"We're going to Blackpool We're going to Blackpool we're going to Blackpool!" was what Emelia Rose Buswell sang around the house that Thursday evening, buzzing about Blackpool like she had been since Sunday. Emelia had never been to a British seaside before, so needless to say she was over the moon.
Joe and Dianne grinned while Dianne placed down her case, herself and Emelia having just had arrived at the apartment that they had been practically living in for the past few weeks, the apartment feeling more like home as the days went by.
"I packed this morning. For once, I'm more organised than you are." she giggled. Joe, who scowled while folding up a hoodie, was normally the more organised of the two. "Need a hand?"
"Erm...go on then, would you mind helping me put these in the case?" He had a pile of clothes by his bed, neatly folded and stacked. She nodded, going to stand next to him, taking a pair of jeans from the pile.
She smiled. "I've never been to Blackpool, have you?"
He shook his head. "No, first time myself. Should be brilliant though, especially the tower ballroom." She grinned, remembering as a child always seeing pictures of it in all its glory.
While she placed a black hoodie in his case, she only then remembered what she had forgotten. "Oh so that's what I forgot this morning," she chuckled, seeing him fondly roll his eyes.
"Oh you plonker, I take it it's a hoodie." He chuckled. She nodded. "Do you want to borrow one of mine?"
She gave a look of relief. "If you don't mind, plus I swear yours are comfier than mine." He laughed, feeling her head rest on his shoulder.
"I don't mind, they should be in the right hand side of the wardrobe."
She pecked his cheek before going into his closet which was in a little room of its own, the two rooms separated by a door. It was quite big in size, racks upon racks of clothes which mostly looked the same, particularly the white t shirts which all hung side by side, twenty of them in total. That's a lot of white t shirts.
A few moments after she left, Emelia knocked on the door with her familiar knock. "Can I come in?"
"Course Angel, we're just packing for tomorrow. You excited?" She sat on the bed, giving an assertive nod. Compared to the bed, Emelia seemed like an ant, among a sea of white linen.
"Yes. I am really excited! So do you get to dance in the fancy ballroom, with the big chandeliers and things?"
He nodded. "Yep, I think it's called the tower ballroom but I'm not too sure. We're doing a quickstep, a very fast dance." She nodded while grinning, flopping backwards, sighing with some boredom in her voice.
She had two hours before bed, so definitely had some time to kill before dinner, Bath, bed, the usual routine. "I'm bored."
"You're bored?" She nodded, seeing him put his hands on his hips, she giggled a little.
"Well we cant have that now can we? Right, have you double checked your bag, in case there's anything you've forgotten."
Most likely, she would have forgotten something, most likely a teddy bear or a book to read. She shrugged. "I can go check again. Should I do that?"
Joe nodded. "Why not, you can bring it in here if you want with both of ours." And with that she skipped merrily out of the room, the door left open.
Joe was now on his own again, and was left to his thoughts, the ones that reminded him of the comforting fact that this was where life was headed, one with Emelia and Dianne. There was no doubt that they would eventually move in one day, they already spent so much time there, and in fact it felt weird without them, there were always little traces of them lying around weather it was a perfume or a pink bedsheet, a hair bow or a Netflix suggestion based on barbie life in the dream house, they were like little signs, signs that the future was upon them, and it was simply and utterly wonderful.
Joe was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice his girlfriend walk behind him, wrapping two arms around him from behind. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Whatcha thinking about?"
The future, the one where they would all live in the same house, the one where she may or may not stand by his side with three bands around her ring finger fifty years from now, the one where he would take Emelia to school, the house that they would live in, weather it would be in the UK or in Australia, or even somewhere completely different.
The future.
He sighed, turning around to face her and rest his own two hands around her. "Just us, it had me wondering. Do you reckon, do you reckon it would be worth bringing a few things of yours and Emelia's here."
He let the words linger for a second before she broke out into the adorable little smile of hers, the one that included the cute dimple on her cheek.
"Yeah, that would be nice. Plus, we already spend like, half of our time here so it would make things easier." They both chuckled, her moving her hands to rest on his shoulders, the ones that were starting to now cooperate in a ballroom hold.
"Yeah, maybe we could sort it out one Sunday, one where we're both not exhausted." She nodded, seeing him smile. "It feels, it feels like we're taking steps in the right direction, like this is where life is taking us."
She couldn't have said it better herself, for she too was content with the way life was going. Since moving to the UK she had always
struggled with finding love, as she always thought that she would never find someone to welcome not only her into their life, but Emelia too. Before meeting Joe, she had never imagined someone potentially filling the father shaped piece in her heart, but now he was here, and he was everything and more, as was she to him. Neither of them could deny that things were moving quickly, in just two months all their lives had changed durastically, but said changes had brought a new light, a new happiness, a new love, a new beginning.
She smiled from ear to ear, getting slightly lost in his diamond eyes. "Yeah, it does. I wouldn't have it any other way." They leant into a smiling kiss, letting it linger for a few moments before they pulled away, then hugging afterwards, holding each other close.
