Thank you for the love you have bestowed on this story and the patience you have exercised for the updates. This chapter is lighter than the ones before it. Enjoy!

Renee might have been thoughtless to the point of being cruel, but her visit did result in a frank conversation between Isabella and me that cleared some very important issues between us. We had respected each other even before that, but after understanding the past better we could truly move forward.

I felt lighter and happier than I had felt in the past months. On New Year's Day, which fell on a Sunday, I asked Isabella if we could take the children to the beach. She smiled and agreed that it was a good idea.

"Do you know how to swim?" I asked. Growing up, I had had classmates who had never learnt to swim, or if they did, they preferred the school pool rather than the Arabian Sea. Not clean enough, their parents had decided for them. Thankfully, my parents had not been so squeamish.

Although Rose wasn't finicky about the residue of marine life in the water, she never stayed in the sea for long. After a while she would get out, dry herself and lounge under one of the many huge, colourful umbrellas dotting the beach. When I would have my fill of swimming and join her, she would tease me for looking like a lobster!

And of course, once Jake was born she refused to leave him alone and go swimming. By leaving him alone I mean leaving him under my watch—she said she trusted me but our baby boy was just too mischievous and too quick on his feet.

It was true. Jake was a sweet boy, but he did tend to wander off as soon as he got a chance. Also, he was completely fearless of strangers. The thought of him getting lost on the beach or being abducted was enough to give Rose nightmares.

Therefore we had decided to give the beach a miss until he was a little older, so that we could make him understand it was important to stay with one of us while we were in a public place.

Isabella assured me she could swim like a fish, so I sat Jake down and made sure that he understood where we were going and what all he was not supposed to do there. After a few minutes I heard a laugh, quickly stifled, and looked up to see Isabella pressing her lips together, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

"I am just making sure he will be safe there," I frowned. It was not something I could take lightly, could I?

To my surprise, she reached forward and rubbed her thumb on my forehead as if erasing the frown. "I know you worry about him, Edward, about both of them, but you are scaring him with all that can go wrong at the beach. You know, if you focus only on the worries, you will forget to enjoy their childhood. Please remember that you are not alone, that I am here to share your responsibilities. Now, why don't you change and I will put together a picnic basket, hmm?"

Her touch and her words were soothing, and I smiled, remembering how Rose used to calm me whenever I was stressed because of anything work-related. Almost instinctively I took her hand and put it in my hair, drawing her close at the same time so I could press my face against her stomach. She must have understood my unspoken request, for her fingers began to comb my hair gently. I closed my eyes and exhaled, utterly relaxed.

After a minute or two had passed, I heard Jake ask Isabella what she was doing.

"Well, you know how I put oil in your hair and massage it?"

"But you didn't put oil in daddy's hair," he observed wisely.

"But it still makes him feel good," said Isabella, using both of her hands to massage my scalp. I might have moaned a little.

Also, I noticed how good she smelled. I put my arms around her waist and held on.

"I can help you," Jake piped up.

The next moment I felt his little hands on my head, patting me and then pulling my hair. I chuckled and pulled my son into my lap. As I tickled him, Isabella laughed. It was a very pleasant sound.

"I will go get Angela ready." She ruffled my hair once and left.

-ooo0ooo-

The beach was crowded, of course, it being Sunday and also a nice warm day. The breeze ruffled my hair as I searched for a suitable place to sit down. Jake was so excited he could not decide what to look at—the multi-coloured beach umbrellas, the people roaming around or the boats zipping in the sea. He gazed at everything with wide eyes, his mouth slightly open with wonder. Angela seemed curious too, pointing at this and that and babbling, but I could not say what all she understood. She was barely ten months, after all.

Finally we chose a spot not too secluded but not too close to the crowd. I put down the bags belonging to the children and the picnic basket, and spread an old blanket on the golden sand. Jake immediately wanted to go into the water, so I asked Isabella if she would be okay looking after Angela by herself.

"Of course I will be okay. Go enjoy with Jake," she assured me.

