AN:Thank you so much for reading our stories. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy writing them. We don't own John & Anna, we just gently use them. We do, however, own Eamon, Will, the twin girls & Percy. If The Journal has given you a laugh or a case of the warm fuzzies, please consider leaving us a review. It really does make our day. :) Handy & Terriejane

~A Day At the Sea!~

By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea!
You and me, you and me, oh how happy we'll be!
When each wave comes a-rolling in
We will duck or swim,
And we'll float and fool around the water.
Over and under, and then up for air...*

May 26, 1928

~ from the Journal of John Bates

After catching the six o'clock milk train out of Downton Station this morning, having an exciting train trip to the seaside town of Whitby, with the boy's noses pressed up against the window the entire way, I can announce we are safely here. Our one day and one-night vacation has begun, and along with it comes Will's fifth birthday. I can hardly believe my baby boy is five! I'd better not let him hear me calling him my baby boy, although that's what he'll always be.

Anna had a small crying spell this morning when he reminded her of that fact, not long after we'd boarded the train. All he can talk about now is leaving home, ready to begin his life of adventure and off going to school too, and that's causing her no small amount of grief. Not that he really thinks that leaving home is an option, but he's quite dramatic that way. Babies grow, and ours surely have. She'll adjust, and I suspect it will be even harder on her when the girls start school.

Thankfully, it was an uneventful ride. The twins slept most of the way, as did my father. And as I mentioned, the boys enjoyed the passing scenery. I did, at one point, hear them plotting a train heist or they could have been planning to stop a heist. With those two, you can never be quite sure.

Now we've dropped our bags off in our rooms, changed into our swimming suits, put our clothes back on over them and we'll be off to the beach which is only steps from our hotel. I'm taking the time to write this while Anna's feeding the girls. It won't take long.

We still have a good portion of the afternoon and all evening ahead of us. We've opened the windows, and a pleasant breeze is blowing in. Anna is determined to go to bed tonight with them open so she can fall asleep to the sound of the surf.

~ John Bates

x

It was starting out to be a glorious day, indeed. The two boys ran as fast as they could, the sand was warm against their bare feet, the sun shining brightly. In their excitement, they screamed each other's names.

'Will!'

'Percy!'

'Wiiiiiillllll!'

'Percyyyyyyyy!' and both threw themselves, belly first in the sand, in front of a row of a colourful beach huts.

'Here John, here's ours, number 6' Anna called, pointing up to the sign over a bright blue hut.'

Each parent carried a girl; Eamon was in charge of the picnic basket and towels. The boys held a bucket and two small shovels. Castle building was on their list of plans.

'Oh, it's lovely, isn't it? It was a good idea to rent one, John,' Anna said, as he unlocked the door with the key he had been given. Will and Percy pushed their way in, taking in everything.

'It's certainly cooler in here. We'll all appreciate that later this afternoon, I imagine,' John stated, kissing Fee's chubby cheek soundly; that made the baby giggle and pressed her wet mouth against her father's neck. 'And look, there are three lounge chairs here on the deck.'

'I wouldn't be at ease knowing they could catch too much the sun,' Anna reasoned. 'Their skin is too sensitive. Will, Percy, don't take your shirts just yet!'

'You are absolutely right.'

'And I'm going to snatch that chair and grab some shade for a nap,' Eamon laughed, rubbing his hands together after placing all the items he carried inside the hut. 'Son, let me have your shirt. I'll wad it up and use it for a pillow.'

'What? No! Use your own shirt. I don't want anything back that's been stuffed under your sweaty neck. How can you sleep so much, anyway?' John asked, shaking his head in amazement.

'Just you wait. You will get where I am one day. It's a matter of being old and tired…' Eamon explained, readying to take a comfortable seat. 'Even if you aren't, you pretend you are and sleep creeps in like a beggar. Believe me; I know what I'm talking about.'

John rolled his eyes.

'What about your old lover, Father?' Anna asked with a grin. 'Don't you want to go say hello? Go for a swim?'

'Ha! I can say hello from up here, thank you ever so much...I'm a sailor, not a swimmer. I like the sound, not the feeling,' Eamon shivered.

'Well then, you will be watching your granddaughters,' she said. 'John and I are going for a swim.'

'We are?' John eyed his wife, trying to feign surprise. He was still a little...unsure about it.

'Of course! I didn't buy these swimsuits for nothing, Mr. Bates.'

'You leave the little lasses with grandad; we'll be watching it all from here. 'I'm looking forward to seeing John fall face first in…'

'Don't worry about me. I know how to swim, Father,' John told the old man.

