"Justin" she sighed as he grinned and produced a set of keys. "We shouldn't be doing this" When he promised her a night to remember she had raised her eyebrows and looked pointedly down at The Bump as they'd christened it "I don't think so!" she giggled. Justin rolled his eyes and replied in mock exasperation "God woman can't you think of anything else?" She tilted her head to one side as if giving the question serious consideration "Mmmm let me see... errrr... No!" and laughed. He shook his head and laughed. They'd had a bad week and this was his antidote, a gift to cheer her up, a slightly dodgy gift, but with luck no-one would know and no harm done. They were standing outside Body Boost long after the gym had closed for the evening, Justin selected one of the keys from the ring. "Thanks Richard!" he whispered to himself, thankful he'd had a trial run the previous evening and that the owners hadn't thought of changing the locks or the alarm code after he'd left, or suspecting he'd left them behind when he left the Burton household. He dived into the ornamental bushes at the door retrieving the bag he'd hidden earlier and grasping her hand pulled her in after him. He let go her hand and dropped the bag as he hit the numbers on the keypad, it beeped and the lights changed from red to green and they waited, Becca with bated breath releasing it as it became apparent alarms were not going to sound throughout the building. "C'mon!" he tugged her hand again and she followed him along the corridor in the direction of the pool. He left her there and disappeared in the direction of the Juice Bar, she stood and looked around her, feeling bewildered. She'd no idea how he'd managed to get them in and how they'd explain it if they got caught. A sudden noise made her turn to see Justin carrying two chairs slung on his arm and dragging a table. He placed the table poolside and positioned the chairs on either side. Grinning at her and in his best waiter voice invited her to sit. Giggling she obliged although she struggled to get anywhere close to the table, she settled in the end for sitting sideways on to it. Justin unzipped the bag and produced a brightly coloured picnic set, a couple of plastic wine goblets, a bottle wrapped in ice blocks, some of Tony's best canapés rifled from Il Gnosh's freezer and a couple of beach towels. She wrinkled her brow at this, but Justin shushed her, setting the table and placing the bottle in the centre. "Justin..."she was amazed he'd gone to so much trouble, she could see lot of thought had gone into something she had thought impromptu. "Right" he said finally satisfied with his efforts with the table. He pulled her to her feet, "First things first, a swim" "Justin! I haven't got my swimming things, how..." He stopped her protests with a kiss, "Haven't you ever skinny-dipped?" he grinned cheekily. Becca hesitated then caught the mood "Not till now!" she admitted grinning and began to strip. He followed suit then with a wicked grin toppled backwards into the water with a huge splash. He resurfaced spluttering, wiping the water from his face. He smiled and set off up the pool with even regular strokes. She watched him for a while, she'd never seen him in the water before, he slid through it gracefully, doing length after length. She walked to the shallow end thinking ruefully she'd be unable to match his grace with her current shape. The water was warm, enveloping, she rolled onto her back and felt it cocoon her. She shut her eyes for a moment and let herself float, finally relaxing. A splash close by made her open her eyes, he'd come to a halt by her and was stood watching, a smile on his lips. "How is it?" he asked, for reply she gave him a luminous smile. There were no words, they'd had the most dreadful week yet since it all came out yet he'd managed to come up with this, had turned things around with one gesture. All the love she felt was in her smile and she could see it reflected back in his eyes. He moved closer and pulled her through the water to him and kissed her slowly, deliberately. He pulled back and slowly towed her to the side, he resumed kissing her till she felt dizzy from them, from the heat of the water, her senses overwhelmed. She felt herself floating, unreal almost detached. "Becca?" he whispered, she opened her eyes and shook her head infinitesimally, she didn't want this to end. She felt him grasp her tightly, she closed her eyes again and felt the water lapping around them. She gave in to the sensations as they washed over her and felt herself float away...
They sat wrapped in towels on the edge of the pool, dabbling their feet in the water. Becca raised the question they had so carefully shelved away till now "What are we going to do? Where are we going to live?" "Not now Becca, lets just enjoy this. C'mon we've got a picnic!" He stood up and helped her to stand, kissing her cheek and pulling her over to the table. Back in waiter mode he solemnly presented the bottle for her approval, she giggled both at him and at his choice, not the embargoed champagne she suspected him of lifting from Tony's cellar but a bottle of sparkling grape juice eminently suitable for a pregnant lady. "Mmmm" she deliberated "not vintage but it'll do I suppose" she said feigning disappointment. He shot her look of mischief "Tony keeps that under lock and key!" "What and you didn't have one to fit on your magic set?" she enquired. He rattled the set "Worth their weight in gold" he laughed. He shared out the eatables and opened the bottle, they ate ravenously testament to Tony's skills, "Don't forget to compliment the chef when you see him next" she said, Justin looked at her askance, "I don't think so!" he scowled "I need that job!" It sobered their mood, the whole reason for tonight had been to forget for one evening the troubles at home. Justin picked up the bottle and filled their glasses, "Let's drink a toast" he began and seeing the sadness back on her face amended his words "Lets drink to new beginnings, new adventures..." reaching over and placing his hand on her belly "and new arrivals" She smiled back at him, "I do love you Justin Burton", he grinned back wickedly "I know" he said.
They walked back slowly to the flat hand in hand, they'd cleared away the picnic debris but Justin had left the table and chairs "They'll wonder about that for months" he grinned. He'd carefully reset the alarm and locked up, pocketing the bunch of keys. Becca shivered feeling the November chill after the warmth of the pool, "Don't worry" he said "We'll find somewhere" She looked at him, hair still damp, his face full of youthful optimism but this time it didn't feel contagious. She knew that no matter how optimistic he felt that wasn't going to save their home. She smiled back but she knew come tomorrow they would have to start packing, there were no other choices left.
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