My initial idea for this came from watching back the austrlian Christmas vlogs and seeing the tradition Mel introduced with the polish bread where they'd go around the table making wishes with it, but in the end it turned quite rambly and it didn't centre the story so I'm not really sure on this chapter. I don't think it's my best but I can't bring myself to get rid of it.
⚠️this chapter does include mentions of infertility ⚠️
Perth, W.A
December 2026
"Joe...."
Dianne called out to her boyfriend who had walked quite far ahead with all their bags, despite them not being in any rush to catch a flight. They had just got off their second flight actually and had now landed in Perth, ready to head back to Bunbury for Christmas having spent the previous two decembers in England with Joe's family. They had gone back in the later months of the year, so dianne had seen her family but there was something about coming back at Christmas which was the most special.
"Joe, please stop"
Joe had a thing about rushing through airports, even after he had got off the plane. He stressed alot about public transport and being on time and his punctuality was important but the fact Joe was so on point was stressing dianne out. They had 45 minutes until her brother was due to pick them up, so they weren't exactly in a rush because they had already picked up their bags and gone through security and they were quite near the terminal carpark already.
"Joe"
Dianne spoke abit louder this time, not wanting to draw attention to herself in the middle of the airport but joe was quite far ahead and couldn't hear her but this time she caught his attention and he turned back, seeing her hobble along to catch up with him, now realising how far she had actually lagged behind.
"Can you not rush off like that again. I can't keep up"
"Sorry, I didn't realise how far on I'd actually gone. Are you ok?"
He asked, hand coming to rest at the bottom of her back.
"No, I need the toilet"
"Ok, we'll let's find somewhere. There's one....over there"
Joe looked arouns finding a sign to his right that lead them down a short corridor and then dianne went off on her own to the toilets, leaving joe in the seating area just outside with all their bags. He sat down, and waited trying to catch his breath. He had realised how fast he had been walking himself. He knew it could get excessive but he just stressed in situations like this. When he had somewhere to be, he wanted to get there and with plenty of time too. It was a quality dianne still hadn't quite grapsed even after 8 years with him. She was late quite alot, but joe was always without a doubt early to absolutely everything. It got even worse when he had to get either a plane or a train and he was at a station or airport. The mass of people around panicked him and he wanted to get out of there as quick as he could, especially when he had somewhere to be at the other end of it. This time, they were meeting Andrew who was taking them to diannes mum and dad's for Christmas and joe couldn't wait. To finally get abit of sun and a holiday with his girlfriend and her family, he was very excited. He loved Australia and since being with dianne, had fallen in love with the place even more. It was his second home.
"Hey..."
After a few minutes, dianne appeared again, her pace quite fast and abrupt as she came back over. Unlike joe had expected, she wasn't ready to go. Instead she knelt down and opened one of her bags, rummaging around for abit and then pulling out a smaller toiletry bag.
"Are you ok?"
He asked, definitely worried by her aburput nature, not knowing what it meant.
"I'm fine, I just need a few more minutes"
She told him, unzipping her little bag and pulling out to what he saw upon inspection, was a tampon and he knew exactly what that meant.
Of course dianne had just come on her period, that was the obvious. Why else would she be reaching for a tampon? But as of recently diannes period wasn't just an uncomfortable few days of bleeding, it had become a reminder she wasn't pregnant. A reminder that all their hard work, hours of research and their determination that hadn't payed off. And it had been a while since it had been that way.
