Daniel's Point of View

"Are you nervous?" Henry plonks onto one of the pool chairs and lounges out. He runs his fingers through his hair with a carefree smile.

"Yes." I gulp.

My stomach has been in knots since the morning. I'm excited for Ellie to meet my parents and hopefully progress our relationship forward.

Clara wanders over and takes a seat at the end of Henry's pool chair.

"Don't be nervous! Ellie's an amazing woman, I'm sure she'll easily win your parents over."

"Have you told Mum Ellie is a single mother?" Henry chuckles.

"No." I frown.

"Daniel!" Clara gasps. "How come you haven't told her?"

"I." I sigh. "I don't know how to tell her."

"So you're going to let Ellie wander in her with her child and spring this information on her? You better march your butt inside and tell your mother. You don't want her accidentally saying the wrong thing."

"You're in trouble either way." Henry laughs.

I shove Henry's shoulder and shoot him a glare.

"I don't know how you put up with him, Clara." I roll my eyes.

She rubs his shoulder but shakes her head. I can still see the adoration glowing in her eyes.

The knot in my stomach only tightens as I walk into the kitchen. She looks up from the chopping board and meekly smiles.

"Is your girlfriend here?"

"She's on her way, so she should be here soon."

She wanders away from her spot to walk around the counter. She strokes my cheek with the back of her hand.

"Why are you so nervous?"

"Because." I linger on the last letter.

"Because? Because what?"

My gaze flickers around the room and I source the courage to tell her.

"Daniel, you can tell me anything."

"I'm nervous because." My heart is racing and my palms are sweating.

"Because? The suspense is going to send me to an early grave." She sighs.

"Because Ellie's a single mother."

"Daniel." She frowns.

"Just give Ellie a chance before you judge her for being a single mother. Not everyone gets the fairy tale ending like you and Dad have."

"If she means this much to you, I'll give her a chance but darling."

"Please don't." I frown. "She's honestly an amazing person and if I wasn't serious about her, I wouldn't have taken time to get get to know her little boy or introduce her to the family. So keep that in mind. She means a lot to me."

"I can't bare the thought of you getting hurt again." Tears shimmer in her eyes, but she quickly wipes them away. "What happens if the father wants to reclaim his family? Blended families are difficult."

"Give Ellie a chance, a real chance. I've guarded my heart pretty well, I wouldn't just give it away to anyone."

My phone buzzes with a message from Ellie.

"She's here." I smile.

I race outside and find Ellie's car parked at the bottom of the driveway. She's helping Noah out of the car, so I open the boot and grab the bags. I shut the boot and walk around.

"Hi Daniel," Noah shouts.

"Hey buddy, how are you?"

"We go swimming in a pool."

"I'm so excited you're both here."

"Dad was a little busy today, wasn't he?"

"Yeah." Noah nods.

I take Ellie's hand and it's a little shaky, so I squeeze it before kissing the back of her hand.

"Everyone's so excited to meet you."

"I'm so nervous." She bites her lower lip.

I cup her cheek and pull her bottom lip from between her teeth with my thumb. She licks her lips and looks up at me. I can't resist stealing a kiss which takes her by surprise. Ellie's face goes completely red, then I peer over my shoulder to see what she's looking at.

My mother is standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, frowning.

"She hates me already," she whispers.

"She can't see long distance, so she's probably just squinting to see you better." I nervously chuckle.

"Or she hates me because." Ellie nods to Noah.

"Just give her a chance to get to know you."

Ellie picks Noah up and he nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck. I lace my fingers through hers and lead her to the front door.

"This is my mother, Emma. This is my girlfriend Ellie and her son Noah."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Emma." Ellie tugs on a big smile, but it does nothing to hide the nerves.

"Faith and Eloise are here too," I comment.

Noah peers around Ellie's arm and cheekily smiles at me.

Mum raises an eyebrow and I kick myself for making that comment.

"We bumped into Henry and Clara and the three of them hit it off instantly. They had lots of fun playing together."

"Let's go inside! I hope you two are hungry because Calvin is cooking up a storm of food."

"Sounds about right." I laugh.

We go outside where everyone is gathered. Dad and Harvey are manning the barbeque while the rest of them are getting ready to go swimming.

"Can I go swimming?" Noah asks.

"Sure, but you need to put sunscreen on first."

Ellie tries to set Noah down, but he lifts his feet and clings onto Ellie's arm. She chucks him on her hip and walks around the table to where Clara and Eloise are.

