Chapter Text
It was still early in the morning when Tom steered the car down the gravelly driveway leading up to the cottage by the beach. They had left London in the middle of the night for the six hour drive down to Cornwall in order to have a full day ahead of them when they arrived at their holiday destination. And though she had tried her best to stay awake and keep him company, Paula was now fast asleep on the passenger seat just like Emmy and Ben who were snoring away quietly in the back seat of the car.
Turning off the engine, Tom turned towards the sleeping woman by his side. “Hey sleepyhead, time to wake up.” Gently, he wiped a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her softly on the cheek as her eyelids fluttered open. “Hm, what is it?” Confused, Paula looked around until her eyes met Tom’s. “We’re there. Time to wake up,” he smiled, his hand still lingering on her cheek. “Oh dear, did I sleep the entire ride? I am so sorry,” she breathed apologetically but he simply shook his head and kissed her briefly before he left the car to stretch his aching limbs.
For a moment Paula remained in the car and watched him, biting her lip with a shy smile as his shirt rode up to reveal the smooth skin of his stomach and the faint line of hair leading down from his navel. She blushed a bit as she thought of the previous night when she had traced that very trail of hair with her lips and tongue, tasting the sweetness of his skin.
Tom stretched his face towards the warm morning sun shining down from the clear, blue sky while the sea breeze ruffled up his hair and clothes. He sighed with a content smile as Paula wrapped her arms around him from behind shortly after and leaned her head against his shoulders. “I can’t wait to have breakfast in the sun before we go swimming in the ocean, have barbecues in the evening and go skinny dipping in the moonlight,” he mumbled, his hands intertwined with hers resting on his stomach. “Mhmm, sounds lovely,” she whispered against his skin, breathing a kiss onto his neck. “Oh, and Ben wants to learn how to swim this summer,” he added quietly as he turned around in her embrace, his hands coming to rest on the small of her back. “Then you should probably teach him,” she grinned, playing with the hem of his shirt.
A quiet knock on the car window attracted his attention and Tom laughed as Emmy waved at him from the inside of the car with slightly tired eyes but beaming smile on her pretty, little face. “And the monsters have awoken,” he mumbled into Paula’s ear with a grin, making her laugh while he opened the car door for his children.
***
“Sweetheart, I think you are wearing your swimsuit the wrong way around,” Tom chuckled as Emiliana entered the kitchen in her bright pink swimsuit, her towel draped around her shoulders like a cape fluttering in the breeze which wafted through the house due to all the open doors and windows. Confused she scanned her body, wearing the swimsuit indeed back to front, ere she walked over to her father so he could sort this little dilemma out. Lovingly, he pressed a kiss onto her forehead and helped her get dressed properly, Emiliana grinning up at him cheekily when they were finished. “Do I look pretty now?,” the little girl asked, climbing onto her father’s lap. “Oh yes, you look very pretty, my dear,” Tom confirmed and the beaming smile returned to her face once more.
“Do you think we will see any mermaids, Daddy?,” Emiliana inquired and Tom scratched his head, obviously deep in thought about the subject matter. “Hm, I don’t know. I would have thought they live further out in the ocean and don’t really come that close to the beach so as not to get stranded. What do you think?” He wrapped his arms around his daughter as she cuddled up to him, breathing in the peachy scent of her shampoo. “Hm, maybe they’ll come to say hello. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I always wanted to tell Ariel that she’s got really pretty hair,” Emmy mumbled, pulling on the cords of Tom’s swimming trunks. “I tell you what. We’ll see if they come to say hello over the next few days and if not, we’ll prepare a letter in a bottle which we’ll throw out into the ocean so they can find it and read it. Does that sound like a plan?,” he grinned and the little girl nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, let’s do that, Daddy!”
***
“Don’t go into the water without me, Ben, alright? I’ll be there in a minute.” Adjusting his sunhat, the little boy nodded and with his bucket and shovel firmly in his hands, he walked off to the edge of the water, the waves rolling slowly onto the shore, tickling his toes. He was determined to find a treasure this year as clearly pirates must have hidden one somewhere if the stories he had been listening to at home were true. The Famous Five always found a treasure or something else that was exciting when they were together and this summer Benjamin was hoping he’d find something himself. Slowly, he tiptoed through the wet sand, trying to find any hints among the seashells but nothing looked suspicious enough for him to start digging. In order to not leave the beach empty handed, though, he decided to collect the prettiest seashells he could find so that he could make a necklace for Emmy and Paula once they went home.
