A few things... twlightbella thanks for being awesome and reviewing chapters as you read through this fic over the past week, it for sure made me want to update.
The person who left the review and put themselves as hey - I have every intention of finishing this, thank you so much for your kind words. Random qu, where did you see it on Insta?
Guest - the last last chapter will have everyone together I think, at least with what I'm planning at the moment
Enjoy below, and sorry for the wait. Hope it's worth it...
Forever in the Sun
Hanna woke with a smile on her face as the sound of happy laughter and squeals filled her ears and the ocean breeze floated in through the open patio doors.
She was in Antigua. And she couldn't wait to do nothing but relax in paradise for the next two weeks. Spending forever in the sun could not come soon enough.
But first... she wanted breakfast.
She slipped out of bed and headed towards the suitcase in the corner of the room. Half her things were mixed with miniature socks and swimming costumes, but she riffled her way through to find a light wrap to wear over her pajama shorts and singlet before she followed the direction the familiar excited chatter was coming from. Breakfast in the Rivers family was never a quiet affair.
Heading through their one-story private villa, on the sanctity of their beautiful terrace for the next fortnight she found Logan and Mila sat with Caleb, who was housing Everly on his lap as they filled their mouths with what looked like fresh pastries, yoghurt and fruit. This was simply, heaven.
"Hey babe," She grinned, heading straight for Caleb and leaning down to press a kiss against his lips before she showered her littles with affection. Nothing beat the feeling of her children wanting to show her love.
"Mommy, you're awake," Logan said, offering her his half-eaten croissant.
"Thank you," Hanna stole a bite before she sat herself down next to him opposite Caleb and their girls. "You want another one?" She asked him, picking up the plate stacked with pastries and hovering it near him for him to pick another one out from.
"Yum," He muttered, stuffing his pick straight in his mouth.
"Mmm, they're warm," Hanna murmured to him, brushing a hand through his messy hair as she picked up her own fruit pastry.
"Did you sleep okay?" Caleb asked, their gazes meeting for a moment before he ducked his head down to look at the baby on his lap. Everly was babbling away, making as much conversation as she could whilst also trying to shove a yoghurt-covered spoon into her mouth with the help of her Daddy.
"Uh huh, but I missed waking up with you this morning," She pouted, propping her head in her hand as she watched him feed their youngest child, "Is that good pix?" She grinned as Everly reached for another spoonful, smiling up at her.
"She seems pretty happy with it," Caleb laughed, letting her steal the spoon from his fingers as she sucked on it happily.
"Mama," Mila called, "Daddy says we go swimmin," She said, picking up a piece of pineapple and taking a juicy bite.
"After breakfast," Hanna nodded, "Is it tasty?" She smiled at her, piling some fruit onto her plate as Mila nodded and sucked her fingers. "Did they deliver this?" She looked at Caleb, spooning some yoghurt into a bowl. Considering they'd pretty much just conked out in bed when they'd arrived the night before, she had no idea how any of the resort worked.
"Logi was exploring with Evvy this morning when the housekeeper knocked on the door and brought us all of this."
"Have you been down to the beach already?" Hanna pouted again, the thought of missing out on Everly's first time on the beach too much to bare. But Caleb shook his head and reached across the table for her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"No," He said gently, "We just had a look upstairs and found the terrace that looks out over the ocean," He added, their fingers playing with each other's. "Lo was pointing out all the animals that lived there."
Hanna sighed, bringing his hand to her lips to press a kiss against his skin, "This place is perfect."
"You deserve this," Caleb told her, his voice full of meaning. After everything that had happened that year, he wanted her to just enjoy a relaxing vacation with their family.
"I love you."
After breakfast, Hanna found herself herding Logan and Mila into the room they were sharing across from her and Caleb, trying to get them ready for a day of nothing but swimming and playing in the sand whilst also attempting to unpack their suitcases in the background. She did as much as she could until she could sense their impatience and guided them out to their terrace and pool area at the back of the villa where Caleb was lounging with Everly.
"There's Daddy," She smiled, letting Mila cling onto her hand as Logan charged over to his baby sister and kissed her head. They were never shy of affection.
"Are you ready to go in the pool?" Caleb gasped excitedly, tickling Mila's waist as she reached him.
"Yes!" She squealed, jumping up and down with her hands on his leg.
"Let me just go throw my costume on," Hanna murmured, squeezing Caleb's shoulder, "They were getting impatient, but I'll be 2 minutes."
