Clara awoke with a bit of a stiff neck from sleeping in Milo's tiny bed, 'Morning, sweetie…' she sighed, watching him looking at her.

Clara groaned when she felt the dog jump onto the bed, pouncing on her before licking Milo's face, he was soon giggling under Cloud.

John ran in the after the dog, an annoyed expression on his face, 'Cloud, come back here!' he shouted before he stopped in the doorway, smiling awkwardly at them both, 'Sorry, I thought you were both still asleep. So… Who's up for a beach trip?'

Clara nodded, letting him know it was okay. She was about to speak when Milo ran to John, 'Oh, the beach?! I am! Mummy, can we go, please?!' he turned to ask his mother, knowing he'd never been to a beach before.

'Of course we can, sweetie…' Clara told him, standing up as every bone in her body popped.

Definitely not attractive, but then again, John wasn't interested in her sexually as of late.

'Just give me a second to shower and change,' she said, going into the spare room to search through her luggage.

John nodded and smiled at her, holding his son on his hip. Together they walked downstairs and once they reached the last step, John carefully placed Milo on the floor as the little boy toddled off towards all the beach essentials John had brought for them. Spades, towels, buckets, swimming costumes, beach balls and arm bands.

Once Clara walked up to his side, he smiled at her and whispered into her ear, 'I wasn't sure if he could swim or not, so I got him arm bands. If he can't, I'll teach him.'

Clara smirked and nodded, 'I think you'll have to teach him,'

Once they arrived, Clara quickly disrobed and revealed her bathing suit. She had to admit, even in her old age, she still looked rather… hot. She rubbed sunscreen onto Milo before putting some on herself, she stopped halfway through when she realised she couldn't reach her back.

'John, do you mind?' she asked rather awkwardly, gesturing to her back.

Once John had set everything down, he coughed nervously and nodded his head. He couldn't exactly say no, could he? He made his way over to her, shades on so she wouldn't be able to tell his emotion through his eyes. He inhaled sharply, sitting behind Clara as he took the bottle and then slowly rubbed it into her back, Milo running to build a sand castle. He couldn't deny the thoughts running through his head, all he wanted to do was grab the back of her hair and yank on it as hard as he could as he fucked her – just like he used to. But he would have to hold off, their relationship wasn't about sex anymore, it was about building a family together, even if it was small.

Clara had to bite her lower lip to supress a moan. She'd be lying if she didn't admit that she'd missed his touch. She had to press her thighs together as memories of them surged through her mind. Once he was done, she turned, a crimson blush covering her entire face.

'Do you need some as well?' asked Clara, and when he nodded, she made him lay flat on his stomach before straddling him.

Her hands instantly went to work on his muscles, her ass resting on his lower back. She cleared her throat when she realised she was done and quickly stood, walking over to Milo to clear her head. As he laid on his stomach, all John could think about was where Clara had previously had her hands, scratching over his shoulders, down his back, her heels digging into his ass… John cleared his throat when he felt her shift and move away from him after she had finished applying the sunscreen and it took him a few moments to compose himself, knowing full well he had a hard on.

Milo grinned and threw a beach ball towards his mother, 'Hit it, mummy!'

Clara hit it back towards her son, smiling as Milo caught it, 'Come on, I have a better idea…' she trailed off, taking hold of his hand and walking him towards the sea. She sat him in between her legs, letting the waves hit their feet.

Milo giggled and crawled up onto his mother's lap each time the water hit his feet, 'Water, mummy, water! It's cold,' he complained, turning to see John plump down next to them with their son's arm bands.

John grinned at him, 'Want to go for a swim, mate?'

Milo's eyes widened as he gazed between John and the great big ocean, 'What if I drown?' he asked, pouting.

Clara turned his chin upwards to look at her, 'You won't drown, baby… Daddy will always be there with you,' she told him, smiling as she took his hand whilst John took the other and began to head into the water.

Clara gave John some space, whilst she watched from afar.

John grinned and held his little boy in his arms, carefully lowering him into the water, 'Look, mate, you're floating,' he laughed, watching as Milo panicked for a millisecond before he kicked out his legs and realised the arm bands were helping him stay above the water.

'Do you think you could kick your legs and swim to daddy?' John asked him, moving backwards as he stood up and out of the water, knowing it wasn't too deep for their two year old and if he was to run out of energy, he would only be under the water for a few seconds before he'd be able to stand up properly.

Milo breathed heavily, nodding his head. He didn't want to disappoint his father, so he began to kick his legs but overturned and went under. He was gasping and crying when John pulled him out, his little heart beating as he looked into his father's eyes that matched his own.

'I'm sorry, daddy… Please don't leave mummy and me again,' he said, registering in his head that John was angry, rather than concerned.

John shook his head and frowned at his little boy, 'Milo, no, mate, don't be silly…' he murmured, kissing into his hair as he stepped out of the water and onto the beach, 'Daddy didn't leave you, mummy took you away but she did it for a good reason. Please, don't think I wanted you gone, Milo.'

Milo pouted at him, his blue eyes inflated.

'You're my boy.'

The little boy wiped his nose, looking at his dad, 'Can we try again, daddy?' he asked him, pointing towards the shoreline.

Clara was back under her umbrella, not so panicked now that John had comforted their son, something that she couldn't always do.

John stood in the water again, a few steps away from Milo as they took it step by step, 'Go on, boy, kick those legs!' he exclaimed, cheering his son on as Milo kicked his legs out.

'Don't worry if you slip under, daddy is here to pick you back up!'

Milo nodded and soon, he was swimming towards his dad. Clara watched from a far, her heart filling with adoration as she watched them both, 'That's it baby, you're doing so well!' she called out to their son.

John grinned, catching Milo each time he swam towards him, 'Good boy!' he exclaimed and after about four tries, John took off his arm bands and hovered him over the water, looking his son in the eye.

