Heartfelt

The Words

"Have you ever seen, a penguin come to tea? Take a look at me, a penguin you will see! Penguins attention! Penguins begin! Right flipper, left flipper, right foot, left foot, nod your head, turn around, stick out your tongue!"

Dianne giggled, leaning on the door frame watching Joe prance round her living room in front of Emelie like some sort of demented penguin. Whatever he was doing, she loved it. Her round cheeks were red from laughing and her eyes sparkling. It made Dianne happy.

"You think it's funny do you?"

Joe had stopped parading around and was now looking directly at her, a smirk on his face. Still smiling she shook her head slowly, before being unceremoniously rugby tackled onto the sofa.

"Get her Emelie, get her! Tickle mama, tickle tickle tickle!"

Emelie-Rose crawled over to her already squirming mother from the other side of the sofa and started running her fingers along her skin, copying Joe. She didn't quite have the tickling effect mastered yet, but that certainly didn't stop her from trying.

"Mama."

Joe and Dianne both froze.

"Mama."

They looked at each other and then at the little girl in front of them, who'd got bored of playing tickles and had slid off the sofa in search of a toy. Disbelief clouded their faces as they continued to stare at each other, but neither could deny that they'd heard it. She had definitely said her first word. Definitely. And it had been directed at her mother.

Tears began to form in Dianne's eyes, for reasons she couldn't explain. Whether because she was proud, or happy, or because she simply felt that her little girl was growing up too fast she didn't know. Whatever it was, caused Joe to wrap her up in his arms, attempting to comfort her but in reality only making her sobs more frequent. She was glad he was here and had gotten to witness the moment with her as he'd become such an important part in both her own and her babies life. Mere seconds later she came back, toddling unsteadily and collapsing into Joe's legs. With ease her picked her up and brought her in to join the family cuddle.

"Dada, Mama."

"No, Emelie..."

Joe said, nearly too quickly. He loved the little girl with all his heart, but he knew it was Dianne's decision to make and did not want to overstep any boundaries, even though he was sure that there weren't many boundaries between them at this point. His feelings put aside and locked securely away, he carried on,

"...Mama and Joe."

He said, pointing at them each in turn. At this, the redhead lifted her head up and quickly caught his lips with hers before speaking.

"No, Emilie-Rose darling. Mama and Dada, you were right!"

With a practised sweep her baby was on her hip and already snuggled into her side, giving her usual bed time signal of fiddling with her ears. Not giving Joe time to think about what she'd said, she waltzed out of the room.

No more than ten minutes had passed when Dianne reappeared, childless. Joe, she observed, was sitting down exactly where he'd been stood, the same expression on his face. What it was she couldn't quite grasp but she hoped against hope that he'd liked being called Emelie's father. It was something she now realised they hadn't previously talked about, but she personally thought it was the right decision. She had no plans of leaving him any time soon, put it that way.

After clearing up around the room (how many toys does one child need?!) she plonked herself on Joe's lap, snuggling into his chest. Instinctively his strong arms wrapped around her back, holding her, keeping her safe, protecting her from the world. Dianne loved the way her made her feel and the security and warmth she felt from his embraces- she wanted Emelie to be able to share this with her, to be able to not only have Joe in her life as a role model but also as a father figure.

"Was I okay to say that?"

Her voice was quiet, barely a whisper, for fear of ruining their intimate moment. Yet it had to be done now, she couldn't wait any longer.

"Of course."

The reply had come after a couple of minutes deliberation and she could hear the hesitation as the words were spoken.

"You don't have to be her dad if you don't want to. I understand it's scary, and that being called dad is completely different to being a part of her life, even if other people don't see that."

"Dianne of course I want to, I just... I don't know if I'm cut out to be a dad. Look at me, how am I meant to strike fear into the hearts of future boyfriends? How can I make her proud to have me as a dad and not embarrassed? What if she finds out when she's older and wants nothing to do with me?"

Joe trailed off, overcome with emotion as his thoughts cane rushing out all at once.

"Joe look at me, listen... you are cut out to be a dad. It's going to be scary and emotional and you will fight at times but that's just natural. Hell, if I had a pound for every time I've looked in the mirror and cried because I think I'm a terrible mum I'd be rich, but you get through it because you see the joy you bring them and how they grow up to be polite and kind and how other parents look at your child wishing theirs that's running riot could be sat quietly playing like yours. We'll always tell her the truth, it won't be a bombshell to her. You may not be her biological father, but you're one hundred times a better father than he would be, there's absolutely no comparison. At some point, she will definitely go through a phase in which she's completely embarrassed of both of us, and we're going to make that time incredibly fun for us. You don't need to worry Joe. I know you can do this. You're amazing. We both think so. Oh, and as for the scaring future boyfriends? I'll do that."

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A/N
If you have no idea what song Joe is singing at the beginning I highly recommend going onto YouTube and searching 'Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea.' It's one of my favourite childhood songs and just reminds me of dancing round in nursery trying to do all the actions at once!!