You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Parental Problem

"My mother wants to have dinner next week?" Gabriella murmured with a roll of her eyes, it had only been a couple of days since she had last seen her parents and she knew they were dying to see Elena again. 

Joe grinned rocking their daughter in his arms, he was sure that it would all calm down soon and he hoped that their parents would give them a little more space. 

It had been two weeks since Elena had been born and so far the couple had barely gone a couple of days without seeing either of their parents; they were always popping around un-announced to see Elena. 

"Again?" Joe snorted with a shake of his head, he wished that they would just give them some space; he was sure that they would be able to handle Elena by themselves. 

It wasn't like he or Gabriella were struggling right now, Joe might have been away a lot with matches but he was sure that if she needed help then she would ask for it. 

Gabriella nodded her head, she loved her parents but they were starting to drive her up the wall with the constant calls and visits; she barely had a moment's peace and she just wanted to spend this time bonding with her daughter. 

"We don't have to go," Joe murmured smiling at Gabriella, there was so much going on right now and he was sure that their parents would understand if they didn't show up every time that they were invited to dinner. 

Gabriella smiled, she knew that Joe was trying to make her feel better but there was no way in hell that her parents or his for that matter would accept that they weren't in the mood to spend time together. 

"I doubt that they are going to take no for an answer," Gabriella told him with a shake of her head, she hated to think what their parents were going to do if they continued to turn their invites to dinner down. 

Joe sighed watching Gabriella knowing that they couldn't carry on like this, the couple barely had time to relax together and it didn't help with their parents hovering around so much.

***

"Mum? What are you doing here?" Joe asked opening the front door to his parents, he hadn't been expecting to see them today and he had hoped for a quiet afternoon with his girlfriend and daughter. 

Slowly stepping aside to allow his parents into the apartment, he paused at the sight of his older sister behind them; Joe certainly hadn't been expecting his older sister to gate-crash like this. 

"We came to see Elena," Louise replied with a smile on her face, she knew that Chloe had yet to meet her niece and she had come all this way to see her; she was sure that Joe wouldn't have minded their visit and it wasn't too late to disturb the couple. 

"She's taking her nap," Joe said annoyed that they hadn't even bothered to call first, he was sure that his family meant well but he wanted a quiet afternoon in with his own little family. 

Moving into the living room, Joe eyed his family hoping that they didn't plan on staying long; Elena had just gone down for her nap and he didn't wish to disturb her sleep pattern. 

Gabriella would be the one to suffer if he did and he knew it wasn't fair on his girlfriend to change things now; they had settled into a nice routine and they weren't prepared to change it. 

"Louise, Charles... I didn't know you were coming to visit," Gabriella greeted stepping into the living room, she peeked at Joe wondering what the hell his parents were doing here; she wished people would call before they came to visit. 

Chloe watched Gabriella, she had to admit that while she had been wary about the other woman after how Elena had been conceived that she liked her a lot more than her brother's last girlfriend.

"Chloe wanted to meet Elena," Louise explained moving to hug Gabriella, she was so happy that her son had found someone like her; she had never really understood why he was with someone like Georgina. 

It was wonderful to be welcomed when they came to see their son, Georgina had always reacted like they were a pest unless they were in public; they had only stayed quiet about her treatment because they thought that Joe had been happy with her. 

"I told them we should call first," Chloe said moving to hug her brother, she didn't want to be a problem and she knew what their parents could be like; they thought they were helping by popping in all the time.

Joe smiled down at her, he had always adored his older sister and he was glad that she had come to visit; he had been worried when she hadn't been able to make it up to Manchester when Elena had been born. 

"I'll happily wait until Elena has had her nap," Chloe said shooting a pointed look at her mother, she didn't want to get under Joe or Gabriella's feet; she could see they were a little annoyed at their parents just showing up like this. 

The couple smiled at her, they were glad that someone understood that they couldn't wake Elena up every time that someone came to see her; the little girl would never get any rest if they had to do that. 

"We could stay for dinner," Charles suggested rubbing his stomach, he knew that Joe and Gabriella would be eating soon and he had taken quite a liking to Gabriella's cooking; she was always doing something new and he was pleased to see that his son was eating well. 

Georgina couldn't cook to save her life and was always insisting that Joe took her out to some expensive restaurant so that they could eat out; she had been extremely picky with her food. 

"I actually wanted to go to the Italian place I like," Chloe said quickly intervening before anyone could badger Gabriella into cooking, her father had raved about her cooking and Chloe didn't want her to feel like she had to cook for them all the time.

Louise quickly agreed and soon they were all preparing to head back out the door for a couple of hours, it would give Gabriella and Joe some time together before they returned to fuss over Elena. 

"Don't worry I will talk with them," Chloe told her brother once their parents were out of hearing range, they meant well but they didn't see that they were sort of causing trouble with Joe and Gabriella.

It was clear that they didn't even realise that they were causing any sort of problem, they were just so happy that they had a granddaughter to fuss over and they had to be told to back off a little. 

"Thank you," Joe whispered smiling at Chloe, he hugged her again before letting her leave for dinner; he closed the door behind her and sighed in relief. 

They had a couple of hours before his parents would be back with Chloe and Joe hoped to spend some time relaxing with Gabriella; he just hoped her parents weren't going to show up. 

Walking back into the kitchen, Joe smiled watching Gabriella start to prepare dinner for them; he honestly didn't know what he would have done if he had never met her. 

Joe had never imagined how happy he would become and things with Georgina would have never worked out like this; he had no doubts she would have hired a nanny for their children if they'd ever had any. 

"Need any help?" Joe offered rolling up his sleeves, he didn't care what anyone else thought about his relationship; he was sure that in time everyone would see how wonderful Gabriella was and forget about the past.