Alice walked towards Rosie's room trying to force the aching sadness from her body. She wanted to be with Danny, but she wasn't marrying him for the wrong reasons. The only reason she will get married is for love and if he couldn't love her in return then she wasn't getting married. It wasn't what he wanted to hear and to be honest it wasn't what she wanted either but that was the way it was. She wouldn't be able to look Charlotte in the face if she married for anything other than love. She exhaled and pasted a smile on her face and called for Rosie. "Rosie you ready?" entered the room, saw Rosie scrambling to hide something under her duvet.

Alice stared at her. Rosie was shifting uneasily.

"What is it?" Alice previous thoughts about Danny forgotten.

"Nothing." Rosie said innocently.

"Rosie tell me or I'll look!" Alice warned.

Rosie was pained. "Please don't tell dad."

Alice exhaled and shook her head.

Rosie pulled back her quilt cover, Alice was looking at condoms. Alice was zoomed back to 6 years ago and was massively out of her depth once again. "Um…"

"I haven't!" Rosie was quick to say.

"Are you gonna…." Alice began.

Rosie shrugged. "Maybe."

Alice paled and felt sick. Her instinctive reaction was no your not! Don't you dare! "Um…." she struggled.

"Your gonna tell dad aren't you?" Rosie whispered sadly.

Alice made s split second decision and took Rosie's arm.

"Where we going?" Rosie declared panicked.

"Out shopping, if your dad hears this he'll go mental!"

Rosie exhaled in relief then grinned at her.

"Don't look at me like that, you are so NOT off the hook!"

(X)

Alice and Rosie were in the truck, Rosie was beginning to think she got off scott free when Alice pulled into a quiet spot. "So…" Alice began and gestured for Rosie to carry on.

"So what?" Rosie shrugged.

"Condoms, explain."

"C'mon Alice don't be like that, I'm sixteen."

"I don't care Rosie." Alice told her. "Just coz you can doesn't mean you should!"

"Look Alice, we're just messing on and we don't want to risk pregnancy. I'm actually being mature!"

O she had it SO backwards! "Cut the crap Rosie! Having sex isn't messing on, it's serious!"

"It really isn't that big a deal. My friends have all done it - a few times."

"What?" Alice gasped. "I'm talking to their mothers." she muttered.

"No Alice please!"

Ok Alice think - you have to do something! Alice was panicking at the thought of Rosie being so blasé about sex, is this really what kids thought like these days? "You know Rosie you don't have to…."

Rosie rolled her eyes. "He isn't pressuring me if that's what you think, and he hasn't said he loves me either I just….look this is something everyone does."

"So it's peer pressure then?"

Rosie shook her head. "They spoke to me about their first times and they told me it was nothing special, just some boy over them panting and stuff." Rosie twisted her face in disgust.

"Then why?" C'mon Rosie throw me a bone here please!

"Alice it's just sex!"

"Look Rosie, your first time, it's not always some boy panting over you, not if it's with someone you love. It's supposed to be special."

"Was yours?" Rosie challenged.

"Yes. And I was a lot older than sixteen!"

"Yeah right!" Rosie scoffed. Then realised what she said might have sounded like an insult. "No offence."

"I was Rosie."

"How old? Seventeen?"

"Twenty two." Alice replied.

Rosie frowned then laughed. "C'mon Alice you honestly expect me to believe that? I mean you could have come up with a more believable age then twenty two!"

"Well you should believe me it's true."

Rosie frowned. "You swear down?"

"On you and Charlotte. I loved my first and I was twenty two." she said seriously.

"Whoa." Rosie whispered.

"Huh?"

"Your not bad looking, how did you get to that age without doing anything?"

Alice shrugged. "I had chances, but when it actually came down to it I couldn't."

"Why?"

"I didn't love them, or something just felt off."

"Did you ever worry that it would never happen?"

"Didn't think about it really."

Rosie frowned. "SO you really did it for love then?"

"I did. Still love him if I'm being honest."

Rosie's jaw dropped as the pieces began to connect. "Oh please don't tell me…."

Alice couldn't restrain a smile as the disgust raced across Rosie's face. "I won't tell you then."

"Oh. My. God, talk about scarring me for life! God! MAJOR ewwww!"