"We can wait for Mommy can't we?" He whispered to his two eldest who both nodded, happy to play with their baby sister until Hanna came back. True to her word, she quickly reappeared in her bikini with a jug of cool water from the kitchen in her hand.
"Can we go swimming now?" Logan asked before taking a sip of the cup of water Hanna gave to him. In this heat, she wanted all of them to stay hydrated. Rosewood summers had nothing on the heat they were feeling right now.
"Put this on first," Hanna said, passing Logan his swim vest before she encouraged Mila to hold her arms out so that she could pull her own Little Mermaid swim vest onto her body.
"Swimmin!" Mila squealed, her fingers tracing over Ariel's face on the blue material. "Go," She pointed over at Logan who was trying to sneak off to get straight in the water.
"Lo wait," Caleb called as he watched the little boy run off - no way was he being the first one in the water after Caleb had sat there for the past 30 minutes telling Everly about all the fun they were going to have. "Han, take pix," He muttered, handing her the baby before he raced after Logan and canon balled into their pool.
"Daddy!" Logan yelled, laughing as he wiped the water from Caleb's splash from his face. "Can I jump?" He asked, moving closer to the edge.
"Now that I beat you, you can jump," Caleb agreed, covering his face as Logan launched his body into the water.
"That was fun," He spluttered as he surfaced, swimming over towards Caleb as Hanna approached the edge with Mila and Everly. "Sissy are you gonna jump?" Logan yelled as he floated near the middle with Caleb - he wanted to jump in over and over again.
"You want to jump in?" Hanna murmured encouragingly, sensing a little trepidation from her almost three-year-old, "Daddy will catch you."
Mila nodded, standing as close to the side of the mini-pool as possible with her arms outstretched for Caleb as he moved in front of her. "Ready?" He asked her before counting to three.
She jumped on his last count - right into his arms - shrieking as he caught her and stopped her from going under. "You did it!" Logan called with glee.
"Was that fun?" Caleb murmured, stroking her wet hair back from her face as she floated in his arms.
The little girl nodded, a smile plastered on her face, "I jump big Daddy."
"You did jump really big," He agreed, guiding her towards the steps so that she could stand up in the water near Hanna.
"Ih!" Everly yelled from Hanna's arms as she made her way into the water.
"That's right, we're going to swim," Hanna said, sinking them down so that they were sitting on the steps as Mila approached them.
"Evvy likes swimmin'," Mila took a big breath, "Cos… cos Auntie Emmy is der and she's fun," She said, standing up on the step next to them leaning over to hold Everly's cheeks so that she could place a big kiss on her lips, "And we play and swim."
"Do you like swimming?" Hanna asked her tenderly, hooking an arm around Mila's waist as the other held Everly on her lap.
Mila nodded, "I love it," She said, perching her little butt on the side of Hanna's legs.
Hanna grinned, kissing her head as she shifted Everly over a little bit to make more room. This was exactly what holiday was all about.
"This is wader Evvy," Mila explained as the 10-month-old splashed her hands and babbled. "Like da pool wiv Auntie Emmy but... but Awiel is here and she swims in dis wader."
"Water," Caleb pronounced as he walked towards them, leaning over his girls to press a gentle kiss on Hanna's lips. "I love her stories," He whispered, grinning at his wife.
"Daddy, no boys!" Mila suddenly yelled, pushing her two hands against his chest.
"No boys?" He frowned at her, poking her in her belly.
"We beau-ful girls."
"And who told you you're beautiful, huh?" He growled, ducking his head to blow a loud raspberry against her neck.
She shrieked and threw her arms around him, "Daddy!"
"Da!" Everly yelled, splashing the water more.
"They're always loyal to you," Hanna smiled at him, letting him steal Everly for himself as Mila relinquished her grasp on Caleb and settled back against her instead.
"Do you love me pixie?" Caleb teased his youngest daughter, kissing her cheek as he held her back against his chest. She squealed and grasped his forearms, shrieking as he loved on her.
"I think that's a yes," Hanna grinned as Logan swam over to them.
"Mommy, can I jump again?" He asked, climbing out of the pool.
She nodded, grazing a hand down his arm, "Just be careful of Evvy, okay bubba?"
"Okay," He agreed, pausing on the side to make sure he was jumping far enough away from them before he launched into the water. "Mila," He spluttered as he swam over to them, "Jump with me."
"Daddy catch me," She said as Hanna propped her on the side.
"Okay," He agreed, his eyes following Hanna as she stood and stepped out of the pool.
"You want a drink?" She asked, taking Everly from him so that he could play in the pool with their two eldest. "I can just call and order something."
