Daniel's POV

Ellie has no idea how gorgeous she is, and even less idea of how good she looks in a bikini. Her long hair is swirled into a bun and the forest green bikini accentuates her golden, sun-kissed skin.

How is this beautiful woman mine?

"Daniel," Noah shouts as he runs away from Ellie. "Help me."

"He can't save you," she yells.

She chases him across the riverbed and throws him over her shoulder. He wildly giggles and thrashes around, but she spins around before letting him slide down and into her arms. She kisses his cheek and he wraps his arms around her neck.

"I love you," she whispers, kissing his nose.

His hazel brown eyes shimmer with adoration.

"I love you, Mummy."

"We can go swimming later, but first we have to explore and find somewhere cool for a picnic."

"A picnic?"

"I packed ice cream."

"Ice cream?" He gasps.

Ellie places Noah on the ground and he runs ahead. She looks at me and holds her hand out and I take it and lace my fingers in between hers. While Noah's busy, I steal a kiss from Ellie which makes her giggle.

"Mummy," Noah screams.

"Noah?"

We race over to Noah and she yanks him off the ground and scans his body. She presses him against her chest and runs her fingers through his hair.

"What's wrong?"

"I hurt my knee."

She holds him to the side and looks at his knee which has a small red mark. Ellie kisses his knee, hen wipes the tears from his cheeks.

"You scared me," she comments.

"Sorry, Mummy."

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be okay in five minutes."

She looks at me and bites her lip to contain the laughter.

"Can you walk or do I need to carry you?"

Noah tests his knee and hisses like he's in pain, so she scoops him up and we continue along the riverbank. We find a secluded area and I place the esky down.

"Do you want to look for rocks?"

Noah perks up and nods his head.

She places Noah down and watches as he wanders along the river to collect stones. While he's occupied, I place my hands on her waist and rest my chin on her shoulder. I slide my hands across her stomach and she melts into my embrace.

"Daniel," someone shouts.

We turn around and my draw drops.

"Clara, Henry." I smile with an awkward wave.

Ellie looks at me with a frown.

"You said you wanted to meet my family," I whisper.

Henry's arm is draped over Clara's shoulder and they're whispering to each other.

"This is Clara and Henry, my brother and his wonderful wife. This is Ellie, my um." I look at her and she giggles.

"Girlfriend?" She raises an eyebrow.

"Girlfriend." I smile, loving the way the word rolls off my tongue.

"Mummy."

Noah runs over to Ellie and she picks him up and cuddles him to her chest. He whispers something to her and she kisses his forehead.

Faith and Eloise run up to Clara and grab her leg. Eloise is a little shy, so she hides behind her sister and peeks around her.

"Who's that?" Faith points to Ellie.

"This is Ellie and her son, Noah," I say.

"Is Ellie your girlfriend?"

"Yes." I smile.

"Can we play with Noah?"

Ellie crouches down and places Noah in front of her. He's a little shy, but Faith smiles and holds her hand out.

"Why don't you show the girls your rock collection? Maybe they can help you find more?"

Noah nods and Faith takes his hand, leading him to a pile of rocks on the floor. Ellie keeps her eyes trained on Noah as they collect rocks and put them in buckets.

"You should come and join us for lunch," Henry says. "I brought stuff to make a barbeque and there's plenty to share."

I glance at Ellie and she's smiling, so I nod.

"Clara and Ellie can watch the kids and we can cook. Where're your things?"

I pick up the small esky and Henry laughs. Henry packs half his house wherever he goes, which can be good if you need something, but terrible if you're lugging something around.

Ellie wanders off with Clara and I look at my brother and internally sigh. It's nice Ellie can meet some of my family in a relaxed environment but I was looking forward to just spending time with the three of us.

We walk further down the river until a clearing opens and there's a tent set up with chairs and a portable barbeque. I place our esky beside theirs and help Henry cook lunch. He turns the barbeque plates on and gets the meat out of the esky.

"Does Mum know you have a girlfriend?"

"We just defined our relationship about three minutes ago, so no." I chuckle. "We're taking things slow because of her son and our previous relationships. I don't want to mess this up, I really like her."

"Hm." He sighs.

"She's onto me, though. She had Dad asking me questions about what I've been up to, where I was going the other night, and if I had a date," I explain.

"We've never been able to hide anything from her, so don't start thinking now you can."

"I know, but Dad told her to give me space."

"Fair enough." He nods.

"Ellie wants to meet the family and I'd like to do that soon. I've met Noah and his father and that was one of the big obstacles I was worried about."

"You met the baby dad?" He gasps.

The sausages are sizzling away, so I point to them.

"Careful, you're going to burn lunch."

Henry rolls his eyes and turns the sausages.

"How'd the meeting go?"

"He asked me to help finish building a cubby house for Noah. So I think the meeting went well. If he didn't like me, then he wouldn't ask to hang out. Hopefully, we can be friends."