"Hi Clara, Hey Eloise." Ellie waves.

Noah peeks over his shoulder and his brows knit together.

"Are you coming swimming with us?" Clara smiles.

Noah shly nods which makes the girls laugh.

"Mummy said I have to put sunscreen on first." Noah pouts.

While Ellie helps Noah with his sunscreen, I wander over to the barbeque.

"How's the food going?"

Harvey flips a burger patty over and shrugs.

"We're still another forty minutes away from cooking all the food." He sighs.

"Which is fine because Clara and Aubrey are taking the girls into the pool," Dad comments.

Henry slaps the back of my shoulder and grins.

"Did Mum meet Ellie?" He laughs.

I shove his arm away and shoot him a glare.

"What's wrong?" Dad discards his barbeque tongs and turns around. He crosses his arms and tilts his head to the side.

"I sort of sprung the fact Ellie's a single mother on Mum just before they met."

"Probably not a bad idea." Dad shrugs. "You know how protective she gets over you, boys."

"Exactly!" I sigh.

"So Ellie's here? I must meet her." Dad grins.

We turn around and I catch Ellie's gaze. She's wrangling pool floaties onto Noah's arm, despite the protest. I wave to Ellie and she says something to Clara before coming over.

"Hi." She waves.

I take Ellie's hand and tug her closer to my side.

"Ellie, this is Calvin, my father. Now I think you've met everyone but Aubrey, Harvey's lovely wife."

"Speaking of her." Harvey rolls his eyes.

Aubrey walks out of the house with Sadie running around her legs.

"That's Aubrey and Sadie. Now I think you've met all of my family."

"You're so lucky to have a big family and everyone has been so welcoming!"

"We're glad you could join us! You're always welcome here," Dad comments.

"Thanks, Calvin."

"Mummy," Noah shouts.

"Sorry, Noah's so excited to go swimming."

"Swimming sounds like fun."

Ellie's Point of View

Daniel jumps into the pool first, causing a big splash of water to hit the pavement. Noah's mouth drops in aw.

"Mummy, can I jump in the pool?"

"Just jump into Daniel's arms, though."

"Just a second."

Daniel flips his head, which makes his hair stick to the side of his face. He swims over to the side of the pool and opens his arms for Noah to jump.

"On the count of three, okay?"

"One, two, three," Noah quickly shouts, then launches himself at Daniel. He collides against Daniel's chest with a thud, but the two end up laughing.

"Again, again!" He demands.

"How about swimming first," Daniel comments.

Noah purses his lips but nods.

While those two paddle around, I head to the shallow end and walk down the stairs. The water is cold as it laps around my thighs but I keep going until I'm half submerged into the water. Clara's half in the water with Eloise on her hip.

"How are you? I remember how hard it is meeting family for the first time."

"I don't know." I sigh. "I don't think Emma likes me. Dating as a single parent is hard which is why I gave up on it. After my ex, I never dated anyone long enough to meet their family. I forgot I would be judged for being a single mother."

"Give it some time, Emma will come around!"

"Right, I did promise Daniel that."

"Ellie, come swim with us," Daniel calls out from the other side of the pool.

"Thanks for checking in! I feel a lot better I know you and the boys before coming here, otherwise, I may have already run for the hills." I chuckle.

"I wouldn't blame you," Clara laughs.

I swim over to Daniel and when I'm two feet away, Daniel helps Noah paddle over to me. I scoop Noah up and spin us around which makes him burst with laughter.

"Are you having fun?"

Noah nods.

Daniel swims behind me so he can wrap his arms around my waist. He rests his chin on my shoulder and looks at Noah.

"Mummy, I can jump in pool now?"

Daniel's grip tightens on my waist.

"Sure."

"Yay," Noah shouts, splashing his hands into the water.

I hang back while Noah repeatedly jumps into the pool, but at least each time Daniel seems to get a little better at catching Noah. It's cute watching those two splash around together.

"Hey, food is almost ready," Calvin calls out.

Noah's jaw drops and then he squeals with excitement.

Daniel holds Noah's waist while Noah doggy paddles to the shallow end of the pool. We hop out and I grab the towels from the pool chair. I bundle Noah up and plonk him on the pool chair. It's warm under the sun so it doesn't take long for the water to trickle out of our wet clothing and for it to dry off a little bit.

We gather around the outdoor table which is filled with food. Noah sits next to Faith and I'm next to Daniel, which is thankfully on the opposite end to his parents. I serve Noah first with greens he probably won't eat but at least he has the option.