Both Jake and I were wearing swim shorts under our clothes, so it took us only a minute to take off our clothes and walk to the shore. I thought a gentle introduction would be better, so at first we merely let the waves lap at our feet. Jake found it great fun and squealed every time the water wet his feet. Soon he wanted to go further in.

"Don't let go of my hand," I warned him for the tenth time.

"Yes, Daddy," he nodded eagerly.

The water there was fairly calm, with only a few small waves breaking on the shore now and then, so I held him and waded in until his feet no longer touched the sand. Holding him close to me, I encouraged him to kick his feet.

"Daddy, look, I am simming!"

His lisp was so adorable that I didn't have the heart to correct him. I told him that he would become a very good swimmer one day if he kept on practising.

Of course I wished Rose was alive to see her son enjoying the water, but I told myself I would not spend the day being sad. My children and Isabella deserved to be happy again, and so did I.

When he had had enough, I floated around for a bit with Jake lying on my chest. It was a peaceful feeling.

He became hungry soon, of course, so we went back to where Isabella and Angela were waiting. Jake prattled to Isabella about the soft sand under his feet and the waves breaking over them, and his feat of simming. She smiled and encouraged him, and then opened the picnic basket and took out sandwiches and fruits.

I was itching to get back into the waves and practice my strokes, but I still asked Isabella if she wanted to go first.

"It has been a long time since I had a chance to go swimming," she confessed. "Are you sure you can handle both of them?"

"I think so," I said. "Jake can help me look after Angela. He is a big boy now. Right, Jake?"

Jake grinned proudly and said yes, he could. Also, he wanted to build sand castles like some other children were doing, so we were all set.

Isabella went to the nearest changing room, appearing in a one-piece navy blue swimsuit in a few minutes. As swimsuits go it was fairly decent, but I had never seen her in one. I gawked at her for a brief moment before remembering our situation and looking away.

She kissed both the children and then playfully pecked my cheek. I felt my face heating up and cleared my throat, feeling as awkward as a thirteen year old. What was happening to me?

As she walked off, I stared at her lean back. Slender would be the right word for Isabella. She was tall for a woman, and thin but with gentle curves. Her limp, which I understood had resulted from an accident in childhood, was barely noticeable as she walked on the sand. I frowned, thinking how conscious she must have been of it as a teenager, perhaps even as an adult. Thankfully, she didn't pay much attention to it nowadays.

Jake demanded that we start making a sandcastle, so I pushed away my gloomy thoughts and showed him how to dig a bit so we could have wet sand for the castle. Angela was not to be left behind of course, so she too joined the digging and the patting, squealing with delight intermittently. Before we knew, almost an hour had passed and Isabella was back from her swim, dripping wet and looking more like a mermaid than a human being.

She admired the castle we had made, while I admired her.

"I will go change, then you can have your turn," she offered, taking off her cap and shaking her head. Long, dark locks came tumbling down with the movement.

How had I never noticed her hair before? Oh yes, because she always kept it tied in a neat bun.

Wrapping a towel around her torso, Isabella left for the changing-room.

"Daddy, can I have ice cream, please?"

Jake's eager question brought me out of my daze. I had been ogling Isabella as she walked away, in front of my children. What kind of father was I?

But she is your wife, whispered a voice inside me. And it is not just a physical want, is it?

No, it wasn't only lust, I knew that. I truly liked and respected Isabella. Even though it had been less than a year since I met her, she had become my best friend and confidant. She would never replace Rose in my heart—just as my uncle and aunt couldn't replace my parents—but she had certainly filled the emptiness in my life. Her gentle presence around me and her devotion to Jake and Angela helped my heart ache a little less, my eyes sting fewer times than before. Simply put, she helped me heal.

Could I make her happy as well?

"Daddy?"

"Yes Jake, you can have ice cream. Just let mummy come back, okay?"

