Ain't This Life So Sweet | Joanne

Chapter Four

Joe waited in the arrivals lounge for Dianne and Emelia early the next afternoon. He searched the crowd for red hair but couldn't see anything. He pulled out his phone, checking that Dianne hadn't been trying to call him to say she was delayed or lost.

"G'day." Joe turned around as he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. Dianne smiled widely, her eyes bright even after a ridiculously long plane journey. He pulled her straight into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground slightly.

"I was trying to spot your hair!" He said, laughing. Dianne had her hood up over her head.

"I just thought, if there were any cameras, they wouldn't know it was me straight away. Anyway", Dianne stepped aside and bent down next to her daughter.

"Emelia, do you want to say hi to Joe?" The little girl smiled, and Joe got down on her level to give her a fist bump.

"Are you both ready?" He picked up Emelia's bag and Dianne's suitcase and walked them out to where he had parked. Dianne instinctively reached for Emelia's hand.

"Hold my hand, please. It's busy."

Joe smiled. He had a feeling he was going to adore Dianne even more after seeing her properly as a mother this week.

They reached the car and Joe held open the door.

"Ooh, fancy!" Dianne said, admiring the Mercedes 4x4 he had managed to procure for the week. Joe turned to Emelia and held out his hands.

"Can you climb in, or do you need a leg up?"

Emelia clambered into the car by herself. Joe leaned in and arranged the safety straps on her seat so she could sit down.

"OK. Let me figure this out." His tongue poked comically out of the corner of his mouth as he tried to work out how exactly to fit all the ends of the harness together.

Emelia giggled.

"Hey" he smiled at her. "Don't laugh at me!"

She giggled even more. Dianne rolled her eyes and moved Joe out of the way.

"Honestly, it's not that hard. This bit here. This bit here. Click. Tighten. Done."

She leaned in and kissed Emelia's cheek. "You all ready to go? We won't be long now until we get to the apartment, OK?"

Emelia nodded and sat back. Joe watched in the mirror and smiled as the little girl caught his eye.

Dianne closed the door and climbed into the front passenger seat. "Did you actually fit the car seat by yourself?" She asked, smiling.

Joe nodded. "Yeah. It took forever. But I did it". She leaned across the centre of the car and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you. It took me a good couple of tries to get her one in at home. It definitely takes a certain knack."

Joe picked up his phone and scrolled through whilst listening to Dianne talk until he found what he was looking for. He made sure everything was connected, and pressed play.

"Hey, Emelia?" He looked at her in the mirror. "Your mummy told me this is your favourite."

The Frozen soundtrack began to echo through the car. Dianne leaned back in her seat, groaning. "I thought I'd escaped it this time! Although I've been treated to several performances of The Greatest Showman. That seems to be the new thing."

Joe smiled softly as he pulled out onto the main road. "I'll put that one on next."

As they drove, Dianne reached across and ran her thumb over the hand Joe was resting on the gear stick.

"I've missed you" she said quietly.

Joe kept his eyes on the road, absolutely terrified about making any mistakes when driving with a child in the car. But he smiled. "I've missed you too. So much."

///

"So, this is your bedroom."

The journey back to Joe's apartment had not taken as long as he had expected, and they had arrived with time to spare.

Joe opened the door to Byron's room. Emelia walked in front of him and looked around. Climbing up onto the bed, she turned to Dianne.

"I got a big bed!" She stood up and started jumping. Dianne walked over with her hands out.

"No thank you." She said sternly. Emelia sat back down. "You know that's how little children get hurt. Remember when Mia fell off her bed?"

Emelia nodded. "She had to go to the hospital."

"She did. So no bouncing, please. Not on the bed, anyway."

Joe carried on walking through the room. He opened the cupboard in the corner and pointed out a few things.

"I've put some toiletries and stuff in the bathroom. Towels in here. Room for her clothes and stuff if you want to properly unpack. And..." He pointed down to a shelf at the perfect height for Emelia to access herself. "I didn't know if she would bring many toys and stuff with her, so I got a few." Dianne looked at him with her eyebrow raised. He swallowed. "OK, maybe more than a few. I got carried away, alright?"

She laughed, and leaned into him, holding her hand against his chest. Leaning closer, he kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Joe. For all of this."

Joe's phone alarm went off in his pocket. "My car will be here in a minute to take me to start filming for tonight. Are you two going to be OK?" Dianne nodded. "And you can get yourselves down to the bridge later?"

"We'll be fine. We're probably just going to have a quiet time here. We both definitely need to freshen up. I'll see you later."

Leaving Emelia in her room where she was happily exploring the toys Joe had picked for her, Dianne walked Joe to the door.

"Hey" she said quietly. Joe turned around to face her. Leaning in, she captured his lips in a slow but passionate kiss.

Breaking apart, Joe ran his hand gently over her back. "I'll see you later."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Joe made sure to leave Dianne his keys so she could lock up later. Closing the door behind him, he smiled.

Their new adventure had just begun.