“Alright, darling, don’t roll around in the sand just yet, okay? Let the sunscreen dry frist,” Tom smiled after putting the lotion on his daughter’s skin. Emiliana nodded with a smile and he placed her sunhat on her curls before she crawled over onto her own towel under the parasol, playing with the dolls she had brought along. “Would you do my back, too?,” Paula mumbled, leaning onto his side and he turned towards her with a grin. “Depends on what I get if I do,” he whispered in response, gently biting her earlobe in the process. Paula shrieked quietly and slapped his thigh. “Don’t get cheeky, mister, or you’ll have to sleep in the extra bedroom in the attic tonight,” the young woman threatened him but Tom simply laughed and pulled her between his legs.
Smiling at him over her shoulder, Paula tied up her hair and he pressed a gentle kiss right between her shoulder blades, making her blush and avert her gaze. Absentmindedly, she allowed her fingertips to glide over his leg while his hands spread the sunscreen on her back in slow, relaxing motions. “Never stop doing that,” Paula whispered against the sound of the waves and the cries of the seagulls. In that moment she felt truly happy and closing her eyes, she focused only on the touch of his hands, the quiet mumbling of Emiliana on the towel beside them and the sounds of the Cornish seaside around them. There wasn’t a better sound in the world for her.
Long after he was finished applying the sunscreen, Tom still let his hands roam over her back, her skin soft and warm under his touch. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but he felt younger with Paula in his life, he felt happy. Sure, he loved his children more than anything but for quite a while he had missed a woman by his side, a fellow grown up who he could share his thoughts and experiences with. Someone who would listen to his joys and sorrows, who was able to share the burden of parenthood with him, at least to some extent. And even though she was still young and somehow more a big sister for Emmy and Ben rather than a mother figure, it was enough for him simply to have someone by his side who they looked up to apart from himself. And for everything she was for him and for them, he loved her. He truly did.
***
“Alright, young man, are you ready to meet the sharks?,” Tom laughed, picking up Ben who was shrieking in delight. “There are no sharks, Daddy!,” he corrected his father while he took of his sunhat and gave it to Paula. “Oh, I wouldn’t be sure of that, Ben. Maybe one of them will come and try to eat your toes,” his father winked, tickling his feet at the same time and again, the little boy simply laughed loudly. “Daddy is being funny,” Emiliana grinned, hugging Paula’s leg and the young woman gently ruffled through her curls. “He is, isn’t he. What about us? Shall we go for a swim as well and see if we can find some mermaids, Emmy?” With big, grey eyes the little girl looked up to her ere she nodded enthusiastically and got rid of her dolls and her sunhat by leaving everything on their towels.
Hand in hand they followed Tom and Ben to the water, laughing as the waves rolled over their feet, covering them with a fine layer of sand and seashells. Paula watched her lovingly as Emiliana tiptoed into the water, shrieking every time a wave hit her leg before laughing happily. The sun was still shining brightly from the sky and their little secluded bay was empty except for themselves, one of the advantages of their little Cornish cottage. “Can you pick me up before we go in too deep, Paula?,” Emmy asked with a wide smile and Paula nodded in response, lifting her onto her hip before she walked further into the ocean. “And don’t forget to look out for the mermaids, alright, Emmy?,” she mumbled against her curls and the little one nodded while wrapping her arms around Paula’s neck.
“Do you remember the movements you have to make when you want to swim?,” Tom smiled at his son who nodded with a nervous smile. “Okay, so I will hold you while you can try them out in the water, alright? And don’t worry, I won’t let go. I’ve got you,” he assured his son before sinking a little down into the water, his hands safely under Ben’s tummy while the little boy did his best to move exactly how Tom had showed him earlier on. “Yay, that looks great. Well done, Ben. Remember to keep your head up, though, we don’t want you to drink the entire ocean.” Ben laughed loudly at that, probably trying to imagine how long it would take him to actually accomplish that but laughing and waves wasn’t the best combination and he ended up with a load of salt water in his mouth, coughing heavily. “Whoops, sorry buddy. Not the best time to make jokes, eh? There we go, that’s better.” Lovingly, he held his son in his arms, stroking over his back while Ben calmed down. “Do you want to try again?,” he mumbled against Benjamin’s hair and the little boy nodded eagerly before they tried again...and again...and again.