Hiya guys, thats for all the nice reviews for the first part of this-It means a lot to me! Hope you like this bit. I researched so anything in this should be medically true unless the internet is wrong again! Hehe. Enjoy and pleeeeeeeease R&R. Thanks x-x

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Carter pushed open the door to Ike's and walked in. Immediately spotting the person he was looking for, he strolled over smiling.

"Hiya Ruby, how are you?"

"John. I'm good. And you? How was work?" the blonde's lips parted in a wide smile.

"It was fine. Tough- we had two 12 year old gang bangers but nothing too heavy." He sat down and waved over the waitress. "Two coffee's please."

Over the other side of the restaurant Luka returned from the men's room.

"Luka, is that Carter over there?" Sam whispered, peering down the restaurant.

"I think so."

"Who's that woman?" Luka shrugged and looked again. "It's not Abby. I've never seen her before." Sam frowned then sighed.

"I s'pose we better be getting back. I don't know how long Alex can keep Joey in bed for and if Beth wakes up it'll be hell." They stood up and left, not without taking one last glimpse at their friend and his companion.

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"Roan...Roan...ROAN!"

"What?" He sat bolt upright in his bed and peered towards the door. "Anni!"

"Ro, I'm scared. It's 2 o'clock and daddy aint home." She crept over to the bed and slid in.

"There's no reason to be scared. Maybe he's pulling a double and forgot to call."

"Maybe he's dead." She whispered.

"No Anni, he's not dead. I assure you, dad is perfectly alive."

"How can you be sure?"

"Cos...I do."

"Ro, what does screwing mean?" Her face turned towards him.

"It's not a nice word, so don't use it or tell mom you know what it means but it's a horrible word people use if someone is sleeping with someone else. Sex."

"Oh. Yuck, that's bad. Why is daddy sleeping with a nurse?"

"He's not. I was joking."

"You didn't sound like you was joking. You was serious before." Anni rolled over and searched her brother's face. "Sometimes I wish mommy and daddy weren't doctors. They're always tired and I never see daddy anymore."

"I know sis, I feel the same. But that's the way things go- people need fixing and mom and dad are the ones to do it." Anni sighed and settled down. Roan wrapped his arms around her and listened as she fell asleep, knowing he wouldn't dream tonight.

-------------------Roan's POV------------------------------

From the moment I woke up this morning I knew it was gonna be a bad day. Firstly, dad's shoes and coat weren't in the hall and mom had red eyes. Secondly, the nausea is back and I had to keep my vomiting noise down so mom didn't hear. She'd only fuss me and I know it's just flu- I'm always the first to catch something at school.

I feel bad for Anni. She's only 8, she doesn't realise the possibility that our father- Mr Clean of Chicago- is having an affair. And if she did know, she wouldn't understand the implications.

Sometimes I wish I was little again, so little that I could just curl up on mom's lap and fall asleep sucking my thumb with my penguin under one arm. Then I wouldn't have to face mom every morning, sniffling over the cornflakes. She's working more and more nowadays, to keep her mind off dad's 'extra curricular activities'. I don't mind cos I usually get to stay at Susan and Chuck's which is cool if Leon Taggart is staying too. He's about 3 months younger than me but we're in the same classes at school, and he's one of the best friends. His parents work with mine, his step dad Luka is a doctor and his mom Sam is a nurse. He's got an older brother Alex who's 24 and two younger sister- Joey and Beth. If I don't stay with Susan and Chuck, I stay with the Taggart's. I love staying at both places, but if I had the choice I wish I was at home with a set of parents that are happy.

I'm a bit worried that my flu has lasted this long but maybe I haven't been able to fight it off since I'm tired. That's probably the reason. I was going to ask mom if I could go to the hospital to be checked but that was the day Maggie rang so I decided to leave it.

Maggie is my grandmother- Mom's mom- but I've always called her Maggie. We don't see her a lot cos she lives in Florida with Uncle Eric and his wife Juliette and his three kids Ben, Freya and Bianca. We sometimes see them at Christmas but since Ben's 12 he tries to hang with me, which sucks and Freya and Bianca are 8 but Anni hates them cos they take all her toys and lock her out of her own room and stuff. So, generally we don't like the Christmases when they're down.

I hate all this stuff about dad and the affair. I hate the way I'm left to look out for mom and Anni; I hate the way I don't get to see my own father anymore. I kinda feel left out, like they don't have time for me anymore.

That's why I've started hanging with Jason and the other guys. They're all 18 and left school, they can all drive and they go out drinking most nights. And they've asked me to go with them! I said yes of course, like I'd pass a chance like that up because mom said I can't. She never notices if I'm gone til 1am, sometimes I wonder if she cares where I am. The only person who knows I'm gone is Anni and she won't tell. She's taken to coming into my room at about 11pm every night and talking about dad, and how she misses him. That's when I get angry at my parents; their 8 year old daughter can't sleep at night for worrying about her father and then she's too scared to speak to her mother cos Anni hates to see mom cry. I wonder what would happen if I wasn't here.

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