It takes two

Chapter twenty nine

"Siblings." Mikey sighed. "So Joseph, hows the wife and kids?" All the boys laughed at the phrasing, although exaggerated but along truthful lines. Joe nodded, laughing a little too.

He sat forward. "Good, at Amy's this evening, or auntie Amy's as Emelia likes to say." All the boys cooed.

"That's cute. By the way, Emelia is six? I'm not sure." Conor asked. Joe shook his head.

"Five, year one. Sometimes she thinks she's fifteen honestly." All the boys chuckled, while smiling at Joe, particularly Caspar. In that moment, he really sounded like a parent, reminding them of how they always heard mums and dads talk, gushing over their own. It was sweet.

"What are you all looking at?" Joe was slightly anxious at all their grins, trying to read into their expressions. Jack shrugged.

"You. You sound like a parent, it's sweet." Joe smiled, nodding. Thinking back on it, he couldn't help but realise that he did.

"I guess I do." He slowly nodded, feeling himself come out of his thoughts. "I kind of feel like a parent too, it's new. But it's good." All the boys nodded, it was new, he was right. It was very new, none of them had even seen him with a girl before, let alone one with a miniature human.

"Yeah, really good. None of us have really seen you like this, all domesticated. What's it like, with them?" Joe grinned, sitting back.

Life with Dianne and Emelia was a life filled with lots of love, more than thinkable. Life was filled with laughter, laughter that could last a lifetime and could infect any cold soul. And occasionally, there were lullabies. Lullabies that could send you into a blissful sleep, dreaming of your hearts deepest desires.

Love, laughter and lullabies, and a little bit of dance, of course, weather it was on the Strictly dancefloor or in the kitchen on a Sunday, and all the times in between.

"It's amazing, it's different but it's a good different. We've established a sort of routine, mornings and nights. It's really nice, I feel like I'm headed in the right direction, you know?"

All the boys nodded in unison, for Joe seemed to be heading in the right direction indeed, an unexpected one at that, but the right one.

"Yeah. Is Emelia well behaved, what's she like, none of us apart from Caspar have really met her."

Caspar chuckled, going to speak. Joe turned to him, wanting his thoughts. "She's actually really well behaved for a five year old, you'd think she would be naughty but she's really good, and loves hit the road too."

All the boys chuckled, Joe too. "Oh she does, her favourite film, apart from Cinderella, I swear I've seen that a hundred times."

"Oh nice, must know it inside out. What's that song, something about dreams?" Jack asked, Conor standing up on the sofa and giving an operatic rendition of 'a dream is a wish your heart makes,' using his arms.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep, in dreams you will lose your heartaches, whatever you wish for you keep..."

All the boys burst into laughter, waving their arms above their heads and singing along.

"Have faith in your dreams and someday, your rainbow will come smiling through..." Conor did an overly dramatic riff at the end, all the boys rolling their eyes, composing themselves.