Thank you all so much for the lovely replies you've left on the chapters of this fic. I wasn't sure how the last one would go down as it was a little bit of a filler, I think this one has more action in it though. Can I just say how good was Rob in last night's episodes of Coronation Street? Hope you enjoy this chapter. :-)

It was now around eleven o clock and Carla had had her fair share of champagne and was at that moment in time on the dance floor, moving in time to the music with Michelle and Leanne. There were other people around them but none of whom Carla knew. She was pleasantly surprised at how much she had enjoyed the night she'd been a little worried about attending and had been more than willing to accept Michelle's offer of visiting her salon for a treatment in the near future. Carla silently wondered whether Maria had told anyone what had gone on between the two of them but given how people were acting around her she guessed not. She hoped that things wouldn't change if she was to mention it but given that she was married to Liam she was inclined to think they would. Carla bit down on the inside of her mouth and decided not to pursue the thoughts any further in case they ruined her night. Carla turned around when Michelle held her arm and gestured to Steve and Gary who had joined the group on the dance floor. Steve was doing some sort of goofy dance and Gary was stood beside him trying his best not to appear embarrassed. Carla and Michelle turned to one another and then burst into fits of laughter. Carla shook her head a little before leaning over to speak to her, raising her voice a little over the music. "Oh that poor boy" Carla laughed and was about to make a second comment to Michelle when she felt tiny hands on the back of her legs. She frowned and turned around, smiling when she found April and Dempsey. She picked Dempsey up and held her on her hip as April spoke.

"Liam has gone to bed Carla, she wanted her mum"

"Thanks for bringing her over here."

April nodded "you're welcome," she smiled and then retreated, and Carla found herself idly wondering where she was going and if she had to stay up until everyone had left.

"Tired mama" Dempsey stated, yawning.

Carla gave a small smile "I know you are sweetheart, you've done well to stay up this late. You're going to be so tired tomorrow . . ."

"Want my dummy?" Dempsey stated as she made a grab for the glass of champagne that Carla had hold of in her other hand, which she moved from her reach.

Carla nodded and turned around, but felt Michelle's had on her arm once more, which caused her to turn full circle.

Michelle smiled at Dempsey and Carla finished her drink before she could grab it once more, "hello beautiful . . ."

"Hello . . ." Dempsey whispered shyly and Carla ran her hand over her hair.

"She's gorgeous Carla"

"Thank you . . . Listen, I think I'm going to sit with her for a little while. Go and save him will you for goodness sake," Carla laughed, gesturing to Gary with a nod of her head before she walked back to one of the tables. She sat down with Dempsey on her lap. "Have you had fun baby?" Carla asked, opening her bag to get the pink dummy that was in there, handing it to Dempsey once she'd got it.

Dempsey put the dummy into her mouth before nodding in answer to Carla's question. "You won at trucks"

Carla smiled and wrapped her arms around Dempsey securely, "I know I did, did you win after I'd gone?"

Dempsey nodded "I made a new friend"

"Oh did you?"

"Ryan"

Carla smiled "is he nice?"

Dempsey nodded "he plays with blocks"

Carla smiled and kissed her on the top of the head before running her hand over her hair gently as Dempsey settled against her.

"Go bed mama?"

Carla nodded and shifted Dempsey a little so that she could stand up. "Yeah, let's say bye to Liam first though."

Carla held Dempsey on her hip and she nuzzled into her neck, but sat up with a frown after only a second. "Your hair tickles," Dempsey stated, shaking her head a little as Carla laughed and moved her hair so Dempsey could cuddle back up to her once more.

Carla smiled when Liam walked towards her; she met him halfway and stepped to one side on reaching him. "Hey, we've just come to say thank you for a lovely night but we're going to go."

"Already? It's only early . . ."

"I know but she's tired, she didn't have time for a nap this afternoon. She's done well to stay up this late."

"Well why don't you just stay here?"

"You don't have to do that, I'll go call a taxi."

"It's no trouble, really. The beds are already there and made up."

Carla hesitated for a moment before nodding "as long as you don't mind then, I'll take her up to bed now?"

