Two Birds of a Feather

Hello Again

"Mum! Dad!" Dianne ran at her parents as they came out through the arrivals unit of the airport, jumping onto both of them at the same time, one arm around her dad, the other her mum. She felt her dad rub over her back as the two bodies beside her closed in, pulling the three into a group hug. Joe watched with a smile as his girlfriend ran to her parents; he knew how much they meant to her and how much she had missed them. Breaking apart, Dianne hugged each parent individually before turning and leading them over to Joe who had hung back, having not met either of them before. Admittedly, he was very nervous about meeting Mark and Rina; Joe knew he was treating Dianne like the princess she was- or at least he hoped he was- but they had a very strange past and he just hoped her parents wouldn't focus on that too much.
"Ahh, so you must be Joe" Mark said as they all reached him. "It's good to finally meet you." He held out his hand for Joe to shake.
"It's good to meet you" Joe said confidently, hoping that his tone covered the nervousness he felt beneath. They shook hands and smiled at each other before Mark turned to fuss over Dianne, giving Rina a chance to say hello.
"Hello Joe" she said kindly, "it's lovely to be able to meet you after so long! We've heard so much about you." She kissed his cheek affectionately and hugged him briefly.
"It's good to meet you" Joe said as they pulled away, "All good things I hope."
"Nope. Only things about when you are mean to me" Dianne said out of nowhere having popped into her mother and boyfriends conversation.
"I'm never mean to you!" Joe gasped.
"Excuse me. All you did the other day was make me jump every ten minutes."
"And who spent those ten minutes trying to get me back?" Joe asked with a glint in his eye.
"That's irrelevant" Dianne retorted giving Joe the evil eye before turning to her parents who had been watching the exchange with grins on their faces.
"Ahh, young love" Mark sighed.
"You two are perfect for each other" Rina commented as she watched the loving glances they gave each other every few seconds.
"Mummmmm" Dianne whined as she buried her face into Joe's neck to cover the definite blush that had spread across her cheek.
"Are we going to stand in this airport forever, or are we going to take your parents back to ours?" Dianne lifted her head up to see Joe watching her with an expectant look in his eye, waiting for her to answer.
"Let's go then."

"That was delicious Joe, thank you." Rina drank the last of her wine and put her knife and fork on her emptied plate.
"Mm, it was" Mark added, doing the same as his wife. Joe stood up, having just finished his food, and collected all the plates together, taking them to the kitchen where he rinsed them and put them into the dishwasher. As he straightened up, he felt a body just behind his before a pair of arms snaked around his middle.
"You alright gorgeous?"
"I just came to say thank you for making them feel so welcome. I know they haven't been here long but I can tell they feel comfortable here."
"Good, because you aren't gonna get rid of me so they'll be back here at some point." Joe turned around in her hug and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I don't feel as nervous as I did earlier" he whispered.
"You were nervous?!"
"A bit."
"Why you weirdo?"
"In case they didn't like me or don't think I'm good enough for their little girl."
"They would never think such a thing. Mum told me earlier that she can see in the way we look at each other that we're a perfect match. They can both see how much I love you and they are convinced the feeling is mutual."
"Good, because it is." Joe captured Dianne's lips in his momentarily before he pulled away and dropped his arms. "Let's go back and sit with them." Linking his hand with hers, Joe led the way back over to the sofa where he sat down in his seat, Dianne just next to him.

As the evening progressed, Dianne fell asleep with her head on Joe's lap, turned into his stomach. Joe absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair whilst she slept, keeping up the conversation with Mark and Rina. Talking to them was like talking to family and Joe felt completely relaxed around them. The programme playing on the tv ended and Rina checked her phone.
"Mark, we should head off. It's late."
"Okay honey." Joe went to move Dianne off himself to show them out but Mark stopped him. "You stay there, it's fine." Dianne, woken up by movement, rolled onto her back and opened her eyes slowly.
"Are you leaving now?" She asked, her voice croaky from sleep.
"Yes honey, we'll see you tomorrow." Dianne stood up and hugged her dad tightly, and then her mum.
"See you tomorrow" she said. The group of four moved over to the door, where Mark and Rina pulled on their shoes and jackets. Dianne, still very sleepy, held Joe's right hand in both of hers and rested her head on his shoulder as they showed her parents out.
"Bye you two!" The door closed behind them, leaving Joe and Dianne on their own again.
"Let's get you to bed."