Evelyn's Tale

-Epilogue-

"Something smells good in here," Evelyn said as she reached the kitchen.

Joe and Georgina were at the table buttering bread, and Georgina had more butter around her mouth than anywhere else. Sometimes it made Evelyn want to cry just how quickly her little girl was growing up, but moments like this gave her some relief that Georgina still needed her even when she acted like she didn't.

"Mommy!" she exclaimed, jumping down from the table to wrap her arms around Evelyn's waist and pursing her lips for a kiss when Evelyn picked her up with a groan.

"Hey baby girl," she kissed her daughter back. "Are you having fun with daddy?"

"She's kept me busy all day," Joe appeared, taking Georgina and setting her down on the ground while narrowing his eyes at Evelyn. "What have I told you about picking her up?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Evelyn rolled her eyes, a grin gracing her face when Joe merely scowled before pulling her into his arms– or as close as he could with her protruding stomach anyway– and kissing her deeply.

Ever since she had fallen pregnant with their second child, Joe had gone into ultra over protective mode, driving her absolutely insane. It didn't matter that she reminded him of all the things she did during her last pregnancy, he was having none of it. She was allowed to go to work and she was allowed to do light cleaning, but whenever he was at work he had his mother or sister around making sure Evelyn was doing as she was told. What Joe didn't know was that his sister, a seasoned mother of three, would just grin and tell her to do whatever she wanted and that she'd make sure her brother never found out. Mrs Liebgott, however, was a different kettle of fish. An Austrian version of Evelyn's own mother, she would have a conniption fit if Evelyn so much as breathed too hard in her presence. It was sweet but also sometimes a little suffocating.

"I missed you," Joe murmured, resting his forehead against hers as his hands wandered down to touch her stomach; a beaming smile appearing when the baby kicked hard. Kneeling down he kissed her stomach. "I missed you too, little one."

"Did you miss me as well, daddy?" Georgina frowned.

"How could I miss you when I was with you all day, silly girl?" Joe picked her up and flung her over his shoulder making her scream as he started to tickle her. "Shall we tell mommy what we've been doing?"

"Hmm, let me guess," Evelyn pretended to think for a moment. "Daddy took you to the toy store even though he knows mommy thinks that little girls don't need to go there every week."

"I only got her one thing this time," Joe muttered.

"And the other thing that we hided in the wardrobe for next week," Georgina stage whispered.

"You," Joe tickled her again. "You gotta stop getting me in trouble with your mommy."

"You get yourself in enough trouble," she laughed. "So you went to the toy store and then I bet daddy took you for a ride out to the ice cream parlour? Am I right?"

"Mommy you're so smart."

"Daddy is so predictable."

"Hey, we went to the park too," Joe scowled at her playfully. "And then we built a den and pretended we were camping."

"Daddy says we can go real camping next year when we go and visit Uncle Gene," Georgina smiled excitedly. "I like when we see Uncle Gene and Aunty Vera 'cause she speaks funny."

"Do you like seeing them more than Uncle Bill and everyone else?"

"No!" Georgina answered without hesitation. "I loveeeeeeeeee Uncle Bill the best."