Joe awoke the next morning to find himself trapped in his hotel bed.
His side felt uncomfortable and, as he looked down, he realised that he was pinned to the mattress by the leg of a small six-year-old girl. Emelia must have climbed into their bed in the night without him realizing. She had slept through the whole drive, and had probably woken up confused about where they were.
Slowly turning his head, he spotted Dianne's red hair draped across the pillow next to him. She had one arm above her head, and the other was cradling Emelia, who appeared to have made herself comfortable by using Dianne's chest as a pillow. Her tiny fist had grabbed a handful of her mother's t-shirt and she was snoring lightly.
Joe grabbed his camera from the bedside table, taking a few quick pictures of the pair of them. It was such an adorable sight to see, and he knew that Dianne would appreciate having as many pictures to look back on as possible.
Joe had packed his camera for their trip, despite their agreement that he wouldn't vlog whilst Emelia was with them. Instead, he had decided to film as much of their time as possible and then edit it down. He planned to upload a copy to Emelia's iPad, and send another copy to Dianne's phone for them to watch when they missed each other.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Dianne asked just as Joe put his camera back down. "What time is it? And what... Oh."
Dianne had noticed where her daughter had decided to sleep.
"Well, that explains the weird dream about getting stuck under a giant shopping bag".
Joe chucked as Dianne tried to move. "Jesus. She's heavy! You don't realise until they put their whole dead weight on top of you. She used to weigh, like, seven pounds. And now she's an absolute lump!"
Dianne tried to roll Emelia off her. She stirred, before turning her head and falling back asleep. Both Joe and Dianne let out a relieved breath. Emelia reached out and grabbed another fistful of Dianne's top.
"Well, it would appear I'm not moving."
Joe smiled. "Do you know when she climbed in?"
Dianne shrugged. "She got me up at about three to take her to the toilet. I don't think she knew where she was- she was half-asleep. And we both went back to bed. It must have been after that."
"What time is it now?"
Dianne reached out to grab her phone. "Half seven."
"And what time did you get to sleep?" Joe knew Dianne had been struggling with the jet lag, but he had been so tired from the drive that he had no recollection of whether she had stayed awake or not.
Dianne shrugged. "I wasn't fully asleep when she woke me up. So just after three? But I'm awake now. There's no way I could get back to sleep comfortably with this one attached to me."
Joe crawled carefully out of bed, wrapping the complimentary robe around himself.
"Well, would you like a coffee?" he asked. Dianne nodded.
"Definitely. I need a coffee. Caffeine, yes- please and thank you." Dianne tried to wriggle as Joe moved towards the coffee machine.
"Hey Joe?" Joe stopped, mug in hand, to listen to her. "What time are we meeting everyone?"
"I said to mum we'd be at grandad's for about ten."
"Right. Let's leave her for a bit longer, then. Since she seems to be completely immune to jet lag." Dianne pulled one arm out of her top. Joe looked at her with a confused expression on his face.
"What are you..."
"All that talk of coffee has made me realise I really need a wee. I don't want to wake her, but princess peanut here has a grip like a vice. So..." Dianne successfully slipped out of her top, Emelia's small hands still holding it tightly.
She walked across the room, smiling at Joe as his gaze moved down to her now naked chest, before pulling on the second robe the hotel had laid out.
"Ta-da!" Dianne whispered.
"That was impressive" Joe said, smiling.
Dianne grinned back at him. "Why thank you."
///
"Joseph! It's so good to see you!" Joe's nan squashed him in a tight hug as he walked through the door.
"And who have we got here?" She asked sweetly, bending down to smile at Emelia, who smiled back up at her.
Dianne patted Emelia's head. "This is Joe's Nan. Her name is Carol. Can you say hello?"
"Hi. It's nice to meet you."
"Oh, you're such a good girl!" Joe's nan gushed. "Is she allowed a little treat?" Joe rolled his eyes as his Nan asked Dianne the same question he had heard her ask his own mum so many times throughout his childhood.
Emelia looked up at her mum, silently pleading with her to say yes.
"She can, but only something small. She's not long had her breakfast."
Joe's nan reached her hand out for Emelia to take. "Why don't you come and help me make the drinks for everyone? You can have a look in my special sweetie tin and see if there's anything you would like."
Dianne couldn't stop her smile from spreading across her face.