I grab an assortment of meats, salad, and sauces. If I wasn't so stressed, I would say it's a very relaxed and calm lunch with the family. It's amazing they find time to spend together like this.

Noah slops ketchup down his rashy and the waterworks begin.

"It's okay, Noah. We can get changed after lunch."

"I'm already finished so I can change him," Daniel says.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah!"

"His clothes are just in the dinosaur bag."

"Come, Noah, let's go get changed."

Daniel helps Noah off the chair and the pair go inside, leaving me all alone outside. Now the nerves are really kicking in without Daniel here.

"Lunch is absolutely amazing," I awkwardly say.

"We should set up a playdate for the kids," Clara says.

"Noah would love that. He had so much fun the last time he played with Faith and Eloise. I think with the new faces, he's shy."

"It's understandable." Clara smiles.

Daniel and Noah return and he takes Noah over to the girls who are playing with a doll house. I build the courage to grab their plates and take them inside where I've seen the others take theirs. Emma is rinsing the dishes and stacking them aside.

"Hi, Emma."

"Thanks for bringing them in." Emma takes them and places them in the sink.

"Do you need help cleaning?"

"Can you load the dishes into the machine for me?"

"Of course!"

"Noah is cute and Daniel seems quite smitten with him."

"Those two are quickly becoming best friends." I smile.

"Does Noah see his father much?"

Her comment takes me by surprise, but I did anticipate some kind of questioning which is a fairly normal reaction when your son starts dating someone.

"It's usually on his father's terms. I don't limit or force visitation because I don't want to force people to be in our lives."

Emma nods.

"Daniel hasn't told us much about you or how you two met."

"I was celebrating my friend's birthday and Daniel came over to introduce himself." I smile at the memory of a nervous Daniel coming to introduce himself. "I kept telling him I was a single mother and it was okay if he wanted to run but he was persistent and assured me it wasn't a deal breaker."

Emma turns the kitchen tap off, then turns around to look at me.

"Daniel's very sweet, sometimes too sweet and people take his good nature for granted."

"He's an amazing man and I hope I'm able to raise Noah to be just like him. I was done with dating and fine with it just being the two of us and then Daniel walked into my life and changed everything. He's embraced us with open arms despite me constantly telling him he's free to bail."

Emma's features soften and a small smile appears.

"Daniel and I have been taking this relationship at our own pace because we've both been hurt in the past and perhaps that's why he hasn't mentioned much about us. It's hard to open up and introduce your family to people. I was so scared about those two meeting and now I think Noah is more obsessed with Daniel than I am."

Emma chuckles.

"I'm really happy you could come today."

"Thanks for inviting me."

Once the kitchen is semi-clean, I find the boys on the pool chairs. Noah's curled up and passed out from all the excitement today.

"Good chats?" Daniel asks.

"I think so."

"She'll come around."

"I should take Noah home."

"I'll grab some things and come with you."

As Daniel stands up, I place my hand on his chest and sigh. I can't look into his eyes because I might break my composure.

"I want to be alone tonight."

His hands cover mine and he squeezes it.

"Ellie." His voice trembles.

"It's fine, I'm just tired. Let's talk in the morning?"

"I'm sorry about my mother."

"It's okay, I just need time to process things."

He kisses my forehead.

"Okay, I'll help you carry him out to the car."

I pack our things up and Daniel carefully lifts Noah up. We say goodbye to his family and head to the car. Daniel straps him into the car seat while I start the car to get the air con going.

He looks at me for a long moment, before closing the space and pressing a kiss against my lips. He cups my cheek and strokes it.

"Don't look at me like that," I whisper.

"Like what?"

"Like this is the last time we're seeing each other."

He chuckles and kisses my forehead.

"It's just a lot for me, I'm not used to it."

"It's hard to give you space when I can see you're upset and I just want to comfort you."

"Thanks for respecting my needs."

I wrap my arms around Daniel's neck and lean up to kiss him. He grabs my waist and crushes me against his chest. Our kiss is soft and gentle, until it's not. He kisses me like I'm air and he can't breathe.

I'm a little breathless when we part.

"I'll see you later."

He kisses my forehead and nods.

Once we're home, I carefully unbuckle Noah and carry him into the house. Noah wakes up and sleepily blinks his eyes.

"Where's Daniel?"

"He's at his house."

"Oh." He frowns. "I miss him."

"I miss him too," I admit.

Once we're inside, I set Noah on the couch and put our things on the floor to be sorted.

The house feels quieter and emptier without Daniel.