Caleb paused as Mila launched herself at him, catching her in his arms again as she shrieked. "A drink would be great babe."
Everly whined unhappily, wriggling to be put down. "Hey," Hanna bounced her, reaching for her toy giraffe on the table.
"Ih!"
"Sissy sold that story to you good, huh?" She tried not to roll her eyes at the 10-month-old baby who was proving to be just as demanding as her older sister, "We can go swimming again in a minute," She said before dialling one of the numbers that had been left for them. "We need to order Daddy a beer first," She whispered, speaking to the handler and placing their order for lunch before she hung up.
"Mommy come back in!" Logan yelled, swimming over to the steps of the pool to stand up and reach for her.
"We're coming," She smiled, letting him grab onto her hand as she made her way back into the water with Everly still propped on her hip.
"This is the best!" Logan grinned, jumping a little off the step so that he could float and splash.
"It is the best," Caleb agreed with a grin on his face as he helped Mila swim to Hanna, floating in front of all his girls.
"I love holidays!" The little boy shrieked, climbing onto Caleb's back. "I want to be here forever."
"Foweva!" Mila cheered, splashing her hands against the water.
Hanna laughed as her and Caleb shared a look, "I guess we'll stay here forever."
Later that afternoon Hanna found herself down on their private stretch of beach with nobody but herself, Caleb and Logan soaking in the sun and the sand. Mila and Everly had been completely wiped out after a morning of playing in the pool and after lunch, they'd both gone straight down for their afternoon nap.
It left Logan with the big decision of what he wanted to do for the next hour and a half when he had Hanna and Caleb to himself - not something that happened very often with two little sisters to compete with. He'd wanted to go down to the beach and after Caleb had spotted a body board in their villa, he'd convinced his eldest to give it a go under the afternoon Antiguan sun.
To say Logan had enjoyed himself was most definitely an understatement. "Mommy! Look!" He yelled as Caleb dragged him in on the board with a small wave, ditching it as he beached on the sand and sprinting up to Hanna who was smiling at him.
"Was that fun?" She asked, holding a towel out to wrap him up in.
He nodded as Caleb followed up with the board, dropping it on the sand and reaching for a bottle of water Hanna had brought down with them. "He's pretty good," He murmured, ruffling his son's wet hair. "I think when we get back it's time to get him his first skateboard."
"Yes!" Logan shrieked excitedly; he was desperate to get on one but Hanna had been reluctant about letting him, "I'll be careful Mommy," He quickly said, noticing the indignant look on Hanna's face. "And Daddy will help me."
"You better be careful," She growled, pulling him onto her lap and squeezing him tight, "I don't want anything to hurt my baby," She teased him in a low voice, scrunching his sides.
"I'm not a baby," He laughed as Hanna let him stand up. He turned and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her as Caleb took a seat next to her. "I'm 5 now Mommy."
"I know you are," Hanna pouted, stroking his side, "But you'll always be my baby."
"That's Evvy," He disagreed, shaking his head before leaving them to go and continue digging the hole he'd been working on earlier.
Hanna sighed, her eyes lingering on him; he really was growing up so fast. It seemed like yesterday that he was saying his first words and now he was stringing sentences together like it was nothing, "Is it normal for a 5-year-old to always be right?"
Caleb laughed, handing her the bottle of water, his fingers lingering over hers, "He's smart," He said, running a hand through his hair to wipe it out of his eyes. "And has learnt all that sass straight from you."
"No way," Hanna shook her head at him, "Definitely all you," She smiled, leaning across to kiss him gently. Her hand cupped his cheek as he grinned at her, stealing another tender kiss.
"Dad!" Logan called, interrupting them.
"Did he just call me Dad?"
"Dad!"
Hanna's eyes widened as she nodded, biting her lip, "He did."
"Daddy!"
"That's better," He muttered to himself, rolling his eyes as he stood and made his way over to Logan, "What is it?"
"Will you help me?"
"What are we doing?" He asked, taking a seat next to him and reaching for another spade.
"Making a castle," Logan said as Hanna made her way over to them. She stood next to Caleb, reaching a hand out to run along the top of his bare back.
"I'm gonna go wake up the babes," She told them, leaning down to wrap her arms around Caleb's neck from behind, placing a kiss on his jawline. "You want anything?"
"You want a drink Lo?" Caleb asked, wrapping a hand around Hanna's leg.
