happy family...

Christine coughed, she almost choked. Joseph handed her a bottle of water. She took it and drank from it.

"Thank you", she said and put the water away. Joseph held her gaze but she diverted it quickly. She felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. She wanted Claire to stop but she seemed to be enjoying it. She has full of energy and is oblivious of the awkwardness that Christine felt. It is surreal for her.

"That is true big sister", Claire who has no plan of stopping removed her seatbelt and came closer to them. She put herself in between Joseph and Christine.

"Claire, be careful. You should go back to your seat and put your seatbelt on", she said to Claire.

Claire pouted her lips, she looked so adorable and sweet. She had her puppy eyes on Christine. Christine can't help but chuckle and she rubbed her forehead. She gestured for Claire to sit on her lap which the child happily obliged. She was seating sideways so she is facing Joseph who was seriously driving the car.

"Big brother, will you let big sister Christine go again?", she suddenly asked him and it took Joseph by surprise. He chuckled and rubbed her hair with his right arm.

"Silly, why would I do that?", he replied while smiling and took a quick glance at Christine.

"I don't know. That is what Mom said", she said while shrugging her shoulders.

"What?", Joseph said and a little irritation can be detected from his voice, although he is good at hiding it.

Christine did not react. She will not be surprised by it. Celine has made it clear that she doesn't want her here for reasons that she doesn't know.

"That is true! She said that yesterday. She said big sister should not have come back because you will just send her away again soon", she said with a sad voice. She likes Christine and she doesn't want her to go away.

"That will not happen", Joseph declared.

The three of them became silent. Joseph was focused on his driving but sneaks glances at Christine. Christine was silent, looking out of the window. She is in deep thought. She doesn't feel that she belong here but she felt that Claire needed some attention. Joseph might be there for her or Jolo but a child needs a mother's tender loving care. She could tell that Claire did not get it from Celine. What is actually wrong with her. Celine hated her from the first time they met which is understandable because they are not in any way related by blood. But why would she hate Claire? She is her own flesh and blood, she came from her. Is it because of the tragedy? But Claire was born even before the tragedy happened. She decided to convince Joseph and Jolo to have Celine checked by a specialist regarding her behavior.

Five minutes and they arrived at the beach. Claire excitedly went out of the car and ran towards the shore. Christine followed her and enjoyed the beautiful view in front of them. They started to chase waves and then run fast once the waves come back.

There are no people on the beach. The beach is still within the Arante's domain. It will actually just take 10-15 minutes by foot but would take 15-20 minutes by car because they had to circle around to get there. It is very seldom for outsiders to venture into this area so it became like a private resort of the Arantes. Joseph is actually going to develop it into a private resort with complete amenities and they are already in the planning stage.

Joseph has parked the car under an Indian almond tree. He opened the back of the car where the food was kept. He took a beach blanket out and rolled it under the shade of the Indian almond tree just beside the car. He then arranged the baskets of food on it. After that, he stood there and watched as Christine and Claire played with the waves.

It was already 10 in the morning so they could already feel the heat of the sun. Christine and Claire decided to run back to where the car is parked to put some sunscreen and to change into their swimming attires. Joseph saw them running towards him, he has a smile on his face. He took their bags out of the car and just when the girls came he handed them the sunscreen lotion.

"Thank you", Christine said and took the lotion from him.

"This is amazing. I have not been here before", Christine smiling showing her pearly white set of teeth just like in the TV commercial she did a few years back.

"Claire, come here let me put some sunscreen on you", Christine said and Claire gladly obliged. Claire removed her shirt and pair of shorts and revealed a kiddie two-piece red swimming suit. Christine applied it to the exposed areas of her body including the face.

"Thank you. Let me put some lotion on you too", she said and took the lotion from Christine.

Christine looked around trying to find a place where she could change into her swimming attire. Unlike Claire, she did not wear it under her clothes.

"There is no changing room here but you can change inside the car", Joseph said when he noticed what Christine was doing. He then proceeded to remove his shirt which showed his sculpted body which turned bronze under the sun. He was wearing a beach short already so all he needed to do was remove his shirt.

Christine gulped a mouthful of saliva looking at him. She scolded herself when she felt herself blushing at the sight of Joseph's naked upper body. She remembered the times when she would secretly watch him working at the barn with his upper body naked. He was sexy back then which was 5 years ago and he is a lot sexier now.

"Big sister, you change now so we can already start swimming", Claire said excitedly which halted her train of thoughts. Joseph looked at her with amusement in her eyes looking at her expression.

"Yeah.... you are right.....I should change now", she stammered and hurriedly went inside the car and slammed the door. She patted her head twice. She felt embarrassed and upset about her own reaction. She should act normal.