Henry shakes his head.

"Do not hang out with his guy."

"Why?"

"Because it's weird and you don't know his reasoning behind it."

"He wants help building that cubby house for Noah."

"Don't be stupid. You're dating his son's mother, I wouldn't trust him."

"Ellie is co-parenting with him, so I have to make some effort."

"Be careful."

I roll my eyes but nod.

"I can see you're falling hard for her, but I don't want to see you get hurt again."

"That's why we're taking things slow."

Henry pats my back and laughs.

"When you fall in love, you fall, remember that."

Ellie's Point of View

Noah's comfortable running around with Faith and Eloise while I'm building up the nerve to say something to Clara. I want to make a good impression because she could be my future sister-in-law. Eloise and Faith could be Noah's cousins. Faith seems to like Noah, which is cute.

"How old are your girls?" I break the awkward silence.

"Faith is six and Eloise just turned three, but if you ask her, she's four." She chuckles.

"So Eloise and Noah are the same age." I smile.

"Oh, that's cute!"

"Do you think you'll have more kids?"

Clara awkwardly shifts on her feet and shrugs.

"If it's in the cards, then that would be wonderful but I'm happy with the two blessings I have." She smiles. "What about yourself?"

I look at Daniel and bite my lip.

"Daniel will be an amazing father. Once the girls were walking and talking, he interacted more with them. Men are like that though, not sure how to interact with babies. You have to guide them through it. He was very patient and let them do his hair and makeup once."

I can imagine them doing his makeup and how cute that would have been. Daniel's good with Noah so far, but it's all a learning curve.

"I would love to have more children in the future, but we've also just defined our relationship, so I don't want to rush anything. I was happy with my little family, but Daniel came into my life and made me realise there was someone missing."

"And that's how you know things are right." She smiles.

Her words make me feel warm and fuzzy; she has a good point.

The children run over and Faith smiles up at her mother.

"Can we go swimming in the lake?"

"Let's check on lunch first, then maybe after."

I take Noah's hand and follow Clara to the tent where the men are cooking, but mainly talking. Daniel glances at me and his eyes light up. Noah runs over to see what they're doing, so he picks him up and Daniel shows him the food cooking.

When I was pregnant with Noah, this is what I imagined Craig and Noah doing together, turns out I was just imagining the wrong person.

* * * * *

Noah's fast asleep when we reach home, and rightfully so with all the running around and swimming he'd done today. He snuggles into the crook of my neck and I kiss his cheek. Noah easily transfers to his bed and I tuck him under the covers.

Daniel's in the kitchen unpacking the esky when I come back. I wrap my arms around his waist and rest my head on his back. Warmth radiates from his back and it's cozy.

"Thanks for today."

"I should be thanking you for today." He sighs.

"You were amazing with Noah, I think he likes you more than me." I softly chuckle.

"I'm just new and fun, but he certainly loves you the most."

"I hope so." I laugh.

Daniel turns around and wraps his arms around me. He presses soft kisses along my forehead and strokes my lower back.

"I'm sorry that you were bombarded by my family but they really like you." He sheepishly smiles, but it's kind of cute.

"I liked meeting your family and I wish I could meet more." I smile. "Plus Clara asked if I wanted to catch up for coffee. It would be nice for Noah to have more friends, he liked Faith and Eloise."

"I'm happy to hear this! I only have one brother and my parents next." He kisses my forehead.

"I'm kind of nervous about meeting your parents," I admit. "Do you think they'll like me?"

Daniel's body goes stiff and he takes longer to answer that question.

"I know my mother will be cautious of the fact you have a child with someone else, but once she gets to know the woman I'm falling in love with, she will love you as well. Just be you and the amazing mother you are."

I look down but Daniel uses his finger to lift my chin up.

"She saw how much my last relationship tore me apart, so she's just cautious."

"Fair enough." I nod.

"We have family barbeques on the weekends sometimes, so you could come to that and at least you'll have Clara."

"True." I nod.

"Maybe you can meet them in a couple of weeks, that's if my mother can wait any longer." I sigh.

"Sounds good." I smile.

"I think I'm still so surprised you gave me a chance, and even more surprised for every date after that."

"You'll have to get over it soon enough 'cause we're boyfriend and girlfriend now," I tease.

"It's nice to be out of the 'Are you together? Or are you just dating?' It's such a confusing time."

"Now you're my boyfriend, I guess you can keep a toothbrush here."

"I'm happy not to keep a toothbrush in my car anymore." He laughs.

"Do you keep a toothbrush in your car?" I gasp.

"How else am I going to brush my teeth before work?"

"I'm sorry." I pout.

"Perhaps I can use the front door soon, even though climbing through the window is kind of fun."

"Soon, let's see how the meeting with your parents goes."

He looks a little worried, but he kisses me and all the worry I feel vanishes. 

* * * * *

I sense drama and it excites me! Do you think his parents will like Ellie?