Beth's POV

"Fuck...ow!" I groan, pushing what I feel to be an offending hand that just smacked me in the face, rudely waking me from my sleep.

I don't even have to open my eyes to know who it belongs to as I've had this happen way too many times to count.

But then another hand touches my face again, this time gently rubbing my cheek, easing the sting from the slap I just received.

"You okay love?" Harry's raspy voice asks.

"Peachy," I reply, turning my head and opening my eyes to see him looking at me with a mixture of concern and amusement.

I look at the offender currently lying between us, curled up and latched onto Harry with what appears to be some sort of death grip.

"She had some sort of nightmare," Harry offers as a way of explanation.

"She is a nightmare," I sigh, before rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands.

"Heard that," she mumbles.

"Good," I reply, "wasn't sure if I was loud enough or not."

I roll my eyes and decide to get up and get dressed for the day.

"Was it movies or swimming first?" I ask Harry, "what did we decide on?"

"Swimming," Harry replies as he tries to hide a grin that's starting.

I narrow my eyes at him before gathering up my clothes and heading to the bathroom.

"Are you seriously going to shower before we go to the pool?" Harry asks.

Um.

Well, yes?

"I just want to be clean before I go," I reply.

"But you're going to go and swim in a pool?" he counters.

"Well I don't want to turn up looking like..." I fumble for the words, "like I just rolled out of bed."

"Pity," he smirks, "I like the 'just rolled out of bed' look on you."

"Children present!" I remind him, possibly a bit too loudly.

"I'm not a child," Chloe grumbles.

"You aren't?" Harry asks her.

"No," she replies, "I'm just a really young adult."

Of course you are.

"Really?" Harry raises an eyebrow.

"Yep," she says, snuggling under the blankets.

"Well I suppose adults aren't ticklish then are they?" he says and no sooner have the words left his mouth does the room fill with hysterical screaming and laughter between the two of them.

I decide to leave them to it and go ahead with my quick shower.

~~~~~~

Everyone is ready to go as soon as I walk out of the bathroom, which is never usually the case.

It always seems to take forever for my kids to find what they need; bathers, goggles, thongs, initiative.

They're all lined up with their towels slung over their shoulders and a bag each with what I'm hoping is dry clothing.

And then there's Harry.

In his yellow shorts of sunshine.

Glory be.

"Mum, Harry said we can get breakfast at the pool!" Jamie yells, "at the pool! Breakfast at the pool!" he repeats and I'm not sure if he's going to cry or pee his pants in excitement.

"Heard you the first time chicky," I reply, "exciting I know!" I smile at him.

And as my eyes drift back up to Harry's, the smile on his face makes me want to slap it off.

In a good way.

Smug bastard.

"I've got everything we need love," he smiles innocently at me, holding up a bag of his own before offering me his free hand, "shall we?"

I take the proffered hand and follow him out the door, locking it behind us before we head on down to the pool.

~~~~~~

Surprisingly, it's not overly crowded here, which I'm also grateful for as it means we can possibly have a bit of time together as a family before people discover we're here.

Wait.

The realisation hits me like a ton of bricks.

What on earth was I just thinking?

This attachment...

Harry and my family.

No.

I consider Harry is my family.

I suddenly feel rather sick.

This can't end well.

I look at Harry who's just staring at me with confusion and I realise I've stopped walking.

"Uh...where should we sit?" I ask him, hoping he'll just ignore my sudden brain failure episode.

He points to an area in the corner near the pool, which is quite good as it's right near it if we decide to just sit and chat as we supervise the kids.

"Perfect, great," I reply quickly and walk on over.

Okay maybe I'm powerwalking.

Possibly.

Sign me up for the Olympics.

I throw my towel on a chair and start gathering an extra one from nearby so we've all got our own, getting the kids to throw their bags on one each so nobody takes one.

No sooner have they done that then the boys are off and cannonballing into the pool.

"Are you coming in Harry?" Chloe asks in a quiet voice.

"I will in a second," he says, "I might go and chase up a menu so we can order something to eat for breakfast, how does that sound?"

"Yes!" she squeals in delight.

"Why don't you go and test the temperature down on the steps hey?" he suggests kindly before smoothing her hair back from her face.

"Okay Harry," she replies and skips off to the pool steps.

Then he clears his throat.

I keep busying myself though there's really nothing for me to do but I don't want to turn around just yet so I just pretend to look through my bag for something even though I don't really need anything and maybe he'll just-

"Beth?" he says.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

"Yes Harry," I finally relent and turn around to face him.

"Are you okay?" he asks with some concern.

"Of course, why do you ask?" I blurt out.

Why did you say that you bloody idiot?

He pauses for a moment before answering.

"You just...looked like you were going to throw up before, to be honest," he said.

Crap, crap, crap!

"Oh that!" I laugh, "I just thought I left my hair straightener on," I reply with a wave of my hand.

He continues to stare at me silently.