'Just be careful not to get dragged under by some wild wave or one of those ancient sea monsters,' Eamon continued, trying to suppress a wicked chuckle.

'Dammit Father, you didn't tell the boys your wild tales about sea monsters, did you?'

'Maybe I did, and maybe I didn't. They were good enough for you when you were their ages, weren't they?' Eamon countered.

"And they scared me out of the wash tub for a month, as I recall.'

'That's enough! We came here to have fun, not argue,' Anna said, handing Finn to Eamon.

'But Anna, you don't know what he's been telling our sons,' her husband tried to complain. Anna wasn't having it.

'Boys? Come here, please,' she called out, seeing them run straight for the water. 'Put your caps on. We don't want you sun burning your eyes. Come here, come here.'

'When can we sing my birthday song, Mum?' William asked, plopping his beach bucket on top of his head and looking up at her from underneath it.

'Whenever you want, darling. You're in charge.' Anna smiled, replacing the bucket with his little red cap.

'We can build a cake in the sand and use some seagull feathers for candles.' Percy suggested, emphasising his point by thrusting his shovel into the air. 'A big, huge, grand sand cake!'

'I ain't eating that cake, for sure!' Eamon stated. The girls were already venturing inside the beach hut. Then their grandad shooed them out and put them down in the sand. They laughed every time they tried to take a handful only to see it vanishing away between their tiny fingers. Oh, what fun! When they decided it looked good enough to eat, grandad was fast to brush it off their rosebud lips. 'Silly girls, everything is food to them, hey?'

Anna and John chuckled. It was quite sweet to see Eamon caring for the babies. After all, he had been a caring father himself, until... Even though the old man drove John crazy at times, he was his father, and he loved him and was glad he was back in the arms of his family.

'We'll eat the sandwiches after the cake,' Percy said, laughing at the old man's response.

'Like that better,' Eamon nodded, his eyes attentive on Fee and Finn. His nap at the beach wouldn't happen for sure.

'That's a great idea, son!' John cheered, and the boy couldn't feel prouder of himself.

'Yeah, but not yet, let's go in the water first,' William said, so excited about his first swim in the sea.

'Wait!' Anna stopped the boys from running off again. 'You're not going alone, give us time to undress and then we all go with you.' Percy and Will sighed dramatically and sat on the sand with their bucket and shovel waiting to be used.

Slowly, Anna took her dress off, exposing a rather...risque swimming suit. It was short, sea blue and had a low neckline, trimmed with a white sailor collar. The very latest in styles, like the ones in the fashion magazines. Oh, the feeling of the sun on her pale skin was wonderful. She stretched toward the sky.

'Goodness me…' Eamon glanced around the beach before looking at his daughter-in-law again. 'Are you sure that's allowed?'

With that, red-faced, John reached for a towel and brought it up to cover Anna's figure.

'Don't look,' he told his father with a threatening expression.

'John, don't be daft. It's not like it's the first time you've seen it.' Anna brushed him off, slapping the towel away.

'No, but he's right,' John said. 'Now that I see it again…' he eyed her from head to toe, wetting his lips as he did. '...it is rather revealing, Anna.'

'No more than any of the other woman's,' Anna gestured around them.

'But…' John worried. 'You are not any other woman, are you?'

'Oh...stop it, John.' She shook her head. 'Everyone who's here is used to it. No one wears those long, heavy suits anymore. Not women my age. Are you calling me too old for this?'

'No...not at all.' He brought his hands up in surrender. But the problem was exactly that: she was young and beautiful and, in his humble opinion, she was made for his eyes only. He moaned pleadingly when she turned her back to him to see what the boys were up to.

Oh, she was just so perfect, John thought to himself.

'Let her be,' Eamon said. 'If others look just shoot the look right back at them.'

'The look? What look?' John cocked an eyebrow at his father.

'The 'This is my missus' look. The 'you can look, but you can't touch' sort of-.'

'Father! I don't even like them looking!'

'Are you proud of her? Then be proud of the fact that she's with you. That she's chosen to make you the father of her children. But...now that we're on the matter, what about your swimming suit? Show us.'

'Yes, John,' Anna insisted, as she walked back to them. 'Get out of your clothes; the boys are waiting.'

'All right…' John sighed in defeat, but taking his own sweet time.

'Lord, I don't know which is worse! Dressed or undressed,' Eamon laughed, and John sent him a withering look.

'Come on, John, let's go,' Anna took his hand, dragging him with her. 'He's just teasing you.'

'I do feel naked, though, Anna,' he said, trying to take a peek at his backside as he walked with her. 'I think...can you tell... do you think anything's showing?'

