What's this? She's actually keeping her word and updating regularly?! Don't go getting your eyes checked kids, this is indeed a new chapter. I'm a lot happier with this one, probably because things are starting to happen in it. I know its lovely to see Pete and Allie happy and fluffy but without a little drama, they simply wouldn't be Pete and Allie ;)

Read, enjoy and if you would be so kind, please review.

Consider this one a dedication to all of you who are lovely enough to PM me about this story and put up with me, in particular the gorgeous Edy12345, NL92, msgemgem and my darling LittleMissBovver who gave me my first ever review and has kept kicking my arse ever since ;)

x

"If I find one more shred of your fucking lizard skin on me, I swear I'll beat you to shit with your own shoe,"

Pete Dunham grinned, casting a lightening fast glance up at Swill and Benjamin who were sat on the other side of the breakfast bar tentatively slicing their respective piles of vegetables Allie had given them orders to prepare for dinner.

"We're not all swimming in melanin, brother," the scot mumbled, peeling a rather large piece off of his shoulder and placing it on Swill's head, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get rid of it given his hands were covered in chilli.

"Get it off me!" He shouted, shaking his head and shooting daggers at the man next to him. "They'll never find your body, you fuck,"

Benjamin blew him a kiss and then took a long sip of his beer, turning his attention to the blonde who was concentrating far too hard on tying a piece of string around the fillet of beef he'd spent the last half hour seasoning. Whoever had bought Pete Dunham a cook book for Christmas had a lot to answer for because the bastard was obsessed with it.

"So where's the lady of the house?" he raised an eyebrow. "Or have you gone full hog with this cooking thing and swapped genitalia?"

Flipping him the finger, Pete stood back from his work and nodded proudly before picking it up and placing it in the oven, cursing when he caught his finger on the side of it.

"At work," he called over his shoulder as he ran his hand under the tap.

Allie had returned to work a few days after they had gotten back from holiday against his protests; not only did it mean he wouldn't be able to watch her and make sure she was ok, but it meant being near Nathan again and that wasn't something that made Pete jump for joy. Not that he didn't trust her, he could just see that smug twat of a yank getting in digs wherever he could. But that was fine. If he upset Allie, then at least Pete had a half decent reason to mow him down with his car.

"How's she doing?"

Pete sighed he'd been asking himself that question ever since they'd come back and reality had begun to sink in again. He'd been grateful once they'd stepped inside to see that as per his insistence the upholsterers had come in and replaced the rug in the hall, the one that no matter how hard he had scrubbed still bore signs of her blood. Shuddering at the memory, he turned off the tap and moved back over to the kitchen island, sliding into one of the stools and laying his hands on theher t table, breathing deeply as he did so.

"She's alright," he conceded. "She's Allie again, if that makes sense. The holiday helped a lot, I mean..." he ran a hand through the hair that was fast growing on his head and wrinkled his nose, making a note to ask her to shave it for him tonight. "I just want her to be happy."

"Speaking as someone who slept in the villa next door, I think I can safely say job fucking done with that," Dave shook his head from where he was reading the paper at the kitchen table, nursing a large cup of black coffee after what had felt like the worst flight of his life.

"Fuck off, we weren't that bad," Pete laughed, leaning back in his chair and taking a sip of beer.

"Are you fucking kidding me, brother?" Benjamin shook his head. "At one stage it sounded like something that Attenborough should be narrating,"

Grinning smugly, Pete shrugged and then caught the small movement of the kitchen door, his blue eyes narrowing as he caught the flash of blonde.

"Oi," he spoke loudly. "Have you lot ever noticed how much Poppy smells?"

The boys frowned at him until he jerked his head towards the door and grinned. Dave laughed, shaking his head as he straightened up in his chair and cleared his throat.

"Yeah, I've noticed that...smells like trolls feet," he winked.

"And cheese," Benjamin chimed in. "The really nasty kind, you know with the blue bits in it,"

"Hey!"