"Beth, you left your hair curly today," he says.

Oh for fuck's sake.

"Well I was going to but then I thought, why when I was going swimming! Silly me!" I laugh again but I don't think he's buying it.

And I really want to throw up right now.

"Love are you sure you're okay?" Harry is now holding me by both arms and looking at me worriedly.

I'm not but this is not the time for it.

"I am," I reassure him, "just...a silly random thought crossed my mind...out of the blue..." I babble on.

"Nothing you think is silly or random sweetheart," Harry smiles before kissing me on the forehead, "but promise me you'll tell me later?" he says, eyeing me off, "or promise you'll let me pry it out of you later then?"

"Maybe," I smile up at him, "I might go and chase up some menus for breakfast, I'm sure Jamie is just about ready to die from starvation."

"I am surprised he's managed to last this long," he agrees good naturedly.

"I'll be back in a tick," I say as I begin to try and navigate my way around him but he stops me by moving his hands from my arms around my back and down onto my bottom.

"Have I told you how much I like this on you," he whispers into my ear, "I mean, really, really, like this on you," he repeats, "and that I'm also dying to see what's underneath it," he continues as his hands move down under the short kaftan I'm wearing to squeeze my thighs.

Fuck.

Me.

"Well," I clear my throat because although it's a swimming pool which is always humid in temperature, it really did just go up a few notches purely because of Harry, "well...good."

Oh Beth.

Harry tries not to laugh at me but fails miserably at how flustered I've suddenly become.

I give him a slap across the chest and a playful glare before I walk off and head over to the café area in search of some menus.

And maybe some water.

Yeah water sounds good.

I'm deep in thought that I don't notice the two young women standing at the edge of the pool until I hear them.

"Did you see he just had his hands on her ass?" one says, "like, that's just so disgusting!"

"What does he see in her, honestly?" the other replies.

"Maybe we should go over and say hello to him?" the first one suggests.

"Yes, why don't you?" I interrupt them, startling them both.

The two women look at me in surprise before staring up and down at me in a clear display of disgust.

"How he's with you I'll never know," cow one says, cause that's the name I've given her now.

"Well that's okay," I reply, "because you don't need to know."

Their mouths fall open and I really want to push their chins back up for them but I refrain.

"I mean, look at you," cow two says when she finally remembers how to talk, "what a little pudding you are, especially your ass," she snarls.

I'm not going to pretend I don't feel self-conscious standing next to these wafer-thin girls, but I'm not going to let them know that.

I'll be super confident now but console myself in some ice cream later.

"Harry happens to like my arse very much I'll have you know," I reply, "gives him more to grab onto..." I wink at them before deciding I've had enough and that my children's need for food is much more important than chewing the fat with these two.

The staff I find out are very friendly, offering to pop over in a few minutes to take our order and bring over some water bottles for us, nothing seems to be too much of an effort.

And if that's because of Harry, well I won't hold it against them.

I thank them and take the menus before heading back to our table.

The two young cows have their phones out and are busy snapping away at Harry when I veer off course, just ever so slightly, and damn it, my fat arse comes into contact with one of them, pushing her into her friend and resulting in them both toppling over into the water, phones and all.

Their screams turn everyone's attention over to us so I quickly bend over to them.

"Sorry, my arse seems to have a mind of its own," I whisper, before asking loudly, "are you okay?" before smiling and walking back to the table.

Harry walks back over and meets me just as I reach the table, a knowing look on his face.

"Before you start, they said some not very nice things about my arse," I defend my arse's actions.

Harry's face softens in understanding.

"Anything else?" he asks as he glances over my shoulder and back at me.

"They called me pudding," I pout at him.

His expression is one of surprise and then trying to be serious but he really can't.

"Nothing wrong with my little pudding," he says as he pulls me close and wraps his arms around me, "I adore your wobbly bits love," he bends down and kisses me hard on the lips.

"Ewww," Jamie says as he walks up and grabs a towel, Nick and Chloe right behind him.

I ignore him and point to the menus on the table.

"Choose what you want because they'll be coming over to take your order in a minute," I tell them.

"Really?" Harry says, "thought we would have had to go over there..."

"We might have had to, but I don't think you do," I raise my eyebrow at him.

Moments later, water bottles are delivered and our orders taken with hardly any fuss over Harry, except a really wide smile, which is rather nice.

"Fancy a swim?" Harry asks after the kids have run back over into the pool.

"Hmmm..." I pretend to think it over.

Harry moves his chair closer to mine, his hand suddenly on my thigh.

"I really do want to see what's on under this," he says in a low voice, his hand beginning to creep closer to the inside of my thigh.

"Alright, alright," I slap his hand away and stand up from my chair.

He really is getting careless in public with his hands.

Or reckless.

I'm not sure which yet.

Harry stares at me, waiting patiently as I take off my kaftan and throw it on the seat.

Yeah, I love me in a bathing suit.

Not.