Logan nodded, asking for juice before Hanna disappeared off to go and wake up their girls. She couldn't wait to see Everly on the beach for the first time, she thought to herself as she made her way into her and Caleb's room, heading straight for the baby girl that was curled up in the crib against the wall. "Evvy," She said gently, stroking her hand down the baby's back and smiling as she immediately began to come round, "It's time to wake up from your nap," She whispered, brushing her thumb across Everly's cheek, "Daddy and Lo want us to go play with them down on the beach and they're missing you."
Everly whined, blinking her eyes shut and trying to fight waking up. "Come on," Hanna murmured, her hand moving round to stroke the baby's belly as Everly peaked her eyes open again, "Hi pretty girl," She smiled, reaching down to pull her into her arms, holding her tight as Everly buried her head into Hanna's neck. Hanna wanted to treasure these post-nap cuddles forever, "Let's go wake up sissy."
She slowly walked across the hallway towards Mila and Logan's room, opening the door gently and peaking inside only to find Mila already awake. At least she wouldn't have to deal with waking up two grumpy girls - both of them hated being woken up more than anything. But her Mila bug was tiredly wiping her eyes, a smile already on her face as she called and reached for Hanna.
"Hi bug," Hanna grinned, heading straight for her to press kisses against her face, "Did you have a good sleep?" Mila nodded, smiling up at her. She loved and needed her sleep just like her Mama and if she didn't get it, the terrible twos seemed to hit hard. "Do you want to go down to the beach and see Logan and Daddy?"
"Beach," Mila called, climbing down from the bed with Hanna's help and clinging onto her hand as she lead her towards her suitcase.
"Let's go have a drink and then we can go play in the sand," Hanna smiled down at her, popping a tiny straw hat on Mila's head before guiding her towards the kitchen area to have some juice. She placed some in a bottle for Logan too, giving it to Everly to inspect and play with before she took Mila's hand again and headed down towards her boys.
"Daddy!" Mila yelled as soon as she saw Caleb, gasping excitedly as her toes hit the sand.
"Woah," Caleb stood, a grin on his face as he walked towards them with his arms open for Mila to run into. And she did, her little legs working hard to get towards him before he scooped her up and held her against his chest, "Are you excited to be on the beach?" He asked her, peppering her face with kisses as she clung onto him and giggled, nodding away. It seemed like the sun was making her infinitely happy.
Caleb gently pulled the strap of her swimming costume up over her shoulder, adjusting her hat as Mila grasped his shoulders, "Da sand is soft," She said, happily taking a seat on Caleb's lap as he sat them down on their beach blanket next to Hanna.
He smiled down at her, stroking her blonde curls back from her face as she pushed her hat off, "Lo's building a castle," He told her, watching her staring at her older brother, "Want to go and help him?"
Mila nodded and with one last kiss of encouragement from Caleb she went to join Logan, quickly picking up a spade and following his guidance as he told her what they were doing. "Babe," Hanna grabbed Caleb's attention as she propped Everly up on her butt near the edge of the blanket, "Look at her," She smiled, "She doesn't know what to make of it."
Caleb chuckled, shuffling round until he was sat in front of the 10-month-old. "Evvy," He smiled, taking some sand in his hand and holding it out in front of her, "This is the beach," He said, letting her touch the sand with her own fingers. "It's made of sand."
"What do you think pix?" Hanna asked, leaning down to watch her youngest child's face as she inspected the foreign object. "Do you like it?"
"Da," She reached for Caleb, wanting to practice her standing more than anything. He wiped his hands quickly, holding her hands and pulling her onto two shaky legs on the blanket, both him and Hanna laughing as their youngest completely ignored the surroundings.
"You think she's close to walking?" Caleb asked Hanna as Everly wobbled down onto her butt again, pulling a face until he helped her up onto her legs again.
"She's more nervous than Logi and Mila were," Hanna remarked, "She always wants someone to hold her up," She said, taking the opportunity to lather some sunscreen onto the baby.
"Evvy, do you just want to hold Daddy's hand?" Caleb teased her, encouraging her forward. She took one step and then refused to move her other foot as her toes sunk into the sand.
She began to whimper, her face scrunching up in discontent until Caleb scooped her up and held her in his arms. "She's addicted to you," Hanna smiled as they both stood up and made their way over to Logan and Mila who were still happily building a sandcastle together.
Caleb smiled, kissing the side of Everly's face before he placed her down right in between her brother and sister, watching as she finally became accustomed to the sandy beach. He sighed, soaking in everything his kids were. He never wanted this to end. "I think I'm addicted to all of them too."