They all fought to keep their laughter in check as the girl in question bounded through the door, blowing a rogue blonde curl out of her eyes and standing there with her hands on her hips, ready to take them all on. If ever there was a doubt she was Allie Harding's daughter...

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Pete jumped up, pretending to be scared.

"I am not a troll!" Poppy barked, crossing her arms. "And I'm Poppy Scarlet Dunham,"

"Poppy Scarlet Dunham?" Pete frowned. "Does that ring a bell with you boys?"

"Nope,"

"Never heard of her,"

"Sounds like a trolls name."

"Well your name is Dave," she stared at him wide eyed, her tiny arm outstretched as she pointed at each of them in turn. "Your name is Benjamin, your name is Swill and your name is Pete and you're my daddy,"

Pete stared at her for a moment, catching the smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth; the girl was a menace and much like her mother, she knew exactly how to break him.

"How did you know all that?" he pointed at her. "There's only one explanation for this...she's a witch!"

He ran forward and scooped her up, throwing her over his shoulder and grinning at the loud giggle she gave, beating her tiny fists against his back as he walked with her outside towards the pool.

"Chuck her in the water, she'll melt!" Swill called.

"I'm on it," Pete shouted back. "One...two...three!"

"Daddy nooooooo!" she shrieked with a laugh, giggling harder when he fell down with her onto the grass and sat her in his lap.

"Oh, now I recognise you," Pete slapped his forehead. "Poppy Scarlet Dunham...yep, rings a bell."

"You're silly," his daughter laughed, plucking at the zipper on his sweatshirt.

"Yeah and you're meant to be doing your homework," he tucked her hair behind her ears. "What gives, kiddo?"

"I miss mummy," she shrugged. Pete knew how hard it had been on her the past few weeks, though she didn't understand what had gone on and he had no fucking intention of telling her, she was wise enough to know that something had been wrong.

"Yeah, well she'll be home from work soon, won't she?" he nodded. "Which is why you need to get your homework done so we can all hang out and watch films and muck about,"

Her little face seemed to light up and he felt a sudden burst of pride; if he said so himself, he had this dad thing down.

"Ok," she grinned, jumping down from his lap and bending over to quickly scoop up a piece of paper that had fallen from her pocket.

"Oi, oi," Pete raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Poppy told him quickly, her green eyes wide.

Chuckling quietly, Pete held his hand out and wriggled his fingers; the girl was worse at lying that her mother and that said a lot. Watching her squirm under his gaze, he bit his lip to keep from laughing. Luckily for him, she was as easy to break as her mother.

"Come on," he teased. "Its not some boy sending you love notes, is it?" His tone was only semi joking. Five years old or not, he'd been having a serious chat with any little shit trying to charm his daughter. God help the girl when she got to the age where dating would actually be a factor; between him and the boys, whoever was lucky/stupid enough to date Poppy Dunham was in for a real treat.

"No," she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Its from the postman,"

"Oh really?" Pete laughed. "And what did he have to say?"

Shrugged, Poppy handed him the bit of paper and leant forward as her little fingers pressed the slip of paper into the palm of his hand, her voice barely above a whisper.

"He said it was a secret, so you have to promise not to tell,"

"Oh," Pete nodded and winked at her. "Scouts honour,"

Opening the small scrap, Pete Dunham felt his heart drop; it fell like a slowly beating lump into his stomach and grew rapidly, making him feel as though he might be sick.

"What is it, Daddy?" she peered over, frowning slightly when he shoved the note quickly into his back pocket and then grabbed her gently, holding her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him.

"Who gave this to you, sweetheart?" he asked her, making sure to keep his voice even so as not to frighten her.

"He said he was the new postman," she told him slowly. "That we'd see him again soon,"

Cursing inwardly, Pete hugged her and kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent and trying to keep his hands from shaking; the fear coursing through him had now turned to full on rage and it was taking every fibre of his being to keep it in.