I look back at him and he's unashamedly looking me up and down, his lip pulled between his teeth.

"Fuck you're gorgeous," he breathes out.

My face flames at his complement and also the way he's staring at me right now.

"Swim?" I squeak out, pointing to the water.

"Sure thing puddin," he replies as he follows me down the steps into the water.

I turn around and face him once I'm in the water.

"What's this 'puddin' business?" I scoff.

"You're my puddin' and I'll happily eat you whenever you'll let me," he leans down and whispers in my ear, "or not," he raises his eyebrows, "I can't wait to repeat what we did the other night..."

"Well your birthday is coming up," I try to remain calm and bring the playing field back up so it's level.

His face becomes serious and he looks straight at me.

"What did you have in mind?" he asks.

"Better get your mum to babysit," I reply before I sink under the water, turning and swimming away while I'm underneath.

I pop up over near the kids and look over my shoulder, finding him searching frantically for me until he finally spots me.

Yeah just you wait Harry.

I'll give you a happy fucking birthday to remember.

Emphasis on the fucking part.

He dives under and although I can't see him, I know he's coming for me and it's when I feel him grab me around my legs that I still let out a squeal.

He works his way up until he's out of the water but he's suddenly thrown sideways when Chloe dives on him, causing him to lose his balance and they both fall into the water.

This starts a war of splashing and pushing between us all, oblivious to people occasionally glancing at us, just another group of people having fun.

About half an hour later I see that our breakfast is delivered to our table and I smile and nod at our server, thanking them for bringing it.

"Brekkie's here!" I call out to the kids, immediately receiving a face full of water as they thrash and splash their way out of the pool and over to the table.

I'm about to start following them when Harry grabs me around the waist and pulls me around, my back now against the wall of the pool.

"Har-" I start but his mouth on mine stops me from even finishing his name.

My legs automatically wind around his waist as my core meets his groin and we both let out a low, frustrated groan.

"Sorry," he finally pulls away and rests his forehead on mine, "been wanting to do that ever since you walked out of the bathroom.

"S'okay," I manage to breathe out, "hungry?"

"Not for food," he replies and the look in his eye has me swallowing nervously.

"Well..." I start to reply.

"Sorry to interrupt but could we have a photo with you please Harry?" someone startles us both and we look up to see a couple of young teenage girls looking hopefully at Harry.

"I'll meet you over there hey?" I smile at him and gracefully manoeuvre myself out of his grip and swim over to where the kids are.

As I sit on my chair with my towel around my waist, I watch as the girls sit down on the ground and Harry leans in for a selfie.

If only they knew he has a full-on boner in his shorts right now.

The fruit crepe I chose looks delicious and I can't wait to sit down and tuck in to it.

"Of course she wouldn't be eating anything low in fat," I hear a familiar voice.

Really?

"Pudding for the pudding, right?" her companion cow laughs along at the joke.

I'm about to seriously lose my shit, or possibly cry from anger but I'm stopped by another person.

"Beth what's going on here?" Harry interrupts with a stern look on his face.

And it's not directed at me.

"Oh Harry!" cow one says, "I'm such a fan!"

"Really?" he says as he raises an eyebrow, "always happy to meet a fan."

You fucking what?

"Especially one that that's respectful to my girlfriend," he continues as he moves between them and slings his arm around my shoulder before staring at them both.

Cow two has the decency to stand there embarrassed unlike cow one.

"Oh absolutely!" she gushes, "I was just saying-"

"How much of a pudding she is?" Harry finishes for her.

Cow two is now in utter shock and I'm worried she might actually faint.

"I...uh...well..." cow one is at an utter loss for words.

"I think we're done here," he finishes, dismissing them with a glare as he turns me around and guides me to my seat, "come near her again and I'll have you escorted off by security."

Harry then sits down next to me and picks up his knife and fork.

Well okay then.

I wasn't expecting that.

"How's your crepe?" he asks, a mouth full of eggs, "looks pretty good," he shovels some more in his mouth.

"Oh...I um..." I stammer, still at a loss for words at how he defended me like that.

I swallow a few times, trying to will away the tears that force their way into my eyes.

"Hey it's alright love," Harry whispers, "I'll never knock back a bit of pudding!"

I laugh at his words, even though a couple of tears spill out and I wipe at my cheeks.

"Love?" Harry kisses my shoulder before leaning his chin on it.

I sigh and sniff loudly, waving my hands at my face like it'll stop me from crying any further.

"He just...he would never...really defend me," I answer, "not that he didn't love me, just...he didn't like to hurt anyone else's feelings," I explain, "he hated being in the middle, that's all."

Harry kisses my shoulder again.

"It's just nice to be defended for once," I shrug.

"See now this is the damsel in distress I needed yesterday!" he says, making me laugh again.

"Oh Harry!" I wipe away at my eyes.

"Oh love," he wraps his arm around my shoulders, "I'd do anything for you," he says before licking his lips, "and for a bite of that crepe," he smirks.