When the skyfalls

Chapter thirteen: Skyfall and high tide

Hey guys! I'm back again with another update and this really marks to turning point in the story- this chapter is quite dark, deals with a lot of themes and includes swearing.

As always, please remember this is only a work of fiction💚 let me know what you guys think of this and what's going to happen next!

That night, as his wife slept peacefully by his side, seemingly relieved following her emotional outbreak a few hours previous, Joe couldn't suppress the growing anger he felt inside. Well, it was a relief on one hand; it was the first time in months he had felt any sort of emotion at all, yet as his anger grew-the more he resented the gentle woman against him.

He despised the fact that she had been able to openly express her emotions, share her thoughts and chat to their daughter about the situation. Yes, their daughter...who is far too young to be carrying the burden of Dianne's emotions, too young to be exposed to such issues but yet his wife didn't see that and continued to rely on their child, as opposed to confiding in him.

How could the woman he loved, who physically felt the loss of their child, move on so easily to the point in which a series of meaningless words soothed her into a comforting sleep; the notion was beyond him. All this time, forcing himself to suppress him emotions, pushing them aside and refusing to accept the pain associated with loosing a child had led him here, to this spiral of hateful emotions and the anger bubbling under the surface, ready to erupt with a moments notice.

Blissfully unaware of her husbands festering feelings, Dianne slept soundly for the first time in what felt like months, content that her life was finally getting back on track and that her husband still held that true love for her, despite the distance between them. Falling into a deep slumber, Joe's comforting words still swirling round her head, she smiled to herself: Her Joseph could never get angry with her, could never hurt her.

Or so she thought.

As visions of her perfect family life flooded her dreams, she didn't notice how Joe had detached himself from her hold, choosing to roll over to the far side of their bed- something he hadn't done since that very first night they had slept together.

Unbeknownst to Dianne, her loving, care-free and humorous husband was slowly unravelling, loosing his battle with the inner demons he had been ignoring and that this bitterness was about to change their marriage forever. No, truly, these thoughts had never crossed her mind, of course she had asked Joe how he was getting on, how he felt but he had always manged to deflect back to her, distracting her with a sweet kiss or a well-timed joke. She wasn't stupid, it was obvious that Joe had struggled just as much as she had in those early days: the gently tears that fell as he held her in the bathroom and waited for the pill to work, the uncontrollable sobs when they arrived home and found that first baby-grow they had bought, the midnight breakdown when a friend had announced the birth of their healthy son and the ever-painful "what ifs". But after the first week? Once Charlotte had been told, he changed, he became stoic and withdrawn when it came to talks of babies and rainbow but Dianne had simply assumed that it was his coping mechanism and soon all seemed back to normal.

Well, their new sense of normal anyway.

"Mama? Dad? Wake up time? I bringed rainbow for cuddles Dad, lookie! Rainbow needs loves too!" waking with a jump, Joe barely had time to blink before Charlotte shoved the small bear in his face and clambered over him to get to her Mum, who was still fast asleep and clutching Joe's pillow for comfort, unaware that he had moved in the night. Holding the bear and turning it over in his hands, that rush of anger raised its ugly head again as he heard his daughter giggle to his wife, "Mama, mama, look! Dad has rainbow and is cuddling her! Rainbow needs hugs too, I love rainbow. Daddy? Will we play with baby rainbow today?" She squeals, oblivious to the pent up emotion threating to flow over as his grip tightens round the stuffed toy. Ignoring his child and her pleas, the room is filled with white noise, throbbing through his ears as all the emotions flood through his body and begin their attack. "ENOUGH! CHARLOTTE! Go to your room now! You are too old to be acting like a toddler, Mama and I will have a talk and then come and get you." He roared, firing the small bear across the room and knocking over their wedding picture.