"Next time you see him, you tell me, ok?" he murmured to her. "And you don't talk to him. Ever,"

"Ok," she nodded against his chest. "I'm sorry, Daddy,"

"Don't be soft," Pete pulled back and kissed her nose. "You haven't done anything wrong, you hear me? Does this look like an angry face?"

He stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes, only able to hold it for a moment before he began laughing in spite of himself; her giggle was infectious and even with the heated adrenaline running through his body, he felt momentarily comforted.

"Now go on," he turned her towards the house and gave her a playful push forward. "Get Benjamin to help you with your homework, NOT Uncle Swill," he warned her quickly, remembering her history project on a famous figure which had -to his amusement but not her teachers- ended up being Bruce Wayne.

He watched her skip into the house and held his breath until he saw Benjamin hoist her up onto he shoulders, doing a lap around the breakfast island with her and then giving her the cooking spray to use on Swill, who given his hands were still covered in chilli was utterly defenceless.

He knew she was safe inside with the boys, he needed to be able to see her, to know where she was. Plucking his phone from his pocket, he found Allie's number and pressed dial, needing her home, too.

The brightness of her voice filled his ears and he was so relieved for a moment that he didn't realise it was her answerphone, cursing himself when he realised it was. He listened intently, focusing on the softness of her voice, picturing her gorgeous lips as they moved and his heart rate slowed somewhat.

"Allie..." he breathed and then fought to get himself in line, not wanting to scare her any more than he had wanted to scare their daughter. "Babe, I uh...I just wondered if you knew where the grill pan was..." wincing at the appalling quality of his lie, he reminded himself again not to think on his feet ever again. "I just want to get dinner right, I know you'll be on my arse otherwise." He smirked. "I love you, see you when you get back,"

Letting out a painful breath, he reached into his pocket again and retrieved the paper, smoothing it out so that the print was more legible.

He had made a point of avoiding the papers following Sarah Hatcher's death, knowing that a woman shooting herself in the most well known London hospital wasn't exactly going to be back page fodder. Having witnessed it first hand, he didn't want anything more to do with it.

But now here it was in black and white, reminding him. Her obituary.

Mother and wife.

Beloved aunt.

Tracing his fingers over the handwritten scrawl, he fought the urge to tear it to shreds right then and there. He knew what needed to be done, this was just a wake up call that he needed to do it sooner rather than later; and that was something he had no problem with whatsoever.

"Oi, Pete!" Swill called. "I don't wanna cause a panic or nothin' but I'm almost finished my beer, where the hell is the rest?"

Shaking his head with a faint chuckle, he scrunched the note into his fist and buried it deep in his pocket, striding towards the house and letting his mind wander briefly back to the task at hand, all the while feeling the weight of it, the words written in Eddie Hatcher's handwriting swarming around his brain like a hot virus.

See you soon, Allie.

"Ugh, I'm spent,"

Allie flopped down onto the sofa, content and full; sipping her red wine slowly, she placed it on the table and sighed happily, snuggling back into the large feather cushions and waiting for Pete to join her.

"What about dessert?" he appeared a moment later, holding two bowls and giving her the look of a disappointed puppy. He'd slaved all afternoon on this crap.

"You're serious?" she giggled, sitting up and groaning as her body protested, silently begging her to keep still.

"Alright," Pete turned away from her slightly. "I'll just 'ave to eat all this banoffee pie on my own,"

"Banoffee?" she squealed, sitting up on her knees with new found strength and lunging at him. "Uh-uh, you didn't mention banoffee, you sod. Gimme!"

Laughing and holding out the bowl to her, he watched as she munched happily, making a few noises that turned his thoughts to something else entirely. Sitting down next to her, he watched her and felt his heart skip as it always did.

She looked like her old self again; her skin was still slightly tanned from their holiday, her honey locks hanging down around her face in tendrils; the cream coloured halter neck dress she was wearing hugging her every curve. The woman was perfection.

Feeling body tense as he remembered the note Poppy had given him earlier, he shifted closer to her, determined to keep her safe.

No matter what it took.

