You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Forty: Exploring France

"Are you sure you don't mind having her?" Gabriella asked handing Elena over carefully to Coleen, she was a little nervous about leaving her daughter with the other woman for a few hours even if Coleen insisted. 

It had been a while since she'd been able to relax and the idea of having Joe to herself for a few hours was very tempting; Coleen had offered to babysit since Wayne would be busy doing interviews for the rest of the day now that training was done. 

"Of course... you go and have fun with Joe," Coleen insisted with a smile, she was sure that it had been a while since Gabriella had been able to spend time with her boyfriend without Elena. 

Things had been pretty busy recently and with Joe having the afternoon off it was the perfect time for the couple to spend much needed time together after their serious talk about the future. 

Gabriella nodded her head, she wanted nothing more than to relax for a few hours and she hoped that Elena wasn't going to be too much trouble for the other woman. 

Coleen already had her own three children to watch and Gabriella didn't want to leave Elena with her if she wasn't able to look after her with the hands full with her own children. 

"Go and have fun," Coleen insisted wanting nothing more than to help, she was sure that Gabriella would have fun with Joe; she couldn't imagine how tense things where for them after their talk about the future. 

She felt bad for Gabriella having heard how she had been dumped at the altar on her wedding day and she didn't blame her for being a little wary about taking the next step with Joe because of it. 

However, Coleen was sure that in time that things would calm down and she knew that Joe wasn't going to change his mind anytime soon about being with Gabriella and Elena.

***

"I can't remember the last time that it was just us," Joe mused softly as he sat down across from Gabriella, they had stopped for lunch and he was glad for a little time to focus on them right now. 

He had noticed how tense things had become since their talk about the future and Joe was determined to show Gabriella that she had nothing to worry about when it came to them. 

Things were always going to feel strange for them and Joe was sure that in time that it would be okay; he was just glad that things were so calm between him and Gabriella now. 

"It might have been February," Gabriella replied remembering the charity event that they had attended together, she doubted she would ever forget that night and it felt like ages ago now. 

It seemed so odd to think that it had been five months since Elena had come into their lives, she was amazing and Gabriella knew that she wouldn't trade their little girl for the world. 

"I think it was March... we had a date night," Joe murmured with a shake of his head, it had been a while and he knew that they were doing their best to make sure that they had time together that gave them time to focus on them and just them. 

Gabriella smiled and nodded her head, she couldn't forget that night and she was hopeful that they would be able to return to their date night plans once things had calmed down again. 

They had been forced to put a holt to them after their last date night since things had unexpectedly picked up at work for both of them and any spare time went to looking after Elena. 

Joe smiled remembering that night, it had been nice and he was sure that they would get some special time together at some point. 

He didn't want them to forget about one another when things were going so well, Joe wanted to make sure that their relationship was able to survive anything that came their way.

Leaning across the table, Joe took Gabriella's hand and smiled at her knowing that he would do anything to make her comfortable; he was willing to wait until she was ready to take the next step with him. 

He could understand that she was wary after what her ex-fiancé had done to her and how shaky things had begun for them but Joe wasn't going to change his mind about what he wanted. 

Gabriella and Elena were his family and he would do anything to make sure that it stayed that way, they were the people that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. 

Looking back, Joe had no doubts that if he had stayed with Georgina then it would have only ended in divorce and the possible end of his career when her drug addiction came to light. 

They were both better off apart and Joe was happy with what he had now, he could even imagine having more children with Gabriella soon; he wanted Elena to at least after a brother or sister so that she wasn't alone. 

"I love you," Joe whispered knowing that he could never say those three words too much, he meant it every time that he said it and he doubted that he had ever meant them more than when he was talking to Gabriella and Elena. 

He couldn't believe that he had very nearly missed out on all of this because of his own fears; Joe regretted how he had acted when Gabriella had first told him that she was pregnant. 

It would forever haunt him how he had nearly lost the two people that meant the world to him because he had been so ashamed by his own actions.

"I love you too," Gabriella replied squeezing his hand and wondering what was going on in that head of his, the restaurant that they were sat in was pretty quiet and she was grateful for that right now. 

She didn't need people watching them when they were having a nice lunch together, the euros had attracted a lot of attention and people loved to see pictures of their favourite footballers relaxing around France. 

The magazines seemed filled with pictures of footballers and their families since the tournament had begun and Gabriella certainly wasn't used to seeing herself in those glossy pages. 

They still mentioned how Elena had been conceived and it did sting that the media didn't seem willing to let that piece of information go. 

Gabriella had a feeling that no matter how long she and Joe were together for they would always talk about the fact that he had been engaged to Georgina when he had gotten Gabriella pregnant. 

She dreaded to think what they would do when she did finally get married to Joe, Gabriella was sort of dreading it and she hoped that it wasn't going to be a complete nightmare. 

They had been a bit of a nuisance when she had given birth to Elena and Gabriella couldn't imagine how she would handle the rest of her life being front page news. 

The couple were silent for a moment knowing that whatever the future held for the two of them, they weren't going to give up without a fight. 

They didn't want to walk away from something that made them both so happy and they had Elena to think about; she deserved to have a family with both her parents. 

Joe couldn't help but grin, he had everything planned out in his head and he knew that the moment that Gabriella was ready for more than he would be more than ready for that step. 

The future seemed so bright for them and neither of them could believe that they had made it this far in six months; they were doing perfect right about now.