Thank You all for the support and comments and absolute love you have shown this story, I love you!
As for this little piece, you can slide it in anywhere you'd like after chapter two!

First Vacation

"You are crazy girl!" Eliot laughed as another pail of sand was dumped on his abdomen.

"Shh" Parker blew out the warning as she fixed him with a stern gaze from where she stood above him. "You're shaking all my sand off."

"Sorry" He barely breathed out as he continued to laugh; he was ticklish.

"If you don't stop it I'm going to bury you!" Her hands found their way to swimsuit covered hips in displeasure.

"Aren't you trying to do that already?" Eliot asked with amusement.
He had been simply lying out, enjoying the warmth of the sun, when Parker had started pouring sand on him.

"That's not the point Eliot." She all but pouted.

"Alright" He relented though he couldn't quite hide the enjoyment that twinkled in his eyes. "I'll stay still."

"Good" With a newly retrieved pail she turned around to gather more sand.

Only problem was he really wasn't that good.
Just as soon as she was far enough away he was up and sneaking right behind her.
Why she had to go twenty feet down the beach to gather sand he didn't know but it certainly added humor to the situation.

"Here" Parker stopped so abruptly that it caught him by surprise. "Hold this."

"Okay" Eliot barely reached out his hand before she was realizing what had happened. "Eliot! You weren't supposed to get up!"

He threw his head back with another laugh as he whined, "But you were getting sand in my shorts!"

"Too bad Bubba," Parker chastised. "Now get your happy butt back over there!"

"I've got a better idea." Eliot offered as he came closer, his hands falling to her sides.

"Not happening" Parker shook her head as she dug her toes deeper into the ground.

"But you don't even know what I was going to say yet." He complained as he smoothed his fingers over the purple fabric of her swimsuit.

"Oh yes I do" If there was one thing she knew it was that spark in his eye.

"I don't think you do." Eliot drew out with an eye wrinkling smile.

"Don't I?" She knew how this was going to go and she was already laughing at him for it.

"Well then I guess there's no need for me to ask." He knew that glint in her gaze and he could easily match it.

"Eliot" Almost immediately she began to sulk; he just had to take the fun out of everything.

With a slight chuckle he leaned in to kiss the pout away, "Do you wanna join me for lunch?"

With a wrinkled nose she pressed her lips together before pulling them to the side in contemplation, "Maybe"

"Maybe?" He huffed out amusedly as his hands found their way to his own hips.

"Yes maybe" She spoke almost smugly. "I may or may not have already made plans mister."

"Oh really?" The attitude in which she spoke only furthered to humor him.

"Yup" She popped out the P as he continued looking entertained.
She loved the fact that he had been nothing but laughter and smiles since their arrival.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to do somethin' about that now won't I?" His eyebrow quirked as a slight breeze mercifully made its way past.

"What?" She was having the sudden urge to back up as he moved forward.

"You'll see." He hummed as he tried to close all the space between them but she simply wasn't going to have it.

"Eliot what are you going to do?" His look was predatory and it had anticipation starting to dance in her stomach. "Eliot?"
All he did was reach out for her, move his hand toward hers but something in that seemingly innocent action had her mind screaming at her feet to run.

In no time they started a high speed chase down the beach.
Her going faster than it was probably safe for her legs to take her as she hollered, screeched, and squealed, "ELIOT!"
Him laughing just as hard as humanly possible while still managing to run.
One thought crossing both their minds as they continued a game of pursuit, 'She was gonna get it'.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

"This is nice." Parker declared as she glanced over to Eliot who had her hand safely tucked in his.
She enjoyed how the further away from the dock they walked the more isolated it became.

"It really is." Never would he have believed such a peace could settle within him, but it had.
He was at ease simply enjoying the fact that he had reached a point in his life where he
could go on a getaway without actually worrying about hiding away.

"You're happy" She stated plainly as she readjusted the grip she had on her sandals in the other hand.
In all the while she had known him she had never seen him as openly content and it had her never wanting to leave.

"And you're pink." He smirked as he too stated the obvious.

"Very" She agreed as they got closer to the shoreline and the water started to tease their feet.
With all the sun and sand they had taken in it was to be expected but while she looked sun burned he looked sun kissed.
His skin painted with almost as dark of a glow as the natives.

"We really should do this more often." He couldn't help but suggest as he stopped a few feet away from the water's edge, settling in the sand.

Parker silently shook her head as she dropped her shoes, situating herself to be settled comfortably against him.

"Why not?" Eliot prodded as he straightened a leg, the other knee bent with forearm rested upon it, and she tossed hers over it.
With the way she was splayed she'd surely be shaking off sand for some time to come.

"Because then it wouldn't be as special." Her arm found its way around his leg as she rested her head in the nook his thigh and abdomen were creating.

He simply hummed his agreement as he gazed over the ocean, his fingers eventually finding their way to tangle in her hair.
Something about the silkiness of those strands sliding over his hand served to calm him; brought a serenity that couldn't quite be matched.

For a long moment he simply looked out.
The moon bigger, brighter, and fuller than he had ever seen it before and he
was sure if he could see them the stars would offer much the same feelings of awe.

The water calm and collected, a stark contrast to the pools and waves that had been so persistently known mere hours earlier.
Creating its own whimsical glow as it reflected as much light as it absorbed; making the sand seem almost pure as it gleamed a brighter white.

"Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?" Parker spoke softly as his hand soothed her scalp; she loved it when he played with her hair.

Those words had him truly understanding that this little vacation spot of theirs was a real paradise.
Had probably even been documented as so.
It was a gorgeous oasis, a breathtaking retreat, but it wasn't the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"Every day Parker" Perhaps it was a paradise but it was nothing compared to the splendor currently curled in his lap.
"I see something more beautiful every day."