Blinking in amazement when he noted she had polished off the entire slice, Pete laughed as she placed it triumphantly on the table and fell back, clutching her flat stomach.

"Ok, now I'm spent,"

"Is that so?" he smirked at her. "You sure you don't just need to work some of it off?"

Turning her head to grin at him, Allie met his eyes and felt the butterflies creep into her stomach as they always did when he gave her that look. Still after 8 years, he could turn her into a blushing, bumbling mess with one look. Noticing the way his muscles moved under his shirt as he reached for her, she realised there was a definite reason for that.

"And here I was thinking you'd be tired from playing house all day," she teased him, pushing him back and straddling his thighs.

"I have selective energy sources," he told her with a wink. "There are something's you don't ever get too tired to do,"

Pushing his hand up her dress, he watched her bite her lip and try to keep herself in check; after the week they had spent on holiday, things between them had gone back to being normal. Pre-Lara, pre-Sarah, pre-everything normal. And that meant...

Smirking to himself when Allie leant forward and whispered something particularly interesting in his ear before trailing her lips down his neck, Pete knew exactly what that meant.

"So you missed me then?" he teased her, hissing when she made quick work of his belt buckle.

"What do you think?" Allie mumbled hotly, pushing her hips forward and feeling a surge of female pride as he let his head fall back and whispered 'fuck' under his breath.

"I think you're not allowed to go to work anymore," Pete grabbed her hips and pinned her down, falling on top of her and hiking one of her legs over his hip. "In fact no leaving the house unless I say,"

Giggling, she linked her hands together behind his neck and brought his mouth down to hers, softly this time.

"That doesn't sound like a bad thing," she whispered, pretending not to notice as he tugged down the zipper on her dress.

"I'll make it worth your while," he smirked against her neck, still trying to work out how to get this damn dress off of her.

"I don't doubt that for a second," Allie shook her head, pushing him up right and standing, ignoring the look of hurt on his face as she unzipped her dress fully and let it fall, watching his eyes grow darker by the second as he took in the sight of her white laced lingerie.

Not bothering to kick off her heels, she turned and began walking to the stairs/

"Unless you're waiting for a written invitation..." she trailed off, giggling when he pulled himself up at what seemed to inhuman speed and grabbed her, picking her up and walked blindly up the stairs to their room.

"You are doing to be the fucking death of me, woman," he growled against her mouth.

"There are worse ways to go," she countered, trying to keep quiet when he pushed her against the wall of their bedroom and let his mouth trail down her body, sending her into overdrive in a way that only he could.

Both of them were soon lost in their own world just as they had been the last few weeks; all that mattered was here and now, the feel of each other, knowing that they were finally happy, that they could move past everything. Pushing the note to the back of his mind, Pete focused only on her, smiling softly at her in the dim light as she whispered the three words that still to this day made his heart leap.

Watching her eyes close as she bit her lip hard the way she always did when their bodies first connected, he pushed it out of his mind altogether. It would wait until he was ready. And then he would deal with it quietly, no one would ever know, maybe not even the boys.

Whatever it took, he wouldn't let anyone touch his family. No matter what it took.

Peering up at the large house, Eddie Hatcher rested his forehead on the gates surrounding it and sighed, his breath catching like smoke on the air and creating a whirlwind around his face.

Dunham was in there playing happy families and here he was, homeless and abandoned by everyone he loved; true in doing what she had done, his Aunt Sarah had saved him from a life behind bars but that didn't mean he was ok. It meant he had even less to lose than before; at least in prison, one day he would have come out and she would've been there waiting for him as she always was. More patient and forgiving than his own mother had ever been.

Giving the gates a powerful kick, he spat viciously on the ground and turned on his heel striding off into the darkness with purpose; he would make sure Pete Dunham knew what it felt like to lose everything. Because when he was in the gutter, without his kids, his firm and his stupid whore of a wife, then and only then would Eddie Hatcher feel at peace.

Dun, dun, dunnnnnn. Be a darling and review, you have no idea how much it means :) El x