Clara walked into the washroom, picked up the stick and felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw the little negative sign. She showed it to John, who despite being okay with the idea, was relieved as well, although perhaps not as much as Clara.

"Thank god." Clara said as she sighed and tossed the stick in the bin. She looked at John and saw a slightly different look on his face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be. You're not pregnant so that's great." He said as he turned and walked back to the living room. Clara followed him out not completely convinced that everything was fine.

"You look like you might be slightly disappointed John."

"I'm not, okay. Can we just eat now?" He said trying to drop the subject.

"We can, but I think we need to talk about this more." Clara said as she sat down at the table with him.

"There's nothing more to discuss. You're not pregnant and we're not having a child, so what more is there to talk about."

"Oh I don't know. How about the fact that you're acting weird and I think you're a little sad that we're not going to be parents."

John put his fork down. "I'm not sad Clara. You're right, this isn't the right time to have a baby but for one brief moment I thought I was going to be a dad and that thought didn't terrify me. It should. I'm 58 for Christ sake. But it didn't."

"Okay. So, are you saying that you want to have kids one day?" She asked.

"I don't know. I might." He said as he looked at her. "I wanted them before."

"What changed?"

"My marriage." He looked down at his barely eaten dinner. "Look we don't need to talk about it."

"John." Clara said getting him to look at her again. "We need to talk about this."

"I don't like talking about my past relationship with you. You shouldn't have to hear about how things were with River." He said as he got up from the table and walked over to the couch.

"Yes I should. She was a major part of your life and your past, and you can't just forget that or pretend it didn't happen." She got up and went and sat next to him. "Tell me what happened."

John took a deep breath preparing to open up to her.

"Before we got married, we had talked about having kids. We wanted a whole bunch of them, but that changed as time went on. Whenever I would talk about trying, River would say not right now because the timing wasn't right or some other reason. Eventually, we got older and I had to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to be a dad."

"I'm sorry." Clara said, not really knowing what else to say.

"It's fine. I came to that decision 15 years ago and I actually haven't thought about it for a very long time." He looked at Clara and smiled. "I guess this just brought that back and made me realise that with you I could have that family I always wanted, but you're not sure if you do."

"It's just something that I hadn't really thought about. I've never been with anyone that I could see myself marrying and starting a family with." John looked away from her at those words, but Clara brought her hand to his cheek and turned him to face her. "Until you." John smiled at her. "You're the first man that I can see a future with and I've just realised that a short time ago. So, in time the idea of a baby might come too, but that is a long way away."

"I know. But you're not opposed to having this conversation again down the road?" He asked.

"I'm not." She smiled at him. "Now come on, let's heat up our dinner and eat."

That night, Clara had the strangest dream. She had dreamt that she was pregnant, not with a human baby but instead an alien. She woke up and saw that John was fast asleep beside her, lightly snoring. She got out of bed and went to get some water, hoping to shake her mind from the weird dream. It was clear that the movie they watched before going to bed and the conversation they had had earlier was messing with her mind. As she stood in the kitchen drinking she thought about the dream and how she had felt in it. Happy. She was happy to be pregnant, despite the alien aspect of it. The idea wasn't so scary any more, still not the right time, but not terrifying. She went back to bed and cuddled next to John, thinking about the future they could have.

She was now dreaming that she and John were on a secluded beach. The sun was beating down on their bodies as they laid on a blanket on the sand. The dream was so vivid she could hear the waves crashing against the shore and smell the sea salt in the air. She was wearing a string bikini and John was wearing bathing trunks with his dark Rayban shades. He rolled over and started kissing her, working his way down her body. He stopped when he reached her breasts being sure to kiss each one and suck her nipples through the material of her suit. He then pulled her up and tugged on the tie at her back, causing the material to hang loosely over her breasts. He pushed it up and continued his assault on her bare breasts as he laid her back down on the blanket. Once he had formed her nipples into hard peaks he moved further south, licking and kissing until he reached the top of her bikini bottoms. Again he tugged on the strings and what little material there was fell away from her body. He then positioned himself between her legs, pushing her thighs apart and opening her to him. He started placing a tender kiss on her clit and then slowly began sucking on it. Clara moaned at the feel of his mouth on her and didn't want to wake from this dream. John continued to take his time devouring her and she wanted nothing more than to watch him. She opened her eyes and when she did, they were no longer on the beach, but instead in John's bed and what he had been doing to her in her dream, he was doing in reality. No wonder it felt so real. She put her hand in his curls encouraging him to continue, as she was close to her release. John plunged his tongue in and out of her as his nose rubbed against her clit. Clara was moaning in ecstasy and soon screamed her release as she climaxed.

"Good morning." John said as he looked up at her and smiled. She lifted her head off the pillow and smiled back at him.

"Good morning indeed." She replied. "I was having the nicest dream, but turned out it wasn't a dream at all."

"Hmm." John said as he moved up Clara's body and laid next to her on his side facing her. She rolled and mirrored his position. "And in this dream, were we in bed?"

"Nope. On a beach." She replied.

"That sounds nice."

"It was." She replied dreamily.

"We should go to one some time." He said.

"Well the weather isn't really that great for going to the beach now."

"No," he chuckled. "Not here, some place warm. You know, take a vacation."

"That would be nice, but when?"

"How about Christmas? I have a break in shooting then and you have time off from work."

Clara hadn't really thought about that. She always spent the holidays trying to avoid going to her dad's because of Linda, but would end up there anyway seeing as she had no where else to be. This was actually a great idea!

"That sounds perfect." She said as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Good, that's settled then. You pick the location and I'll get my travel agent to book it. Now, are you hungry?"

"Starving actually."

"Alright." He said as he rolled out of bed and pulled on pajama bottoms. "Breakfast, followed by more sex."

"More!? I feel like that's all we've done this weekend." She said as she grabbed his t-shirt and threw it on as she followed him out.

"Are you complaining about having too much sex?" He asked.

"Not complaining, just surprised that you want more."

"For the record. I always want more. And I'm not going to see you for a few weeks, so I need to get my fill of you while I can."

"Don't you mean I need to get my fill of you?" She said pointing at herself and emphasizing I.

He laughed at her joke. "That too."

John was true to his word and they spent the rest of the day lazing about enjoying each other's company and bodies. When the time came, John took Clara to the train station and said their goodbyes once again. The next few weeks were going to be busy for him so they weren't going to see one another until he was back in London for a week off.

When John got back to his flat, he went to the fridge and pulled out a beer and walked into the living room. This place felt so empty now that Clara was gone, but at least now he could look around and have memories of her. He picked up his sketchbook and began drawing and at first, he wasn't sure what until he realized it was Clara. Of course, it was her. That woman had consumed his thoughts from the first moment he laid eyes on her. Suddenly there was a knock at his door, which brought him out of his drawing trance. He had no idea who would be at his place on a Sunday night, so he got up to find out.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he opened the door.

"Hello to you too." The person said. "Just thought you could use a friend."

"Come in." John said as he opened the door wider.