Capturing Ella

Chapter 58 - Joe

I indicated onto the fast lane on the M5 – the motorway heading down into Devon and Cornwall respectively as I checked my blind spot and pulled into the lane, putting my foot down on the accelerator reach the National Speed limit within the English motorway. I adjusted the way I sat in the driver's seat quickly looking over at Ella, who was still curled up within the passenger's seat fast asleep. I grinned at her before focusing back on the road, triple checking the road signs to make sure we were heading down towards Cornwall.

I caved in – I told Ella we were going down to Cornwall again. She practically begged me to tell her where we were going, saying she doesn't know what to pack. I couldn't say no to her after everything that happened.

'Please, Joe.' She said for what felt the thousandth time. I smiled at her. She was sitting on the sofa in our flat, legs curled up to her chest in just a sports bra and a pair of short. We didn't have any form of air conditioning and the keys for the windows didn't work, so we were making do wearing next to no clothes when we can. I smiled at Ella. Within the week since she had the ultrasound the bump had grown a bit more and I could actually start to say it was a bump but it was only visible if she had no shirt on and was sitting down and you knew.

'I'm not going to tell you,' I said and she pretended to sulk, lying down on the sofa as I sat in front of it, leaning on the side of the settee.

'Please!'

'No.' I said, massaging one of her shoulders.

'I can talk my brothers out of their talk they're planning for you,' she sat up, leaning on one of her elbows as she grinned at me.

'What talk?' I panicked.

'Ah, well, if you don't tell me where we going you''ll soon find out.' Ella laughed, leaning forward to kiss my cheek.

'They're planning a speech?' I asked again.

'Oh, they're planning more than a speech. A full scripted conversation with multiple pathways and a potential beating if you don't say the right thing,' she joked, lying back down again.

'You can talk them out of that?'

'Of course,' Ella said smugly. 'They don't dare upset me in case I start crying. Being a wuss is good at times,' I agreed with her logic – the second she seemed upset I would stop whatever the Hell we were going, or I was doing, to make sure she was okay. 'Even better when you are pregnant – you can just blame hormones for anything,'

'I fall for it every time,' I said and she nodded. I gently put my hand on her abdomen, rubbing it gently with my thumb.

'She is your daughter, though,'

'Yeah, I know.' I laughed gently, leaning forward to kiss her bare abdomen.

'So, you are going to tell me where we are going then? Well, me and your daughter.' She asked, giving me the puppy dog eyes. I sighed before telling her we're going back down to Bude and the small beach she went to when she was a kid.

However, that morning I told her I was going out with my parents for lunch but I never actually met my parents. Instead, I headed down into Reading town centre and into a small jewellers and brought her what will hopefully be our engagement ring. A pure silver ring which had split into three near the front, with the top on the left side, and the bottom on the right made out of diamond, before meeting in the middle with a larger diamond. I had managed to get the ring in her size – and we won't discuss how expensive it was – and even got the word "forever" engraved on the inside mainly because I can. I had even brought the red velvet box to keep the ring in, and hid it in my pocket. Thankfully when I came home she was in the bathroom and I hid the very expensive ring under the bed where Ella would never go before heading into the bathroom to find watching Disney films in the bath.