Anna shook her head with an exasperated smile, moving behind her husband just to make sure. She giggled when she saw the way his body swayed as he walked in the sand. No, nothing to see here. She patted his bottom. 'Nothing's showing, John. Let's go!'

x

John and Anna were up to their necks in chilly water. Anna's cheeks red from the cold, but one had to say that once in, it didn't feel so bad. They were sitting on the sand underwater, not wanting to venture too far out, while the boys built castles in a shallow tidal pool; their eyes attentive on them.

That was, until she felt him reach for her, his arms tight around her waist.

'You are so beautiful...and I am so lucky,' John whispered, enjoying the rhythm of waves against their bodies; it would splash against their faces sometimes, but it felt amazingly good.

'Not as lucky as I am,' Anna said, throwing her arms around his neck and nuzzling her nose against his.

'You taste salty,' he whispered again, kissing the corner of her mouth every so softly. 'I like it.'

'Oh yes?'

'Oh, yessss.' They kissed, a deep, slow kiss so unlike ones they normally shared in public. Her hands moved to the back of his head, playing with his wet hair, and he brought her closer to him until she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around his middle. The taste of the salt was triggering all of their senses… if only they had a bed to themselves tonight.

'Yuck!' They heard Will loudly protest. 'Not at the beach! People can see you! Ew!.'

'Love is meant to be shared, son!' John shouted, rising slowly from the water and walking toward the boys. Anna stayed behind laughing. He picked William up then, bringing him as high as he could. 'And are you ready for another swim, young man?'

With that, he gently tossed Will into the water and began to splash him as soon as he came up for air.

'Dad!' The boy laughed, trying to splash his father back. His small hands not doing a very good job.

'Now me, Papa! Me!' Percy jumped up and down, waving his hands in the air.

'Come here!' John told the boy and gladly did as he asked for. After a few minutes of play, he turned toward Anna and began to walk in her direction.

'Now you…'

'No, John, not me,' she pleaded, trying to run away from his grasp, but even with his bad knee, he moved faster in the water. Victory would be his.

'Oh yes you...you wanted to swim, didn't you?'

'John!' He picked her up, but before he could toss her in, he felt a strong tug on his legs and when he looked down, he saw Percy and William were trying to knock him over. He sat Anna down to fight off these small invaders, but when Anna joined in, all was lost. John went down.

'Look!' Percy pointed to the beach. 'Grandad, and Finn and Fee!'

The old man walked to them, Fee in his arms, and Finn, crawling happily behind him. Every other step he would stop to look back at the girl and encourage her to keep following him.

'These little ones were screaming and pointing at you lot,' he said as he neared them. 'I reckon they want to join you.'

'Of course, they want to!' John smiled, grabbing Finn. 'Want to feel the water, Finnie?'

The girl squealed in his arms, trying to jump into a coming wave, and John sat cross-legged on the wet sand, letting the water reach the girl's feet.

'Oh...so cold,' he said, kissing the top of Finn's head as she pulled her feet back, shivering, but immediately returned to kicking them wildly in the surf, splashing both her daddy and herself.

'Isn't it nice?' Anna and Fee joined them on the sand. 'Look, another wave...good girl!'

'Yes, it's nice, but I must say, my love, I have sand in places sand should never be,' he said, kissing her on the nose. 'Where's your hat, Mrs. Bates? Your face is getting pink?'

Anna frowned. 'I'm afraid the wind blew it out to sea. Ah well, a healthy glow is nice too..'

'Yes, something to take home from our trip.'

The girls laughed and called the waves with their hands, and trembled in anticipation when one was approaching, only to start laughing again when they found out it only wet their feet. It was an endless game to them and the two little princesses seemed not to tire of it at all.

Soon enough it came to everyone's attention just how empty their bellies were. It had been a long time since breakfast. The family returned to their blue rented a beach hut.

The sand cake was, in fact, the biggest sand cake ever made. It had shells, feathers and written in tiny beach pebbles, 'Happy Birthday William Bates.' They sang the Birthday song and feasted on tomato and goat cheese sandwiches, fresh blueberries and apples, lemonade, and even a few cupcakes John had bought from a bakery on their way to the beach.

'This was the best birthday ever!' William stated at the end of the day, his arm slung around his brother's shoulder, both looking out toward the sea.

'Yeah, the best birthday ever!' echoed Percy.

x

May 26th, 1928

~from the Journal of Anna Bates

What a birthday celebration my baby boy has had! Both boys, actually, because this day was for Will and Percy on their special days. They're having such a great time. We all are, and it's so much easier than I thought it would be. Four children at the beach? The boys are taking care of themselves, under our watchful eye. I think at one point they were pretending to be pirates burying their plundered booty, and the next they were scouring the beach and shoreline, hunting for signs of sea monsters. Their incredible imaginations were working overtime and I'm sure will be for months to come.

