! Love from Brighton Beach girl, Elena x, she put a kiss! A KISS! She's great Elena is. Absolutely blooming great!" I read out, cringing at my excitement over a kiss on a letter.

-27th March, 2004-

"Last night was AWESOME!!! I took Elena with me to see Busted at WEMBLEY ARENA!!! Busted were so cool! Elena wore her hair in plaits and she looked sooooooo pretty! I'm 12 years old and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm so in love with her! She also has a beautiful singing voice! Although, I think James Bourne has officially stolen her heart... ah well! There's always hope... right?" I smiled at that one. She did look beautiful that night. Like everyday.

-September 16th, 2006-

"Lied to Elena. Said I couldn't make it to Brighton to see her for her 15th birthday. She was so over the moon when I jumped up behind her at her house. She's never hugged me so tight, I couldn't breathe but I was very happy to be in her arms. She was so happy that I made it, she mentioned it a billion times. We watched the stars together at midnight. I wanted to kiss her, but I was too nervous. I regret it. So much. WHY JOE WHY???" I was very pathetic back then.

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"I'd like to read a more recent memory if that's okay. It's from the day that Gracie was born. August 12th, 2016. It reads: Today Elena brought our first child into the world, Grace Elizabeth. Gracie is absolutely beautiful, I was afraid that she would break in my arms as I held her, she's so delicate. Elena is overwhelmed and overjoyed. Despite the exhaustion that lurks in her eyes, she's still absolutely stunning and I couldn't be more proud of her. I now have a family with the girl that I fell in love with all them years ago. I couldn't be happier than I am now. Gracie will grow to be as strong and as beautiful as her mother, for definite. Perhaps she'll get my prankster side, I hope so. I need an accomplice to help me. I love them both so much. I really do." That was one of my absolute favourite passages, that's when I realised how truly lucky I was. Gracie certainly did grow up just as I predicted which amused me. After reading through more memories, I ended the video in a much better mood.