Lessons in love

chapter 12- merry christmas Joseph

"Nanny its christmas day"
Ottilies small patter of footsteps could be heard lightly across the lading before adventuring into her grandmothers room. It seemed to be zoe and alfie were still asleep, joe was the opposite though. He was wide awake and had been for alot of the night.

Chrsitmas was going to be hard.
Without dot.

"Good morning sweetie, merry Christmas"
Tracey spoke quietly not wanting to wake up zoe who was due any day now. She had gone quite alot over her due date so the fact another baby could arrive within the next 2 or 3 days was exciting but made everyone in the house so much more considerate. By everyone, tracey had invited her family to her house for christmas. It was a last minute plan after the plans of christmas at joe and diannes were ruined when they announced their separation but it was for sure going to be a nice day. Hard but they would get through it. Well joe would try.

"Nanny, can we go and see if father chrsitmas has been?"
Ottilie asked.
Tracey sat up turning on her bedside lamp looking at her first and only grand daughter so far. She was excited to be a grandmother again when zoe had her baby girl, but if only she knew that baby wouldnt be the only new addition then things would be very different.

"We definitely can sweetheart but we must be very quiet and not open any presents until mummy, daddy and uncle joe joe are awake"
Tracey got up, pulling on her dressing gown before taking otties hand. The two walked along the hall and towards the stairs, not without walking past the room joe had been staying in though.
That room was his now. It was where he had been staying since dianne left him, the thought of being alone in the house they had brought for their future family to grow in being too hard for him.

Tracey stopped outside Joe's bedroom.

She didn't want to appear as if she was looking in at him because he was definitely awake. A small light was on and she could hear him speaking. She knew he wouldn't like it if he caught her listening in on his conversation.
That didn't stop her just standing a little away from the door and listening for just a few moments.

The voice of the person joe was talking to was muffled. She couldn't hear nor make out who it was but after hearing joe say very quietly four little words....

"I miss you too"

She panicked.

Had joe moved on from dianne already?

Because he couldn't possibly be speaking to her.

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Mark couldnt help but look at his daughter from across the room. He noticed how sad she looked, how life had been almost drained out of her, how her eyes looked scared.
After spending the whole day with her at times overbearing, loud Italian family she was bound to feel like this ontop of everything she had recently gone through and still was going through. She loved her family, they meant the world to her but to be on the other side of the world to joe at Christmas and being showered in food, music and laughter, it was something she wanted to escape. She had now though, finally. The Buswells had just got home. It was still quite early, around 8pm but that was when dianne stood up and announced to the room...

"I'm going to bed"

"Really sweetheart, it's still early?"
Rina asked softly.

"I know but I'm tired"
She shrugged before strolling off to her room. Not much was said. Infact she had been quiet all day. Her family tried to ignore it not wanting to bring anything up about joe which could make her snap and get her upset, but that also meant she had been bottling up alot of what she was keeping in.

"I'm going to go and check on her"
Mark stood up, Rina shooting him a smile as he made his way to diannes room a few moments after her.
She was already in bed. Curled up, head on the pillow, hiding away.
Mark came and sat down next to her before speaking softly.