Since Angela was too young to have ice cream, and since she would have raised a storm if Jake ate it in front of her, I took him to the ice cream vender after Isabella was back. Pleased as punch, he licked his cone carefully, swinging his legs and asking me a dozen questions in between.

How big was the sea? Where did the waves come from? Did the sun go inside the sea in the evening? Where did it live? Why didn't the moon give light like the sun?

"Can I go in one of those boats, Daddy?" He pointed to a small boat in which seven or eight people were taking their seats while the boatman held it steady.

"When you and Angela are a little bigger, son. These boats rock a lot and they are small. You might fall out."

"And Angela?"

"Well yes, she too might fall out."

"But Bella-mummy can hold her. And you can hold me. Then we won't fall."

My boy was too smart for his own good.

"We will hold you, but there is still a chance that one of you might fall into the sea. We can't take the risk."

"I can sit on a fish and come back to you."

What did I say just now? Too smart.

"What if the fish takes you farther into the sea? We won't be able to find you then!"

He pondered over it for a moment.

"I will tell it I will give it ice cream if it brings me back to you!" He looked at me, eyes shining with confidence that no fish would be able to refuse such an offer. I shook my head and ruffled his hair.

"Time to go back, Jake. I will go for a swim and you stay with mummy, okay? Don't go anywhere."

He promised me he wouldn't, and Isabella told me they would make a bigger castle and decorate it with shells.

When I came back from my swim, it was clear they were having a wonderful time, all three of them giggling together. I dressed quickly and joined them, eager to find out what was amusing them so much.

"We have made a tunnel," explained Isabella, half her arm inside the sand as she bent sideways to balance herself.

"I have to find mummy's hand," added Jake, almost all of his arm in the tunnel they had dug. "Ugh, where is it? I caught it last time."

It reminded me of the game I played as a child with my friends. I smiled. "Can I try, Jake?"

"Okay." He wiggled his arm out and shook it. "Your arm is longer than mine."

So logical. I imitated Isabella as I situated myself comfortably and inserted my hand inside the tunnel. Jake and Angela watched me, their expression expectant.

"Be careful or it will fall down," Jake cautioned me wisely. I pressed my lips together so as to suppress a laugh at his seriousness.

"Okay, son."

As I wiggled more of my arm inside, very carefully, my fingers touched Isabella's for a fraction of a second before she drew them back. My eyes met hers over the tunnel and she giggled. I think I did too.

"You can't hide from me," I said in a sing-song, trying to sound like the bad guy from a horror movie.

Both the children laughed at my bad imitation, even though they wouldn't know the difference.

"Oh no, please don't catch me, Mister Villain," Isabella said, playing along. However, her fingers tickled my palm and then retracted quickly. Ooh, a challenge. My competitive side woke up, demanding that I win.

I needed strategy.

"Okay, I give up. You are too quick for me." I sighed and pretended to be taking my arm out. As I had thought, she relaxed, smiling widely. Before she could withdraw, I pounced, moving my hand fast and catching hers in a tight grip.

Isabella laughed, surprised. "You cheated!"

I shrugged. "I got you, didn't I? Now I am not letting you go."

I really didn't want to. It wasn't the first time I had held her hand, but somehow it just felt good, as if it was meant to be in mine.

Her eyes softened. "Never?"

And I knew it was more than this moment. She was asking me about our life together, whether I would be able to give all of me to make an us. I also knew that what had once seemed impossible no longer seemed so, though it would still take some time.

And so under the blue sky and above the golden sand I made a promise to Isabella, the woman with a heart of gold fate had brought into my life, giving me a second chance at happiness. I squeezed her hand, delicate yet strong, and looked into her eyes, conveying the sincerity of my thoughts and words.

"Never."

A.N. The tunnel game is straight out of my childhood. We had so much fun digging in the sand and chasing the other person's hand!

What did you love the most about going to the beach as a child?

A couple of chapters more, I think. The next one might change the rating of this story, though there won't be anything explicit. That wouldn't suit this tale!

A few readers had felt earlier that Isabella had been shortchanged in their marriage. Do you still feel so?