That evening, after putting three tuckered out Rivers to bed, Caleb led Hanna up to the rooftop terrace on top of their private villa. They were both pretty tired themselves after spending the good part of an hour chasing round a sand-covered Mila and Logan, who were more than a little reluctant about getting into the bath and ready for bed. Still though, when their heads had hit the pillow they were both out like a light and Hanna was convinced they'd both sleep in the next day. Which just meant more time for her to soak up her husband.
"This is pretty," Hanna commented, one hand holding her glass of wine, the other clinging onto Caleb's fingers.
"It's pretty damn good," He agreed, shooting her a grin as he took a seat on one of the terrace chairs, pulling Hanna onto his lap.
She smiled down at him, her hand resting on his chest as he squeezed her waist against him, "Happy we came here?" Hanna asked him, her fingers teasing his jawline.
Caleb nodded, taking a sip of his beer before he leant forward to place it on the table. "I got three happy kids and one happy wife," He told her, "That means I'm happy too."
"Very happy kids and wife," She smiled down at him, dropping her lips down onto his. "I love you," She whispered as she pulled back, sending him a gentle smile before she sat up a little taller and took another sip of her wine.
Caleb sighed contently, wrapping his other arm around her waist, "Can you believe pix is almost one?" He murmured, his lips dropping down to Hanna's exposed shoulder as she settled against him. Under the moonlight, there was no one else he wanted to be sitting there and having a conversation with.
"No," Hanna pouted, "I hate thinking about them all growing up."
"Me too," Caleb eased the tension in her body. She was the best Mama to their kids and he knew that she wanted to keep them bottled up just as they were. "You feel like we're complete?" He asked her gently, drawing her eyes back to his.
She tilted her head, her hand brushing his chest again, "I think so," She replied quietly, "But ask me again when Evvy's one and I'm sobbing into my pillow about how big she's getting."
He grinned as she took a sip of her wine, brushing a hand down the back of her hair. She smelt of sea salt and sun screen and with the smile on her face, she couldn't have seemed more perfect. "Is that when your empty nest syndrome kicks in?"
She nodded, placing her wine back down and pouting at him, "It's when I miss having a tiny baby that sees you as their whole world."
"Pix might not be tiny but she still sees you as her whole world."
"For now," Hanna conceded, "When she takes her first steps I know that goes straight out the window."
"I feel like she's gonna be a late bloomer," Caleb started, thinking about his youngest daughter refusing to let go of his hands all afternoon on the beach, "She just wants to cling onto you all day."
Hanna smiled at him, knowing sometimes he worried about how different Everly was compared to Logan and Mila; she took her time with things, wanting to master something fully before she moved onto the next stage. Logan and Mila had been the complete opposite, charging into things headfirst and moving on as quickly as possible – they'd walked early, talked early, but their Evvy girl was doing things her own way.
"She'll get there," Hanna reassured him, "Right now I want her to cling onto me for as long as possible."
Caleb squeezed her waist as she wrapped her arm around his neck, accepting her plump lips as they dropped down onto his. She enraptured him every day; when he'd just woken up and she was there in bed looking as perfect as ever, when she was chasing around after one of their kids trying to get them to put their shoes on, when she was sat with Everly nursing her quietly… right now she was his sun-kissed goddess.
"What?" She asked, sensing his mind running as she pulled back.
He glanced up at her eyes and then back down to her lips. She knew exactly what he was thinking.
The kids were asleep, it was their first proper night in Antigua. She only had one thing to say.
"Wanna go have sex?"
He grinned at her, his hand tangling in her hair as he brought her mouth down to his. "I really wanna go have sex," He murmured, his lips ghosting over hers.
She bit her lip, fighting a smile as she stood from his lap with the intention of heading downstairs to their room. "Coming?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder at him when he refused to move. Instead he was simply sat there, watching her.
"Let's stay here," He told her, reaching his hand out for her to come back.
"Right here?" Her voice was full of teasing undertones.
"Right here," He swallowed and nodded, downing the last of his beer as their eyes met. She reached for the bottom of her dress, pulling it over her head and letting it drop to the floor, revealing her very naked self. She didn't believe in underwear on holiday.
She sauntered back over to him slowly and straddled his lap, their breathing getting heavier as the simple heat of each other's body pushed temperatures to new heights. After all the years of being together, being intimate was still everything.
And as Caleb used his lips and his tongue to worship her neck, the palms of his hands pulling her down onto his lap, she could only gasp two words as she surrendered herself to him over and over.
"Right here."
This was their holiday. This was their two weeks just being them with nothing else, no one else to worry about. This was their forever in the sun.
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