Darling (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

11: sand crabs, spaghetti, stay

Tom sat back, digging his feet into the hot sand.  He glanced up at Gemma, making sure that she wasn't going too far into the surf.  She sat down on the hard packed wet sand, and started digging rather ferociously through the sand.

"I'm going to find you a crab. We can name him 'Tom'." She said over her shoulder, and then went back to digging.  Tom smiled, and shook his head.  It was a Monday afternoon.  Surprisingly, he'd managed the day off.  No classes, no bar.  The weather was perfect—hot, but with a great breeze coming off the ocean.

After his morning run, he'd gone to Rosie's to invite them both to the beach.  Rosie had declined, as he knew she would.  She still got around easily, and was pretty active, but she didn't often spend a lot of time out in the hot sun.  Gemma, of course, had been ecstatic about a beach day, as if it weren't something they did on a pretty regular basis. It was free, fun, and wore her out.  All things that Tom enjoyed.  He'd then told Rosie that he'd keep Gemma for the night, if it was okay with her.  Rosie had happily agreed, saying that a night of peace and quiet sounded good.  She had her shows to catch up on. 

They had started it recently, within the last few months.  Tom had been hesitant at first, but when it looked like the adoption would go through, he'd been more willing.  Gemma would spend the night once or twice a week at his house.  Usually Rosie would come over for dinner, and stay to help put her to bed, and then leave after a cup of tea.  They had been doing it more frequently, now that things were official.  He knew it was a comfort to Rosie. Knowing that he would always be there to take care of Gemma.  He never wanted to take Gemma away from Rosie, that had been agreed to from the start.  But Rosie knew that she was older, and who knew what would happen if she ever got sick or couldn't take care of Gemma.  It was a very real possibility.

"You can't name a crab 'Tom'! That's crazy!" Tom shouted down toward Gemma, who turned back and gave him a look as if he were the insane one before turning around to focus on what she was doing.  He settled onto the blanket, enjoying the warmth of the sun as he scanned the beach.  It was pretty empty today, though there were a few families and sunbathers that dotted the stretch of sand.

He reached into the book bag he'd brought, packed with water and snacks for Gemma, and pulled out an old paper back he'd been painstakingly trying to get through.  Lack of time and lack of sleep, lately, had kept him from having much time to read, or really relax at all.  Today was a god send.

"You've got to dig deeper. They swim in the waves and then dig in the sand." Gemma's voice carried, and Tom looked up to see who she was talking to.

Billie was on her hands and knees next to Gemma, digging in the wet sand like some sort of puppy.  From where he was sitting, he could see the top of her white blond head, and the sunkissed tops of her shoulders.  Both Gemma and Billie were intently focused on digging small holes, searching for the illusive sand crabs. 

Tom stood up and made his way down to where they were sitting.

"I see she's recruited you." He said, stopping just in front of them.  Billie looked up, her face bright and happy.  She sat back on her heels then, revealing her simple black bikini. Tom felt the need to look away, so he focused instead on his daughter.  Gemma was covered in sand, but completely oblivious.

"I used to be amazing at finding sand crabs." Billie said, scooping up handfuls of wet sand as a wave crashed behind them.  It was far enough away, that by the time it washed up the shore, it was just a cool rush of water around their legs.

"And?" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a little rusty, I guess." Billie raised a hand up to shield her eyes so she could see him.  Tom put his hands on his hips, their eyes meeting.