From now on

Chapter twelve

"Oh Dot!"

Rina stood outside her home, delighted as she saw her red headed daughter and her grand daughter come across the lawn, on the pavement and both with their cases. Dianne didn't look much different physically, but emotionally she was a changed woman. It didn't take a maths genius to figure out why, and Rina knew it had something to do with a certain British boy back in the UK. Emelia, on the other hand, had grown loads, they always do at that age. She was definitely growing up too fast for Rina's liking. Soon she'd be all grown up.

Dianne and her mother embraced, the red head glad to finally see her again after what was too long, far too long. "Ma, it's so lovely too see you. I've missed you so much."

Rina pecked Dianne's cheek. "I've missed you too Dot." She smiled, the two parting. Rina grinned down to Emelia. "Wow, look at you! Haven't you grown! I've missed you so so much!"

Emelia nodded, giving her grandma a big ol' hug. "I've missed you too grandma. I've gotten taller, one day I might even be taller than mummy!"

Rina gave Dianne a knowing look, noticing the simple change in vocabulary. "Maybe, one day. But did you know that mummy isn't that tall, so you probably will be." She chuckled.

Dianne rolled her eyes as Emelia nodded. "Big things come in small packages. Is that the saying?" Sh tilted her head.

Rina nodded. Emelia had changed, she was just so much more British. "That's such a British thing to say, Emelia. Do you both want to come inside?"

Once the two were both inside, Emelia had straight away went into the garden to see her two cousins, Mia and Billy. Andrew, Mel, Brendan and Anna were also chilling out, along with Mark of course who was reading the newspaper. After she had greeted everyone, she sat between Mel and Anna, her sisters in law.

Mel nudged Dianne. "So...a little birdie has told me that you found someone."

Both Mel and Anna giggled as Dianne blushed pink, more than she wanted to show. Anna smiled. "It's cute, and we've seen from clips he's a gooden. What's he like?"

"He's just..." She found it hard to describe him in a sentence when she could talk about him all day long. She could go on, but kept it simple. "Amazing. We always have a laugh, which I find very important in a partner. Yeah, amazing." She shrugged.

Mel smiled. "Aw, I'm so happy for you Dot. And, how's he with Em? Must be going well considering you're moving in together." She chuckled.

Dianne nodded, blushing even darker, rolling her eyes at their grins. "Yeah, he's honestly incredible with her. She's also really taken to him, I don't know how I got so lucky."

Mel and Anna both cooed, Emelia bouncing over to them all. Dianne chuckled. "Hello angel, everything alright?"

Emelia nodded. "Yep. We were just playing football, I scored a goal. I'm a bit tired though."

"I'm not surprised. Why don't you have a break for a while, get your breath back." Emelia nodded and sat next to Mel, getting her breath back. "There. Better?"

Emelia nodded. "Yep, much better. Can I go back now?" Dianne's eyes went a little wide. Where had she got this energy from? Nodding, she saw Emelia beam and jump up. "Yay!"

Once she was playing in the garden again with her cousins, Dianne turned to the girls, sighing and sitting back. "I don't know where she gets the energy from."

"Me neither, Dot." Mark added, looking up from the paper to see Emelia running around, scoring a goal. "Me neither."

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