"Me neither Di." They embraces for a short while, squeezing each other tightly before they felt them both cohesively fall onto the bed, Di on top of Joe and them both in hysterics about it afterwards. "This is actually quite comfy."
She giggled, tucking her head beneath his chin and pretended to go to sleep, feeling his hands clasp behind her back. "It is. Goodnight Joseph." He laughed, seeing her sleep for a second before lifting her head, quickly pecking his lips. They stayed there for a few moments before they heard the door to the bedroom open.
Emelia was dragging in her case, it was pink and had a cute bow embellishment on it, the suitcase nearly as big as her. "Here, oh hi mama. Joe said to check over my stuff a second time, just in case I forgotten anything."
She grinned, lifting her chin again. "Did He now? He's very smart isn't he." He grinned, feeling them both sit up. He shifted backwards slightly to sit against the headboard, she sat beside him, feeling his arm immediately wrap around her shoulders, one of her hands clasping their hands together. "Try not to mess everything up though."
She nodded, unzipping the case and began to check through everything, and luckily everything was there. Once she got to the front pocket, she found something that she hadn't noticed for a long time.
"Mama, I didn't know you packed this." Dianne patted her lap before seeing Emelia craw across the bed before perching herself on her lap, the piece of paper in her hands, folded up.
"Oh that's good, what is it?" Joe asked, having a look at the artwork. Dianne smiled, kissing the top of Emelia's head.
"At the very start of Strictly, she drew this picture of us both in Blackpool, in hope we'd make it, and we did." Joe smiled, in turn kissing Dianne's temple. "Thought it would be nice to bring it."
"It's a lovely picture. So is that the pier?" Emelia nodded and began to explain everything in the picture to Joe, moving to now sit in between them. She coughed.
"So that's me, and mama. The pier, with all the bright letters, and that's the seaside, it's a bit different to Australia though." They both nodded, both looking lovingly at the small human, who clearly loved talking about her artwork, it being one of her many talents.
"Very different, but the British seaside is still amazing, you know Zoe?" Emelia nodded, beaming more than ever now at the mention of Joe's sister.
"Yeah?"
"She lives in Brighton, a seaside town. We should all go at some point." Emelia grinned, taking another look at the picture. Dianne smiled at Joe, seeing him return the same look of love.
"We should, actually I think the strictly tour goes to Brighton, but either way it would be good, and we'd see Zoe again." Joe smiled wider, squeezing her hand a little.
"Yeah. She might be coming to the Strictly final, I'm not too sure." Dianne nodded, the three of them sitting on the bed in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, enjoying the serene atmosphere of the room. Then, out of the blue, Emelia leaps up and scurries off the bed, a spring in her step and a grin upon her cheeks.
"Where she off to?" Dianne chuckled, wrapping an arm around Joe's waist. "Actually, now come to think of it, she's probably going to make a dance routine maybe."
Joe chuckled, resting his head on hers. "Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get tired of her performances, they're all so adorable."
She grinned, his last statement confirming the fact even more now that she had found him, the love of her life and the father Emelia had never had the past five years.
"You can say that again, and while you say that, can I take a shower?"
///
"Sleep and sound?"
"Sleep and sound." Dianne echoed before yawning, wandering over to where Joe was by the football table. She had just put Emelia to bed that night, a very excitable Emelia at that.
She looked around the apartment, the one she had come to call almost home. While she did this, she noticed the new piece of paper on the side, a few pens and pencils around it, Emelia's name written all over the space.
She walked over, feeling Joe place an arm on her back, wondering too what the new paper on the side was. "I think this is why she skipped off, maybe she had a sudden burst of inspiration?"
Dianne shrugged, opening the paper. They both looked at it, it the picture which proved again that Emelia's heart was with theirs, in the vision of the future, the one with the three of them in it.
It was exactly like the picture of the two of them in Blackpool, well, almost. There was the pier, the seaside, Dianne, Emelia, But in this picture Joe stood on the other side of Emelia, the two adults holding one of her hands each.
Dianne turned to Joe with tears in her eyes, seeing his eyes too become watery, sobbing happily but quietly into his arms, feeling him too be consumed with the upmost happiness, kissing the top of her head before she lifted her eyes to meet his.
"This is...it's just," she was lost for words, he was too momentarily, before he smiled wider.
"Wonderful." She nodded, pressing her lips gently to his, feeling him kiss back before they pulled away, staying in the comforting arms of one another.
"It's like that Elton John song." He pointed out softly, feeling her chuckle as they stayed close. He reached into his pocket, digging out his phone and quickly loading up his all time favourite love song on Spotify before placing it on the side, full volume.
He stepped back, holding out a hand for his lady. "Dance with me?"
"Always." He smiled, they came into a close ballroom hold, hands clasped by their chests as the melodies played out, filling the air while they danced in the dimly lit kitchen. Joe knowing all the words, he sang along, serenading his girlfriend, who he knew that one day, would be his wife.
You know what they say: when you know,
You know.
And he definitely knew.
'It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside,
I'm not one of those who can, easily hide.."