Hope you enjoy this chapter! All reviews are appreciated. Thanks x

After spending almost an hour, having breakfast, they were both heading to their room. They would have been finished sooner, if it was for Jac. All she had was a cup of tea but Michael helped himself with scrambled eggs on toast, bacon, croissants and all that he was offered at the morning buffet.

On their way up, Michael stopped and turned to Jac,

"Hey, uh I just remembered, I'm out of gas… I'm gonna hit the station, I'll be back soon, okay?" he told her.

"Can't you go on our way to the beach?" Jac asked.

"No, we won't be going that way… oh and stay in our room, yeah? So the kids will find someone when they arrive…" he suggested as he took out his car keys from his pocket and walked away.

'This is just great…' Jac thought… she had to stay locked in their room, doing nothing, all to wait for Michael's kids to arrive, so they supposedly spend the day out together. She just hoped this would turn out to be fun after all.

It was not long before she heard a knock at the door.

…

"Hello…Jac?!" Annalese asked surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here,"

"Hi, Annalese…. Yeah I'm with Michael on his business trip, before you assume anything, it is a GS/CT project you know…" Jac quickly informed her, before Annalese assumed the wrong conclusions.

"oh right…. okay kids, have fun and behave…" she told them as they all hugged their mother, and followed Jac inside.

"It was nice to see you again Jac," Annalese added before she left.

"Nice to see you too…" Jac replied as she closed the door.

The little ones leaped onto the sofa, while Jasmine walked around, observing every corner of the room. Jac was feeling slightly awkward; she didn't know what to say to them.

"Have you got your swimsuits on? Or do you still need to change?" she asked, just to break the ice.

"Yes!" Milly and Meena replied together.

"Swimsuit? As if! Swimsuits are for little girls, I wear a bikini now…" the 14 year-old protested.

"Yeah, right, whatever!" Jac didn't really know how to handle a teenager.

Milly and Charlie started jumping on the sofa. Well you expect that from Charlie, the three year-old, but Milly was supposed to act more sensible.

"Okay, you two, get down, now!" Jac yelled. Both kids had never met a woman who scared them that much by yelling at them, we all know how Jac Naylor can be like, if she doesn't get things her way.

Jasmine approached her dresser, and immediately laid eyes on Jac's black handbag.

"oohhh, this is fab!" Jasmine exclaimed, now also adopting a slight American accent. "Can I borrow it one day?" she asked Jac.

Jac narrowed her eyes and answered with a simple, cold 'no!'

"Why? We are gonna be pretty close anyway, I try to get along with dad's girlfriends, unless, you know… she's some stuck up cow!" Jasmine blabbed.

"Uh… excuse me? Your dad's what?!" Jac could not believe Jasmine's words.

"Why are you acting so surprised? You are dad's girlfriend right?" Jasmine replied back.

"Uh what?! No, I'm NOT dad's girlfriend! What gave you that impression?" Jac exclaimed, as she folded her arms.

"Well you are here… on holiday together. Dad gave us his hotel room number, we came up here and found you and not to mention, there's only one bed. I'm 14; I'm not dumb you know…" Jasmine clearly, explained.

"Well next time don't assume okay? Not in a million years…. Your dad and I are here on a business trip and we happen to share the same room just for one day, we're back to normal tonight…" Jac told her as she got hold of her handbag, which was still in Jasmine's hands.

…

Just then, Michael walked in, to find them all in the room together.

"Hey you guys!" as all four kids ran up to him as he placed his keys on the coffee table, and all together leaped onto the bed. "I missed you guys like crazy! Are you ready to have some fun?"

"Yes!" the middle girls exclaimed, as Jac observed this family moment and realised how Michael truly misses his kids.

"Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about! Come on, get your stuff, we don't have any time to waste!" he told them as he got up from the bed, and they rushed to get their small bags.

"Are you ready to go?" Michael asked Jac.

"Yeah sure…" she said as she put on her flip flops and wore a pair of sunglasses in her auburn hair.

…

They soon arrived. The sun was shining, the beach was packed. Michael rented an umbrella and two deckchairs, while Jac and the kids tried to find a spot on the beach, so they could settle down their stuff.

"Hey hey, where are you guys going? Didn't mum ever tell you that you should wear sun cream?" he shouted at the girls as they were gonna rush off to the water. He handed Jasmine the bottle so she could scrub her sister. Michael rubbed the third girl's back but Charlie still needed some help.

"Jac, you don't mind rubbing Charlie with some sun cream do you?" Michael asked Jac. The little kid approached her handing her the bottle. She just couldn't say no to Michael in front of his son, they were all in this together after all.

"Right, off you go," she told Charlie as she finished. She took off her clothes, exposing her body and red bikini. She wanted to come to the beach mainly for a tan, so she decided she'd swim later. Michael eyed her whole body on the deck chair, without letting her notice him. He couldn't help it, Jac had one hell of a figure.