Joe tapped his nan on the shoulder. "If you're going in the special sweetie tin, maybe there's a treat for your favourite grandson as well?"
Everyone laughed. Joe's nan turned back to Emelia. "Well, what do you think, Emelia? Do you think Joe is allowed a treat, too?"
Joe made eye contact with the little girl, nodding slowly. Dianne stood next to him and shook her head.
"Well, he did let me sing my songs on the way here. So maybe he can have something little" Emelia said after a moment's thought.
"Yes!" Joe high fived her. "Favourite kid ever!"
Joe's mum had been sat in the corner, watching them all interact. Once Emelia and Joe's nan disappeared into the kitchen, she walked over to greet her son and his girlfriend.
"It's so nice to see you both. Thank you for making the time to come over," she said sweetly, hugging and kissing both of them. "Mum and Dad have been talking non-stop about meeting you and Emelia, Dianne".
Dianne smiled. "I think Emelia's been about the same, to be honest. Joe's been telling her all about his favourite Grandad Chippy on the way here." Dianne smiled at the older man who sat in his chair in the corner.
Joe took Dianne's hand and walked over to him. "Alright, grandad?" He asked, loud enough for him to hear.
"Oh, yes. I'm fine thank you." His grandad reached out and took his hand. "It's so nice to see you. And congratulations on your dancing. I thought you were both wonderful."
Dianne smiled as he reached out with his other hand to hold hers.
"And I'm pleased for both of you. I hope you will both be very happy together."
Joe could feel himself getting emotional. Approval from this man was all he ever wanted in life.
"Thanks, grandad. I'm going to try my best". Dianne smiled at him sweetly.
///
As they drank their coffees, everyone took the time to catch up. Joe's grandparents asked Dianne all about her family in Australia, and about her time there over the holidays.
Emelia was growing restless at all the boring grown-up chat, but Joe had packed the Lego plane set they had bought her as part of her Christmas surprise just in case.
"Hey, do you want to do this with me?" He asked. Emelia nodded and moved off the sofa and onto the floor. Joe reached behind where his grandad was sat and pulled out the lap tray he used to eat his dinner.
"We're just borrowing this, OK?" He asked. His grandad nodded.
"Ok, so lets put all the pieces on here and then we won't lose any."
Dianne sat back and watched Joe interacting with her daughter, helping her pick out the parts and follow the instructions. He had been so cool and calm since they had arrived, and he had made a real effort to make sure Emelia was always included.
"I can't believe I'm actually seeing this." Tracey, Joe's mum, leaned in and spoke to Dianne.
"He's been wonderful with her." Dianne didn't have enough words to compliment Joe for how he had welcomed Emelia into his life. "He's honestly thought of everything."
Tracey smiled. "She seems pretty easygoing, though?"
Dianne nodded. "You know what? She always has been. She was pretty chilled as a baby. Of course, she had her moments, but yeah, she's pretty adaptable. I mean, she's had to get used to things being a bit chaotic over the last couple of years, so I guess she's just got really good at managing it all."
Joe's Nan moved closer to watch the two of them play.
Dianne took a moment, and then asked, "what was Joe like? As a baby?" In her mind, she thought about what a cute baby Joe had been. And how amazing it would be, one day, to watch Joe with his own children.
"Oh, he was lovely!" Joe's nan began. "Chunky thing, he was. Adorable, though. Quite quiet, but that was probably because Zoe was such a whirlwind! He didn't find his voice until she went to preschool and gave him some space."
Dianne laughed. "I knew he was cute. Joe showed me pictures. Was he actually that big?"
Joe's mum nodded. "Ten pounds four." Dianne took a sharp breath. Poor Tracey.
"Jesus."
Joe looked up, confused about what was going on. Dianne looked at him sternly. "What?" he asked.
"You need to apologize to your mum."
"What have I done now?"
"Ten pounds four, Joe."
Joe nodded slowly. "And I had a massive bowling ball head. Sorry mum."
Tracey laughed. "He was worth it, though. Look at him now." Joe grinned up at her. "He's still my lovely boy." She turned and smiled at Dianne. "And now he's got a lovely lady to match. And another lovely little girl to complete the set."
Joe smiled at Dianne. "See?" He pointed to himself. "She says I'm a lovely boy."