"Look, Rachel." Joe pointed to the name in the book he was showing his daughter. "Joseph. That's Daddy's name!"
His daughter looked blankly back at him as Joe adjusted the book on his lap.
"I have just returned from a visit to my landlord..." he read.
"What are you reading?" asked Rebecca from the doorway. Joe showed her.
"Wuthering Heights?" Rebecca looked amused. "Seriously?"
"What? It's set in Yorkshire."
"I think that might be a bit advanced for Rachel." Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Maybe start with The Gruffalo or something..."
"She won't understand what I'm reading anyway," Joe pointed out. "Might as well give her a head start."
"But she can look at the pictures, at least."
"This has pictures." Joe held up the middle of the book to show a drawing of Heathcliff.
"Looks a bit like Cain Dingle," said Rebecca, squinting.
"On second thoughts, maybe you're right." Joe put the book down. "Maybe this isn't the right book."
"Sorry." Rebecca came to sit on the bed with them. "I know you want our daughter to be a genius..."
"That's not true," Joe protested. "I'd love her if she was stupid."
"Like her mother?" said Rebecca without thinking. She winced at her own words.
"You're not stupid," said Joe gently. "You have a memory problem."
"Feels like the same thing, sometimes." Rebecca held out her arms to take Rachel for a cuddle.
"I remember when my dad used to read me Harry Potter," said Joe nostalgically. "He'd do all the voices."
"Well, you can do that when she's a bit older. But for now..." Rebecca picked up a cardboard book of farm animals and tossed it to her husband. Smiling, he put the Bronte book aside.