'Now, remember what I've taught you? Kick your legs out or you'll go under, okay?'

Milo nodded, panicking when he felt John's hands leave him but he instantly began kicking rapidly, until he took a deep breath and started to swim, 'Look dad, I'm doing it! I'm swimming!' he told him, swimming circles around his father.

John grinned and clapped his hands, standing up straight as his son swam circles around him, 'Well done, mate!' he exclaimed, over joyed that he had taught his son how to swim and it hadn't taken very long either.

This was what he had missed out on when Matt was a boy, but now he had a second chance. He just hoped nothing would happen that could ruin their happiness together.

Clara watched as Milo ran towards her, a wide smile across his face as he jumped into her lap, 'Mummy, mummy! I swam, daddy taught me how to swim,' he told her, overly excited and bouncing in her lap.

Clara only nodded, taking her shades off to give Milo a kiss, turning her head to give John a knowing look. She wasn't expecting him to get on this well.

John smiled at her, sending her a wink as he grabbed a towel and dried off, 'Fancy making a sandcastle whilst mummy sunbathes, Milo?' he grinned, scooping his son off of the ground as they chose a spot and started to build a sandcastle, John going a little overboard with creativity.

From a far, Matt was watching them, angry that his father had taken his mother from him over thirty years ago and now he had taken the only girl he had loved and had a child with her. He turned on his heel, walking away from the scene as he thought of ways to destroy John's life. Clara walked right over to them, her hand on John's shoulder as she sank and soon began to help them build the sandcastle. Once they had snapped a few pictures of their huge sandcastle, Clara swore to print out the pictures and put them in a frame to show off to their family members, the ones that still wanted something to do with them, that was. The afternoon flew by and Milo was fast asleep in his car chair a few hours later.

'Thank you,' said Clara, reaching out to touch John's thigh, 'He really enjoyed today.'

John nodded, a smile on his face, 'So did I, honestly,' he smiled and turned his head to look at her, 'I feel like a real dad,' he murmured, his blue eyes dropping to her hand on his thigh, 'Thank you for giving me a second chance.'

Clara gave his thigh a squeeze, 'Of course…' she muttered, wanting nothing more than to lean towards him and kiss him, but she knew better, knew they had to take things slower this time.

John nodded and parked the car inside his driveway. He took off his seatbelt and climbed from the car, bending in the back to pick up his son from his car seat, 'Come on, my little man…'

Clara watched him leave and walk inside, climbing from the car in search of Milo's owl as she felt a shiver down her spine and felt a cold hand against her heated skin, 'Matt?' she muttered, alarmed when she realised who it was, 'What are you - ' before she could say anything, he cut her off.

Matt stared at her, his face white and his hand cold, 'Don't trust him Clara,' he told her sternly, giving her a sympathetic look, 'He isn't the man you think he is, okay? He' faking it, he's still the bastard he was when I was a kid and I don't want to hurt you and Milo in the crossfire.'

Clara frowned at him, 'Hurt us? Matt, I'm sorry for what I did, for what I put you through, but John has changed.' She told him, noticing how his grip tightened on her, 'Matt, please, if you're worried that we are – we aren't, we haven't – we are purely together for Milo.'

He shook his head, gritting his teeth, 'I know that, I saw you at the beach,' Matt simply told her, the pain clear in his emerald eyes, 'He was trying too hard to be a father when he already had a son he didn't love and now this is just more proof that he didn't love me.'

Clara's heart broke, 'Matt, he does love you, even if he didn't know how to express that love back then, I know he loved you… We all do,' she said, cupping his face, her thumb brushing his lip, 'Please, Matt…'

Matt stared at her for a moment, all of their memories from when they were teenagers flooded through his mind, 'You're not her anymore…' he whispered, stepping away from Clara.

'You're not my Impossible Girl.'

Clara sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, 'Of course I'm not, Matt we…' she inhaled sharply, gazing into his emotive emerald eyes, 'We were fucked up kids, we were damaged goods… It's why we fit so well together, but it's time to grow up. I'm a mother now to a wonderful boy and you…' she took a minute to just stare at him.

'You're married to Rose. I don't know where this thing with John is heading, but I love him, in some twisted fate I fell in love with him.' She said, exasperated, trying to make Matt understand that he had to just leave them alone.

Matt swallowed roughly and stared at her, shaking his head, 'It's not fair,' he simply told her, stepping closer to her, 'You were supposed to end up with me, Clara. When we were kids, you always told me if you were to be with anybody, it would be me. So why did you cheat on me? With my father of all people?! And what does he have that I don't, hm?'

Clara took a step away from him, she knew how Matt got when he was upset, knew his bad temper, 'Matt, we…' she sighed, staring into his rage infused eyes. They seemed to almost grow with anger.

'We were kids, we were damaged…' she tried to reason with him, she couldn't tell him the truth on why she kept the affair going, but figured he was owed the truth after all her lies, 'You hadn't touched me in months… I was starting to think you didn't want me, and I didn't know he was your father until you introduced us,'

Matt scoffed and shook his head, glaring at her as it only seemed to make him worse, 'And still you fucked him?!' he yelled, a growl in his throat as he grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her from getting away, 'After you knew he was my father, you kept fucking him? Why?!'

Clara winced, trying to pull away from him, her heart hammering in her chest as she noticed his nostrils flaring, she could easily see rage written across his face. She pulled away, in hopes of getting away from him, but she wasn't strong enough.

'You know why… Because he made me feel alive again, because we seemed to fit so perfectly together,' she said, strangled whilst trying to slap him, only for Matt to capture her other hand.

'Please, Matt, we're over, just let me - '

But it was too late, he had already slammed a heavy rock right into the side of her head, silencing her.