"Look Rosie, will you do one thing for me huh?"

"What? Don't do it?" she replied dryly.

"Well yeah, but if not then just postpone it. Just test the boy, tell him you've changed your mind and you can't do it yet. If he goes mental is he really worth your first time?"

"I guess not." Rosie said grudgingly.

Alice grinned. "That's my girl." restarted the truck.

Rosie was silent for a moment. "I guess a lot went on with you and dad back then that I wasn't aware of."

Alice nodded. "It did."

"And your still in love with him?"

"Not still, I'm not the same person as I was back then and he isn't the same either. I fell for the new him."

"Even with how he treated you."

"Yeah, that's always been my problem, loving people even if it does me no good."

Rosie nodded. "He is a pain huh?"

"Rosie, you have no idea."

Rosie laughed a little. Looked at her nails. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Well it's kinda personal."

Alice shrugged. "Ask me then I'll tell you if I can answer it."

"Was Charlotte planned? Like did you and dad like well plan her?"

Alice exhaled and thought. "Not planned in terms of me and your dad saying ok let's have a child but to be honest we weren't preventing it either. We spoke about how we weren't being careful one night." Alice shrugged. "Still didn't make us use it so yeah, in a way I guess she was."

Rosie nodded. "So why did you go then? If she was sorta planned?"

"Coz she wasn't planned in that sense of waiting at the end of the month to see if i was pregnant. If she was planned in that sense we would have knew before I left. I didn't find out about Charlotte till about a month after I left."

"O."

"Plus your dad was planning for the future. He had even bought me a ring."

"Really?" Rosie gasped.

Alice nodded.

"Wow."

"I think I finally realise what I did to him when I left." Alice admitted.

Rosie looked at her for a moment. "I think you and dad are gonna be ok. You'll fix everything and have a proper marriage not a pretend one and we'll all be together - happy."

"O Ro…."

"You know Alice." she interrupted. "At first I was like o my god I hate her and dad does too how could he marry her? But now, it's like your are my mum now. It's gonna be great having you and Charlotte around all the time." Rosie shrugged. "And maybe if you and dad wanted you could have another child maybe? Like a brother?" she smiled shyly.

Oh no! was Alice's only thought. She had called off the wedding, she and Charlotte were moving out - and she had the biggest feeling that she was gonna break Rosie's heart. She had some major thinking and planning to do. Maybe this wedding might HAVE to go ahead. She didn't want her and Rosie going back to her hating her. Rosie needed her and to be honest Alice needed Rosie too.

"So what we doing today then?" Rosie asked brightly.

"I have to go to the bank, after that the day is yours to chose. Absolutely anything."

"Shame Charlie couldn't come huh?" Rosie asked.

"Yeah." Alice replied.

"Then again, the way she has been bugging me when my friends are at home. Seriously!"

Alice knew Rosie was playing, she loved showing off her little sister.

"The trials of being the big sister huh!"

"Tell me about it!" Rosie breathed with a smile.

(X)

Alice swung the truck into a empty spot in the car park. "You wanna wait here?"

"Na I'll come, I might end up talking to myself in the truck."

Alice chuckled as they walked side by side to the back. Reached the cash point and saw it was out of service.

"Thought there being no queue was too good to be true." Alice muttered. "We'll sign some money out."

They walked into the bank and were overcome by the heat immediately.

Rosie fanned herself. "Don't they have air con?"

"Sorry people but we are having problems with our electrics. They'll be back on in no time." a voice came over the tannoy.

"We'll go somewhere else and get cashback." Alice told Rosie.

"Good, I think I'll pass out in this heat!" Rosie said dramatically.

"Not on my watch girly!" Alice replied putting her hands on her shoulders from behind.

Rosie grinned and flinched.

"Ah ticklish are we child?" Alice crowed.

"No Alice."

As they walked to the door Rosie trying to bat Alice's hand away they didn't notice 3 men walk into the bank. Balaclavas pulled over their faces, in their hands were very large guns.

"No one move!" the man at the front barked.

The two men who flanked him raised their gun menacingly.

Alice covertly pushed Rosie behind her and swallowed. This was definitely not good!

A/N someone is gonna get hurt...