Evie Grace (Repost)

Carol returns from South Africa.

When I wrote this fic to start (almost a year ago) I was a very new writer. I want to have another crack at this fic, so enjoy. Will probably post some new content as well.

'We're here,' announced Tony.

'So we are,' replied Carol. 'Hasn't changed a bit.'

'Nothing ever does,' said Alex.

'Oh yes it does,' says Tony.

'If you say so,' said Alex, helping to carry the bags into the house.

'Do you want to stay for a coffee Alex?' asked Carol.

'Thanks for offering,' she replied. 'But I really must get back to the station.'

'Of course,' said Carol. 'Once we're sorted over here, we'll come and brainstorm with you about Dingane. I can tell you what I know.'

'Great,' said Alex.

'Did you know that it's not very politically correct to use the term brainstorm?' asked Tony. As the women looked at him in astonishment, he said, 'Oh yeah, it's meant to be offensive to epileptics, as their seizures are technically a storm of the brain.'

'Fascinating,' said Alex, rolling her eyes.

'Same old Tony,' remarked Carol. 'I guess we'll see you later then Alex.'

'You will,' she replied, leaving the room, shutting the door behind her.

'Coffee,' said Tony eagerly, reaching for the kettle and filling it.

Setting 2 chipped mugs on the table, he picked his up in unison to her and said, 'Ah, nothing like caffeine.'

'Indeed,' replied Carol, setting her cup back down on the coaster. 'I've missed good old English instant coffee.'

'Simple pleasures are often the best,' said Tony.

'Definitely,' she replied, sitting back in the chair.

'Jetlagged?' asked Tony quietly.

'We're only 2 hours ahead,' said Carol. 'So not jetlagged.'

Looking to the buggy, Tony said, 'I think Evie is.'

Carol, catching the vision of her sleeping toddler curled up in the buggy said, 'She didn't sleep too well on the plane, obviously she's trying to catch up. Unluckily for her, she can't drink coffee to stay awake.'

Tony began to stare into space as his mind calculated possibilities and time scales, pondering the logistics of it all.

Carol had noticed that he was in a world of his own, and left him immersed in his own thoughts for a few minutes before saying, 'Tony, Tony...'

Waving her hands in front of his eyes, she said briskly, 'Tony!'

Snapping out of his trance like thought train, Tony said, 'Sorry, I was miles away.'

'I can tell,' she said softly.

A few moments passed in silence before Tony said, 'When were you going to tell me?'

'Tell you what?' she asked with a soft smile, taking another tentative sip of her coffee and setting it back down.

'That I was Evie's dad,' he stated.

'What would make you think that?' she asked, not giving anything away.

'Don't play stupid Carol, you know why I think that!' said Tony, raising his voice a little. 'When I was recovering, after my surgery...that night we shared together. If Evie's almost 3, then the timeline fits. She's mine isn't she?'

'Yes,' said Carol quietly. 'Tony, please, let me explain!'

'I'm all ears Carol,' he replied, holding his hands up. 'I'd like to know everything.'

'Okay, I'll tell you everything,' said Carol with bated breath. 'That night was the culmination of a lot of confused feelings between us, a lot of emotion that neither of us was ready to feel. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a mistake, but it shouldn't have happened Tony. Our relationship has always been a complicated grey area, and it was wrong of me to progress things whilst you were recovering from such major surgery.'

'Why did you leave?' asked Tony softly, avoiding making eye contact.

'I left that morning before you got up because I felt as if I'd taken advantage of you in some way. You were recovering,' she said.

'I knew what I was doing,' stated Tony brashly.

'I know,' said Carol. 'I was scared. Scared of the way I felt, scared of taking advantage of a bad situation, and scared of ruining our friendship. Like a coward, I ran away, and like an even bigger coward, I never told you I was leaving.'

'There was me thinking I was a disappointment in the bedroom,' said Tony. 'Remember what I told you?'

'Maybe a 5 minute walk, if it wasn't raining,' she said, thinking with fondness of the past they'd shared. 'Definitely more than a 5 minute walk, even in the rain. I could never understand why you were so self conscious about your potency.'

'Old issue,' said Tony. 'But anyway, tell me about when you found out you were going to have Evie.'

'Okay,' said Carol. 'After taking the job in South Africa, I packed up and went out to Johannesburg. A week later, I started the job. A month into working, I fainted out on the job. I brushed off the concerns of my team, put it down to heatstroke. I told them that obviously the heat didn't agree with me, after all I did come from a pretty cold country with lots of rain. They believed me, until it happened again a few more times. My commanding officer insisted I get checked out at the hospital. That's when it occurred to me that my period was quite a bit late. They ran a test on me, it was positive, and the rest they say is history.'

'So along came Evie,' said Tony.

'Yeah,' said Carol softly. 'Evie Grace Hill. Like me, she has dual nationality in South Africa and the UK. She was born September 15th, a few weeks early and weighed in at 6lbs 8oz. She turns 3 in a few weeks and she loves the beach.'

'She has my eyes,' said Tony. 'I noticed at the airport.'

'Yeah, she has your eyes,' agreed Carol. 'They're beautiful.'

'I can't believe you never told me,' said Tony. 'I've missed so much of her life. How simpler it would have been if you'd stayed.'

'Stayed for what though Tony?' asked Carol. 'The new ACC hated me, my chances of promotion were slim, I'd become dependent on your help with cases, I'd fallen in love with you and crossed the line that was our friendship that night. I was scared that you were going to wake up and regret what had happened between us, and our relationship, our friendship would become awkward. I didn't want that, so I ran away.'

'I have something to show you,' said Tony, taking her hand and leading her into the bedroom.

'What?' asked Carol.

'Look in the bedside cabinet on the left,' said Tony.

Opening the drawer, Carol saw the drawers only contents. A ring box. A single ring box. She inhaled deeply as if searching for inner strength and opened the box. Her eyes gazed upon the emerald set in diamonds and gold. It was an engagement ring.

'I went out and bought it when I'd been released from the hospital,' said Tony. 'I was going to take you out for dinner the night after we'd slept together. I wanted us forever Carol, I didn't want us to be just friends. You leaving broke my heart. As soon as I was better, I went looking for you. But you'd left for South Africa, and the ring's sat there ever since. And I threw myself into my work as a coping mechanism, and here we are now.'

'Here we are,' said Carol, wiping a tear from her face. 'I've been an idiot, haven't I?'

Pulling her into a hug, Tony said, 'No, you haven't. You just underestimated me.'