Ain't This Life So Sweet | Joanne

Chapter Seventeen

"Right, this is the one. You can come and sit with me. Your mum is probably still dancing."

Joe braced himself and opened the door. As he expected, everyone's attention was drawn to the dark-haired little girl walking in behind him. Emelia sat down next to Joe, who helped her take off her coat.

"Hello again, Emelia" Stacey slid over towards the little girl. "How are you?"

Emelia shook her head and leaned into Joe's side. Joe smiled at Stacey, who looked at him sympathetically. "Emelia's a bit tired and she was missing her mummy" he explained quietly.

Emelia nodded and put her thumb in her mouth.

"Well, you can sit here and watch her dancing. I think they'll stop in a minute."

Emelia watched her mum working on the floor, her red hair made her easy to spot. Dianne finished the routine by dropping into AJ's arms. Everyone clapped as the music ended. Dianne walked straight over towards them and got down onto her knees in front of her daughter.

Brushing her wild curls out of her face, Dianne looked into Emelia's eyes. "Do we need to have a chat about what happened this morning?" She asked, quiet but firm.

Emelia shook her head.

"Did you say sorry to uncle Andrew?"

Emelia nodded.

"She did. She tidied up the mess and apologised" Joe explained. Dianne smiled at him. She had no idea what she or her daughter had done to deserve him.

"OK. Thank you for doing that. Do I get a cuddle?" Dianne held her arms out and Emelia leaned into her. Picking her up, Dianne sat down on the seat and rested Emelia on her lap.

"You're getting too big for this. But you're so cute, I don't care." Dianne smiled and leaned in, pressing her lips to her daughter's cheek.

Looking up, Dianne noticed that a small group of pro dancers and celebrities were making their way over towards her. Instinctively, she pulled her child closer.

"Who's this?" Janette was the first to speak as she walked towards them. Dianne took a breath.

"This is Emelia. My little girl."

Janette leapt back, looking confused. "Di, I had no idea! Oh, and she's beautiful, too!"

Immediately, relief flooded Dianne's bones. Emelia turned around on Dianne's lap, so she could see what was going on, but kept her thumb in her mouth. Dianne absentmindedly stroked her arm.

"How come you've never mentioned her before?" Karen asked.

Dianne had rehearsed this conversation so many times. There was an automatic answer. "Emelia lives in Australia with my parents. They look after her when she's in school so that I can do my job. And then we see each other in the holidays, don't we peanut?" Emelia nodded. Dianne looked up at everyone. "This is Emelia's first time in London. She flew back with me for new year, and my brother's going to take her home soon."

Dianne couldn't quite bring herself to admit that 'soon' was actually 'tomorrow'. Joe caught her eye and smiled softly.

"Anyway, we should probably get back on the floor. Peanut, are you OK to sit with Joe? I just need to get this next number done and then I think it's time for me to have a proper break."

Emelia moved off Dianne's lap and sat next to Joe.

"Good girl".

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