For All Eternity

Too Many Sweeties

"Are you sure you want to come?"

"Should you be saying please 'don't come'? Do you want me to come?" Dianne asked, sliding her sore feet into some flip flops.

"I just thought, you know with you having just finished tour you might want a little bit of time to yourself. Before the impending madness and excitement," Joe explained, standing up, placing his hands on her waist. She rolled her eyes at him, this was standard procedure whenever she came back off tour. All she felt like she had heard was 'sit down love', 'no I'll get that for you' and 'you must be knackered, take a break' from him and, as endearing as it was to be looked after, she felt like she had to keep reminding him that she had done this for the past 10 years and knew her body's limits.

"And miss out on the joy of the last day of school? Of course I want to come! I've missed my girl too," She said, giving him a quick kiss turning away from his hands towards the door.

"Dot?" Joe said, connecting their hands, as they walked along the embankment to school.

"Joseph."

"Did you ever have any last day of school traditions? I think I might want to start one with Connie but I'm a bit stuck with what to do," he had been thinking about how when he was younger how he used to get jealous of his classmates who had an end of school tradition. His parents never created one and so now he was trying to figure out what to do with Connie to make it extra special.

"My mum used to take us to the bakery and let us pick a treat and then we'd eat it at the beach and go swimming."

"That sounds cute, I think we might go to the icecream parlor on Northcolt. Is that a good idea? Is that the right sort of thing? Do you think she'll like it?"

"Are you kidding? This is Connie Sugg we're talking about! I'm confident she'd do anything for icecream. Stop doubting yourself. Plus if it doesn't work out you can change next year. That's the beauty of traditions and having like-" she paysed for a moment, thinking, "several years of school left."

"You were going to work out how many years she had left then weren't you, but you couldn't be bothered," Joe laughed kissing her head. Dianne didn't deny it, instead speeding up, as she realised they might be late- and Connie wouldn't forgive them.

"Oh no, I see tears," Joe said quietly, letting go of Dianne's hand. He m waved at Connie who was walking at a snail's pace down the path, trying to look as happy as possible.

"Daddy," she said, reaching her arms up to him.

Joe easily picked her up, clutching her tight to his chest. "What's wrong little one?"

Dianne knew that now was the opportunity to step back and let Joe look after her on his own. As much as she had become a part of Connie's life, and Connie's hers, she was well aware of when it was necessary for them to have their moments, without her.

"I dibn't want school to be over Daddy," she sniffed, dropping her book bag. Dianne picked it up, sliding it up her arm before giving Connie's hand a quick squeeze.

"But you'll be back in September before you know it. And there's so much to look forward to now isn't there? Let's see, we've got Dianne's brother Andrew and Mel his girlfriend coming and then you're going to Nanny's and then camping with Grandad Graham and that's onlg the first two weeks. All sorts, you're doing all sorts. Plus, I bet we can arrange for you to have some friends over," Joe said, swinging her onto his hip, so he could see her teary face.

"And Dot?"

"Yep, Dianne's going to be here quite a lot, at some point she might have to work during the day but she'll be there for breakfast and snuggles and bedtime. Only on some days though, the other days, most of the days, we're stuck with her," Joe joked, wiping her eyes with a tissue Dianne had pulled from her bag.