Liam nodded and smiled "night night Dempsey"

Dempsey waved and Carla mouthed a "thank you" at him before turning around, walking through into the hall and then up the stairs. Carla wondered which room she was supposed to use but guessed as long as the one she picked was empty, then he wouldn't mind. On getting to the end of one side of the landing she opened the fourth door and found a large room with a double bed in the middle. There was a large TV on the wall opposite and a small brow tables at either side of the bed. One of them had a lamp on and the other nothing. Carla guessed that the table, which was free of any object, was so that whoever was staying in the room could use it for whatever they wanted. She closed the door to behind her and ventured a little further inside. Either side of the wall with the TV on there were two doors, one of them was glass and on opening it Carla found a walk in wardrobe which made her gasp quietly. She closed the door and walked to the other, and behind it she found a large en suite bathroom. Carla closed the second door and shook her head a little in awe at how beautiful the room was. Underneath the window there was a seat that was cushioned and built into the wall and Carla smiled, imagining sitting by the window thinking about what was going on.

After pausing by the window for a moment Carla turned around and walked over to the bed with Dempsey, she took the little shoes off that she was wearing and placed them on the floor before taking the clip out of her hair. She put it to one side on the bed and pulled back the thick cover before putting Dempsey in.

"Big bed" Dempsey stated and she moved so that she was laid out in a starfish position, causing Carla to laugh.

"It is, isn't it?" she smiled while getting up to close the thick luxurious curtains that were hanging by the window. After closing them, Carla kicked her shoes off and walked around the bed to lay down beside Dempsey, draping her arm across her gently so that she could run her hand up and down her back, something that she knew soothed her.

"You stay mama?"

Carla nodded "of course sweetheart . . ."

There were a couple of moments of quiet between them before Dempsey spoke up once more. "Liam, Liam's daddy?"

Carla nodded "yeah"

"Where my daddy?"

Carla stilled for a moment and swallowed hard at what Dempsey had asked, Carla had prepared herself for that question in the days after she had ran from Frank but when it wasn't asked she'd allowed herself to relax a little and tried to forget about it. Dempsey had spent very little time with Frank due to his business and social life and she guessed her lack of asking about him was due to those reasons. Carla found herself with no idea what to say to her daughter and there was a lengthy pause before she managed to force an answer, her voice a whisper. "What?"

"Where my daddy? He gone?"

Carla pressed her lips together for a moment as a way of delaying have to answer, and then nodded, before speaking up in answer to what Dempsey had asked. "It's just me and you baby . . ."

Dempsey hesitated for a moment, almost as thought she was processing what she had been told before she spoke once more. "I love you mama" she whispered and cuddled up to Carla in bed as she slowly drifted off.

Carla whispered that she loved her too and ran her hands over her back as she settled against her. She couldn't deny that she was shocked at the question but she was glad of how Dempsey had reacted to the answer. Carla was unsure how she would have reacted if she had given any hint that she had missed Frank, on one hand she would have wanted to stop that and let her visit him but on the other she wouldn't have for her safety and so she never had to go back there. The thought of doing so made her feel sick to the stomach.

Little did Carla know that in the other side of the bedroom door Liam stood after going to check on the two of them, he had caught the conversation she'd just had with her daughter and he couldn't help but feel he had trespassed into their lives in some way he shouldn't have. It hadn't been deliberate but he knew that he knew something he shouldn't and that even if he had been given the chance he wouldn't have erased his new knowledge of the woman that he was growing fonder of by the day. Liam also noted the change in Carla's tone when she spoke about Dempsey's father and he couldn't help wanting to know more about what had happened to them before they had moved.

A couple of hours later after leaving Dempsey once she had nodded off, Carla had gone back downstairs to the party and had continued drinking champagne and getting to know people. She had just said her goodbyes to Michelle who was the last to leave and after Liam had closed the front door she found herself standing opposite him in the large hallway unsure of what to say. "So . . ."

Liam grinned, "do you want another drink?" He asked, gesturing to the empty glass she was holding.

"Yes please"

Liam took Carla's hand and led her though into the living room, picking two glasses up on his way. Once she was inside he gestured to the couch "you can sit down sit down," he smiled and Carla found herself doing just that. Once he had poured the drinks Liam handed one to Carla and then sat down beside her. "So, have you enjoyed yourself?"

Carla nodded "yeah, I really have . . ." she paused for a moment; almost silently debating with herself whether she should add what she was thinking. In the end she decided to and spoke up again. "I did think about backing out at the last minute tonight . . ."