Michael joined the kids in the water, and finally Jac had some peace and quiet to herself. She was relaxing, with her eyes closed, absorbing sun rays when she heard a familiar voice calling her.

"Auntie Jac!" someone called out to her and poked her with soaking wet hands. She opened her eyes to see it was Charlie.

"Auntie Jac!" he called out again.

"Hmm?" she turned facing him. "I'm not your…." She paused a bit, she was going to tell him, she wasn't his auntie, but she thought it wasn't worth explaining it to a three year old.

"What's wrong?" she asked the little boy.

"Daddy's playing with the girls all the time…" he told her as he made a sad face. Jac looked up at Michael to see he was frolicking with the girls in the water and realised why Charlie was feeling a little bit left out.

"Ohh look, ice-cream!" the kid shouted as he heard the ice-cream van tune as it parked a few feet away from the beach. "Can I have an ice-cream, pleeaassseeee!" he pleaded.

Jac looked at him. She didn't know what to do, Michael was with the girls and he was asking her for ice-cream. She fell for his cute face.

"Alright, fine, what the hec?... let's go for ice-cream…" she said as she got up and put her beach dress back on.

"Come on, hold my hand," she told him as she held out her hand. Charlie immediately smiled and gave her his hand, as he walked beside her.

"Which one do you like?" Jac asked him as she knelt down and pointed at the pictured menu on the van.

"Vanilla!" Charlie squealed.

"One vanilla please…" Jac ordered. "What about you, don't you want one?" the man in the ice-cream truck asked her, smiling.

"No thanks, I don't do fat..." she replied bluntly.

The seller handed her the vanilla ice-cream cone as Jac left the money on the counter. She handed the ice-cream to Charlie and grabbed his hand again. They walked together back to the beach.

Jac wasn't very fond of kids, but seeing the smile on Charlie's face and seeing his innocence and pleasure licking the ice-cream, she smiled and imagined what it would feel like if she ever had kids of her own.

As they made it back to the beach, Michael and the girls made it to the deck chair.

"Hey, where have you been?" Michael asked Jac, as he grabbed a towel.

Jac tried not to look at his half naked, wet body and get distracted.

"Auntie Jac bought me a vanilla ice-cream!" the boy said happily, holding the cone between his fingers.

Michael smiled at his son's comment. "Oh yeah, auntie Jac, is it?" he said, and smiled looking at Jac. Jac smiled slightly back, showing him she didn't mind.

Michael then realised Jac paid for it. "Oh, uh, what do I owe you?" he asked politely.

"Just leave it…" she was a consultant; she didn't need Michael paying her back, £1.50.

The girls wanted an ice cream too, so on their way to the car, they all bought ice-cream, except for Jac obviously.

They dropped the kids off at Annalese's house on their way back. Some guy emerged Annalese's house, greeting the kids, and much to Michael's dismay, they seemed to know him really well, and even worse, they liked him.

Michael observed them run inside the house, to find Annalese waiting for them at the door. Michael and Jac watched them all walk inside before they drove away.

"So Annalese's got a boyfriend now?" Jac asked Michael looking at him, as he kept his eye on the road.

"Yeah, some guy named Brad… Jasmine told me a couple of weeks ago" Michael uttered, unhappy about it.

"I'm guessing that you don't like the idea of them all living together, do you?" Jac asked again.

"It's not that I'm not happy that Annalese moved on, it's just that I don't like the idea of some stranger living with my kids…" Michael explained.

Jac didn't know what to reply… she didn't have any kids of her own, she didn't understand these family problems. They kept on driving quietly, without saying one word to each other all the way to the hotel.

…

As they arrived and were up in their twin room, they heard a knock at the door. It was the hotel's assistant manager, telling them they could have their double suite back. They packed their stuff and moved back to their initial suite.

Jac moved into her room and unpacked a few things, while Michael did the same. After dinner, they were both tired so they decided to go up to their room to get some rest before another busy day at the hospital.

As Jac was gonna walk into her room, Michael called out to her, before he walked into his.

"Hey, uh… thank you for today…" Michael told her quietly.

"What for?" Jac had no idea why he was thanking her.

"You know, for coming along, with me and the kids… it was nice to have you around…" he added.

Michael looked at her closely, while Jac almost fell for it.

"Oh well… we are on holiday soo…." She added. "Goodnight, we have a busy day tomorrow…" she unlocked her door and walked in.

"Goodnight…" he told her as she closed her door, and Michael walked into his adjacent room.

He leaped onto the bed, lying on his back, thinking about the past two days of this vacation / work project. What exactly was he feeling?

Jac on the other hand, leaned her back against the closed door and stood there staring into space, thinking what came over her over the past two days. Why was she feeling this way?

Both were showing different expressions to what they were feeling when they were around each other. What are they hiding it? Why were they denying it? What lies behind it all?

There's more coming up. Excuse any delays, depending on the amount of coursework I have to do. Thanks x