You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Nine: Meeting Gabriella's Parents

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Gabriella asked peeking at Joe, they were parked outside of her parents' home and she was a little surprise that he wanted to meet them; she was a little worried about what they would have to say. 

Joe took a deep breath and nodded his head, he was doing the right thing by meeting Gabriella's parents especially considering the fact that he was going to have a baby with her; he didn't want to cause any un-necessary problems. 

Gabriella watched him for a moment, she had been surprised how calm things had gotten since Joe had moved in with her and his statement had been released about the situation.

It had also helped that there were rumours of an exclusive story coming out at the end of the month; it was meant to be about Georgina and it was also meant to paint her in a horrible light. 

"We should head inside then," Gabriella murmured spotting the living room curtain move, her mother was clearly getting frustrated with the fact that they hadn't gotten out of the car yet and she wanted to meet Joe. 

Catherine and Charles had been surprised when Gabriella had told them that Joe wanted to meet them, they were so curious about the situation that their daughter had oddly found herself in but they knew they didn't want to cause more problems for her. 

Joe nodded his head, he pulled off his seatbelt and moved to get out of the car; Gabriella was twenty-two weeks pregnant now and he wasn't going to mess things up, he had to make things better for her no matter what. 

Joe had made a lot of mistakes after getting Gabriella pregnant, he had been a coward and he wanted to make up for that and he wanted things to be better for when his daughter was born. 

Gabriella carefully got out of the car, she had slowly started to put back on the weight that she had lost and Joe seemed insistent on continuing to feed her all the time.

***

"It's nice to finally meet you Mr and Mrs Evans," Joe greeted looking at Gabriella's parents nervously, he had no idea what to expect from them; Georgina's parents had never liked him and Gabriella's parents had no reason to. 

Joe had been horrible when he had found out that Gabriella was pregnant, he had even considering paying her off so that she would leave him alone; he regretted all of that now and he wished that he hadn't let things spiral like this. 

"I'm Miss Jameson sweetheart... we're divorced now," Catherine corrected with a smile, she peeked between her daughter and Joe; she was still unsure what to make of the situation that they were in. 

Catherine had seen the horrible headlines that had been released about her daughter, she had even been chased by some paparazzi around the supermarket for information about what was going on between her daughter and Joe. 

"You can call me Charles," Charles said shaking Joe's hand, he sat down with a smile knowing that he was pleased that Joe had come to meet them; he had been convinced that Joe would just avoid them. 

Catherine stared at her husband, she had hoped that he would put his foot down and be the bad cop for once when it came to this; she had always been the firm one when it came to raising their daughter while Charles was the fun parent. 

Gabriella smiled at the confused look on Joe's face, she could only guess that he had expected her parents to be strict and to be angry about the situation at hand. 

Joe sat down, he wasn't entirely sure what to say to her parents and apologising for getting her pregnant sounded so childish to him since they were adults and working things out between them.

***

"Are you staying for dinner?" Catherine asked looking between Joe and Gabriella, it had been a nice afternoon and she was surprised how much she actually liked Joe; he wasn't what she had been expecting at all. 

Gabriella looked at Joe, she was sure that he would have plans for the evening; he had a match that weekend and she doubted that his manager would be pleased if he wasn't focused for that. 

"We would love to," Joe replied smiling at Catherine, he didn't see the harm in staying for dinner and things had been going so well between him and Gabriella's parents; it had been a good afternoon even if it had been filled with questions about what was going on. 

"It's only my famous spaghetti and meatballs," Catherine announced with a smile, she quickly hurried away to get started and Charles could only stare after her; he remembered the last time she had made her famous spaghetti and meatballs, he had ended up with food poisoning and had been ill for days. 

"I think you should go and help your mother," Charles insisted knowing that no one would take it well if the poisoned Joe Hart, he could only imagine what would happen if they did. 

Gabriella laughed before she got to her feet and followed after her mother, she was sure that her father wasn't going to scare Joe off; her mother had been the one that was wary about him and she doubted much could happen while she was in the kitchen. 

Joe sipped on his coffee, he wasn't sure what he was going to do but he was glad that Gabriella's parents seemed to like him; he wanted things to go smoothly when his daughter was born without two families at war of something so stupid as what had happened in the past.

"I was actually worried about coming here to meet you," Joe admitted looking at Charles as he set down his cup, he was pleased that things had worked out so well; he quite liked Catherine and Charles. 

Charles raised an eyebrow, he set down his own cup and watched Joe knowing this wasn't what he had been expecting when Gabriella had finally called and spoken to them about what was going on. 

"You had no reason to be worried," Charles replied smiling at Joe, who nodded his head and he had to admit that he had never expected such a warm welcome. 

Charles and Catherine were a breath of fresh air, he had never been good when it came to meeting the parents; he might not have been dating Gabriella but they were going to have a baby together. 

"But if you ever put my daughter or granddaughter through hell again... no one will find you're skinny ass body do you hear me?" Charles threatened making Joe stare at him, he kept his tone light as he talked not wanting anyone to know about this. 

Charles had seen the hell that had been caused when Joe's fiancée had talked to the press, she had nearly ruined Gabriella's life and he wasn't going to let that happen especially with a baby on the way now. 

"Everything okay in here?" Gabriella asked walking back into the room and collecting the plates in; she peeked at Joe who seemed a little off and she wandered for a moment if he was okay. 

Gabriella knew how protective her father could be and something had clearly happened the moment that she had left Joe alone with him; she guessed he was giving him some protective talk. 

"Just fine sweetie, right Joe?" Charles asked patting Joe in the shoulder, he shot a meaningful look at Joe knowing that he wouldn't let anyone hurt his family and get away with it.