Liam raised his eyebrow "why?"

"I only knew you and I didn't want to feel like a spare part . . ." she admitted

Liam smiled "Carla, do you really think I would have left you on your own?"

Carla gave a shy smile and shook her head.

"So if I was to invite you again would you come?"

"I think I would yeah . . . If for no other reason than the champagne."

"Hey" Liam pouted playfully.

"What, it's really good champagne" Carla smirked.

Liam pushed her to one side playfully "is that supposed to console me?"

Carla kicked her shoes off by the couch and nudged him with her foot "behave or you'll make me spill this . . ."

"April will clean it up."

"If you stop it she won't have to . . ."

Liam smirked "what are you going to do about it?"

Carla nudged him with her foot once more and squealed and laughed at the same time when Liam grabbed it. "Stop it, give me my foot back . . ." Carla whispered, the small smile on her expression letting Liam know that despite trying to tell him off for what he was doing she was enjoying their joking around.

"Or what?" Liam smirked before pulling her leg gently so that she slid closer to him on the couch.

Carla laughed once more at his action before letting her head rest gently against his shoulder as Liam moved his arm to wrap around her. "Dempsey is getting quite fond of you and little Liam."

"Good . . ." he smiled "I'm fond of the both of you too."

Carla smiled "are you this friendly with all of your employees?"

Liam shook his head and whispered "you're special, Carla"

Carla raised her eyebrow a little, a small smile playing on her lips. "Really?"

Liam nodded and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose and Carla smiled. "You can be quite cute"

"Thanks, I think"

"It was compliment . . ."

Liam smiled "in that case thanks for the compliment." He hesitated for a moment before turning to Carla to speak to her once more albeit a little unsure of how she would react to his suggestion. "I was thinking . . ."

"Is that not a bit dangerous?"

He smirked "oh very funny . . . No, I was thinking maybe we could go to the beach one day with Dempsey and Liam, they seemed to enjoy the pool when we took them . . ."

"I think that's a lovely idea"

"So next weekend maybe?"

"Won't Maria have something to say about us spending the day together?" She raised her eyebrow a little.

"Forget about Maria, if she has something to say about it I'll talk to her."

"I'm surprised she's not here."

"I told you she was away . . ."

"I know . . . Does she know about this?"

Liam laughed "yes" he nodded "but she chose to spend the weekend with her mum rather than attend."

"Well, she doesn't know what she's missing."

Liam smiled and gave Carla a gentle squeeze, sitting in a comfortable silence with only the music playing softly in the background. Given how long they had known each other Liam knew that it probably should have been much more awkward between them, but it wasn't. It felt like they had known each other for so much longer and in that moment Liam found himself questioning his marriage. But stopped the thoughts quickly when it became apparent which path they were heading down. The music playing in the background went to the next song on the CD and it was then Carla next spoke. "Oh, I love this song, dance with me?"

Liam's expression must have given away how uneasy he was about the request and before he could answer she pouted like he often did. "Oh come on, don't be shy . . ." she smiled, her voice taking on a teasing undertone as she spoke to him.

"Oh how can I say no to you?" he grinned.

Carla smiled and got up from the couch, now considerably shorter in height as she had no shoes on. Standing opposite Liam, Carla looped her arms around his neck gently and he placed a hand either side of her hips as they moved in time to the music. As the song progressed the two of them gradually got closer and Carla pleased her head against his shoulder gently. "I don't know what you were worried for, you have some moves there . . ."

Liam smirked "oh is that so? I always thought I had two left feet . . ."

"That must have proven very difficult when you went to buy shoes . . ."

"Oh so you think you're a comedienne now?" he raised his eyebrow and Carla laughed, moving back a little, though remaining close enough so that their noses were almost touching. Liam found himself smiling back at her, but within seconds the atmosphere in the room had changed and Carla raised her hands to push his hair back gently. Liam dipped his head a little and hesitated for a moment before letting his lips brush Carla's. She gasped, then pressed her lips a little more firmly against his, taking a small step closer to him, further into his embrace. "Are you sure about this?" Liam whispered.

Carla nodded "I want this . . . I want you . . ."

Liam stepped back a little and then held his hand out to Carla for her to hold. "Let's go to bed . . ."