My girls! They're having so many new experiences! There's so much joy in their laughter. No fussy moments, no problems at all. Of course, their grandad helped with them too. He refused to wear his swimming suit, and that didn't surprise me, what with his wooden leg, but he did walk down to sit beside the tidal pool. Will and Percy ran back to the beach hut and dragged a lounge chair down so their grandad could get his nap in. He's sleeping like a baby himself now. I'm sure, his lover, the sea, will lull him to sleep tonight.

And my John, the same John who mere days ago said no power on earth would get him to don his new swimming suit, is sitting bare-chested in the middle of the little tidal pool surround by our children. Judging by the noises coming out of his mouth, he's having just as much fun as they are.

Percy's heading my way…

x

'Mama, Papa says for us to get some money out of his trouser pocket and buy penny licks for all of us.'

'Oh he does, does he? Why can't he go?' I was entirely too comfortable to get up.

'He said he didn't want to make all the ladies swoon when he walked past them. What? I swear that's what he said, Mama!'

I looked over at John, and he flashed me a cheeky grin. 'Oh, I believe you, son. All right, let's go.'

'I'll ask Grandad if he wants one too,' Percy said to me, heading over to wake Eamon.

'No, no! Let him sleep. We'll get him one later if he wants one. Do you think we can carry all of them, Percy?'

'Yeah, we can get them, Mama!'...

x

There, I'm back, and this is tasting so good, I think I will end here are and go join my swoon-worthy husband and my lovely children. Until later.

~Anna Bates

x

'It was a grand day, wasn't it?' John said, walking into their bedroom from the adjoining room that his sons were sharing with Eamon. Tonight it had been grandpa's bedtime story that had put them to sleep. A story about a little John Bates and a wasp nest that ended with a swollen eye and fever. The boys had found it too funny, though.

'Oh yes, Will and Percy were so happy,' Anna sighed, very relaxed after feeding the girls. 'I hope they allow Father a good night.'

'They're all three snoring already,' John chuckled.

'Bless them.'

'And these little ones?' he asked, joining them in bed.

'Well, I think they're too excited to sleep.' Anna watched her daughters, who were too entertained with their soft dolls, making little noises and having a rather interesting conversation between the two.

'Oh, you won't let Mummy and Daddy have a rest, isn't that right?' John said, taking one doll and making it walk along the bed, giving it a funny, shrilly voice that only made the girls laugh out loud, enchanted with their daddy. Fee fell backwards on the bed giggling, and Finn clapped her hands, begging for more.

'Don't tease them,' Anna told her husband, knowing too well there was no way they would fall asleep soon now. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied John poking his tongue out at her; Finn did the same. Fee was trying to push herself up into a sitting position again.

'John!' Anna cried with a shocked expression. 'That's an awful thing to teach them, especially directed at me!' But she couldn't get mad at him after he placed a sound, sloppy kiss on her cheek.

She took the doll from him then, and with a gentle lull, she tried to calm the girls down. Slowly, and after a few tries, Finn and Fee finally gave in to their mother's attempts to lay them down, their eyes beginning to close, but their little energetic spirits were trying so hard to fight it. John watched the scene intently, almost mesmerised by it.

'They smell so good,' Anna whispered, kissing her daughter's cheeks. John did the same, placing soft kisses on their chubby feet. 'I wonder how long they will smell like babies? I miss William smelling like this, don't you? Now he smells like sunshine...and worms and dirt,' she said with a chuckle. 'What?'

He shook his head, 'Nothing.'

She watched as a smile grew on his lips. A smile that reached his eyes and made them teary. She knew too well what this was about.

'Five years ago our Will was just a newborn,' he said. 'Bald, helpless, and with a lion's hunger. Now we are here, he's five, our girls are almost one...ten years ago I didn't think a life this happy was even possible, and now it's so much more than I ever dreamed. We've achieved our happy life. And I love you more and more with each passing day.'

She reached for him then, wrapping an arm around his neck and kissing his temple lovingly.

'No more than I love you. Not ever.'

The babies slept between them, and the night proved to be a peaceful one.

This had been a day no one in this family would ever forget. Tomorrow they would return home, already planning their trip to the sea, next year...

...I love to be beside your side, beside the sea,
Beside the seaside, by the beautiful sea! *

*BY THE BEAUTIFUL SEA
From the musical "For Me and My Gal"
(Harold Atteridge / Harry Carroll) (1914)