It was half past six. The Ormerod household lay silent apart from the little noise coming from the kitchen. Jill and Gordon worked in harmony to create a range of food that would suit their family. It was a glorious day, the middle of summer, and they both had the day off so they'd planned to enjoy the time together and go to the beach. It would give them all some quality time together whilst enjoying the weather and hopefully tire Tom and Katie out. Their supply of energy seemed endless and they like any young children yearned to paddle in the sea and build sandcastles with their parents.

'Have you made Tom's ham sandwiches and Katie's cheese?' asked Gordon who stood in his blue striped pyjamas, blue dressing gown and black slippers

'Yes two each, should last them the day. Have you packed the crisps?'

'Of course although they'll still fight over the same packet'

'There'd be something wrong if they didn't' Jill joked as she made some bottles up for Jonathon

'You wanted ham, cheese and pickle on your sandwiches didn't you darling?'

'Sounds good to me; I'm just going for a shower and then I'll get Jonathon up'

'Okay, I'll finish off down here. We need to leave here by...' Gordon glanced at the clock on the wall 'by about ten to make it worth going'

'Yes sir' his wife added sarcastically as she headed upstairs. It was a question Gordon always wondered, how did his wife have so much energy? A week of early morning and some sleepless nights with Jonathon had left his tired but Jill still managed to look and act as radiant as ever. In his mind she was wonder woman; six months pregnant, a full time job and three young children.

AT THE SEASIDE

Even for half past ten in the morning the beach was fairly busy, lots of families making the most of the glorious weather. Who could blame them? The two Ormerod adults hadn't even had to persuade or bargain with Tom and Katie to get out of the car when they'd reached their destination. In fact they'd flung the doors open and run down the path to the beach, leaving their parents to bring everything. Jill had taken charge of the food bags and followed her two eldest children to find a suitable spot. Gordon was the last one; left to bring Jonathon, the buckets and spades as well as the cricket bats; but he couldn't complain.

Jill set out the two big blankets on the sand for the children to sit on.

'Can we go in the sea now?' Shouted Katie excitedly

'Take your shoes and socks off and then you can, but don't go too far out. And Katie, try not to get too wet darling!' the female ordered. The two of them flung their shoes and socks onto the blankets and were off. Soon enough Gordon joined his wife with two wooden deck chairs he'd managed to acquire from somewhere. Jill helped her husband to set them up and then they got the luxury of relaxing in the British sun.

Jonathan sat on Jill's lap watching Gordon and the other two playing in the sea. It was a sight worth watching and made her smile, although from where she was sat it looked as if Gordon was getting wetter than anybody else; a big kid at heart. And she knew one day in the near future Jonathon would join his father and siblings. And after that so would their unborn child. He really was a perfect father. Kind hearted, fun but also strict.

Building sandcastles

The five of them were sat on the blankets building some exotic weirdly shaped sandcastles.

'Dad! Dad! Look at mine' urged Tom

'That's brilliant Tom. How about I build a big sandcastle and you and Katie go and find some rocks and shells to decorate them with. And if we have time we can even build a moat'

Needless to say the two didn't need any more encouragement. They took a bucket with them to fill up and went in search of some beach treasures. Jill sat beside Gordon with Jonathon in between her legs helping him build a sandcastle

'Right Jonathon what we do is, we fill it up with sand like this' she dictated as she helped her son filled the bucket, but of course he was more interested in putting it in his mouth 'No, it's got to go in the bucket not your mouth you little monster'

'Has mummy not been feeding you enough Jonathon?' his father joked

'He takes after his father' added Jill 'Unlike this baby, unfortunately for my bladder it doesn't seem to take after you and your poor football skills' Jill reached out for Gordon's hand and placed it firmly on her stomach. Gordon beamed as their unborn child kicked his hand. It wasn't the first time he'd felt their child move, but each time was just a special. Gordon leant over and kissed his wife's cheek and Jill leant her head on his shoulder.

'I love you, I love all of you' remarked Gordon beaming