They all slept ok, again during the night Carol had ended up in his arm's she couldn't wait to get her own room away from them. She felt cut off from her emotions when she looked at him. She didn't feel excited or happy just numb. She knew it was hard for him but it was all she could do to keep herself safe. She had turned the small sofa around and pushed it against the wall and made a make shift bed in it for Ollie.

Daryl got dressed after his shower, they had to check out by ten but they were ready to go by 8 and they were hungry. They piled in the car and drove until they found a dinner to go have a meal. He looked at her off and on while he drove, then he drove into a car park. He noticed her twisting her hands a little something she used to do when she was nervous. He didn't know what she was nervous about, maybe the fact that they would be back at their house in less than three hours once they hit the road again, a house full of memories that she wasn't quite ready to face.

'Its going to be ok,' he told her, he reached across and squeezed her hand, she looked down at it and nodded, he held it longer than he needed to right up until he needed two hands to get off the highway and into the dinner on the side of the road.

She held Ollie's hand while they walked into the dinner and a waitress took them too their seats and brought them coffee and some milk for Ollie. She told them someone would be over to take their order shortly once they decided. Carol watched as Ollie crawled under the table to Daryl climbing up on his knee sucking on a straw that they gave him with his milk. He was looking at Daryl hard. Carol wanted the floor to open up and swallow her and it was all the waitresses fault that brought the coffee over. Ollie was highly interested in what the waitress had to say. He didn't miss anything that anyone said. People needed to be more careful about comments.

It was clear to anyone who looked at them that Ollie was Daryl's, and Daryl was his Dad. They looked clones of each other. The waitress wasn't to know that Ollie didn't know who Daryl was all she said was, 'Are you having a lovely breakfast out with your Mummy and Daddy,' she asked him, he'd looked at the waitress and nodded. Carol knew by the look on his face that she had sparked his interest.

Big flappy ear's Ollie who never missed a trip had looked hard at his mother with a question in his eyes, Carol had just nodded when he asked the question, 'Is Daryl my Daddy? Mine? Like Joey's Daddy? I've got a real one?' Ollie's eyes were wide, his little face processed the information and then he made a beeline for Daryl.

Now he was staring at Daryl and poking his face to check. Daryl just sat and looked a bit shocked, he'd expected Carol to deny it or fob him off, Carol had quickly realized that they wouldn't be able to hide the truth from him if waitresses could see it everyone in town would see it. Ollie had become close to Daryl due to the three days they had been staying in motels together and in the car. Ollie was trying to look down his shirt and Daryl just went with it. He was doing something that Carol couldn't' quite work out what the hell he was doing but he kept poking Daryl with a finger then looked into his eyes his face really close to Daryls noses almost touching. He run his fingers though Daryl's hair.

'What ya doing?' Daryl finally asked him.

Ollie stood up on his legs and turned around sat back down on Daryl's knee leaning back onto Daryl's chest. He looked at his mother with a sigh, he nodded and said 'Ok,'

'Ok?'

'Yeah he can be one, he's not made of wood or got cooties,' Ollie told her, Carol could fell the laughter coming up her throat. She kinda wanted to die a little, she wanted to kill Tara for her explaination to why she never dated men. Cooties was a word that she banished about about men a great deal, she also told Ollie a lot if he didn't take a bath he would catch Cooties. Carol bit her lip trying not to laugh. Daryl's face was flaming, Carol didn't know if he found it funny or not, she found it funny. She wanted to burst out laughing for the first time in weeks and she did.

'Aunty Tara, told him boys are made of wood and have cooties,' Carol laughed, Daryl looked at her shaking his head.

'Glad I pass then,' Daryl chuckled at the comment, she felt a little relieved about the fact he wasn't offended about it, Daryl just thought he was a weird little kid with some of the stuff he was coming out with.

'That's good Ollie but its not really ok to check people for cooties,' Carol scolded him, Daryl was trying not to laugh about it, she couldn't' help it it was funny. She smiled at them both for a minute it was the first time she had smiled at him since he picked her up and if it was about him having cooties Daryl was going to take it. He smiled back at her and gave her a wink. She was glad in a way that Ollie knew who he was and it wasn't terribly upsetting for him about it. He didn't look heart broken about it, in fact he made himself comfortable on Daryl lap, Daryl had been getting better and better with touching him. He didn't look as panic'd as he'd looked the first time she'd seen him with Ollie on his back at the motel.

Carol was feeling happy and confident for the first time in a while with what was happening and then she looked up to see their meals coming and who was bringing them she felt her stomach drop to the ground when she saw who was bringing their breakfast over. The women put it on the table and smiled at them.

'Carol nice to see you and Daryl back together, cute kid you both have,'

Carol couldn't believe it, the person she'd hated her whole life from the time she was at primary school, Karen, she hated her even more now. Daryl knew she hated her. Really really did to a point she glanced at the table to make sure there were no knives with in easy reach. She'd imagined this moment over and over in her head but now face to face all the words and the comments went flying out of her head. She just needed to get out of here, the room felt like it was too small and she could hardly breath.

She was half the reason her marriage ended and the other half was sitting across from her. She knew... she knew they just lost a baby and she slept with Daryl anyway, she always had a spite thing going about Carol. Right from the time they were 5 and she cut the hair off Carol's doll and it continued the rest of their schooling life. she scratched her car when she was 16, what ever Carol had Karen wanted or she found a way to wreck it. She'd been after Daryl for years before they got married and Carol knew Daryl was to blame but Karen also took advantage of him while he was drunk. She couldn't forgive him or her for that ever.

Carol stood and looked at Daryl, 'I'm not hungry,' and she held her hands out for the car keys and he handed them too her not knowing what was going on. Carol bolted leaving him sitting there with the meals and Ollie on his knee.

'I'm so sorry,' Karen said as she looked at him, 'I didn't think she would still hold a grudge and all that, you all went on to have another baby, so we had a fling, I'm sorry Daryl, no hard feelings right?'

'What's a fling?' Ollie asked his father.

'Go... now,' Daryl told her, he knew suddenly why Carol left and had it all flooding back into his head, he did... he did it all right, slept with the only women Carol hated in the whole planet, a month after their baby died. He remembered seeing Carol in the room looking at him and her, he remembered Merle being there. Carol's screaming and Merle trying to calm her down. He remembered just groaning as the women climbed out from underneath him and she told Carol on her way out he wasn't that good anyway's. Daryl just flopped down and shut his eyes. Blocked it out, It was hazzy but he knew she wasn't lying. He'd cheated on her... with Karen, Merle's girlfriend at the time, FUCK!.

He looked out to the car park he could see Carol leaning over the car, he knew she was being sick. He waved another waiter down and asked for their food to go. He grabbed it and Ollies hand leaving a tip and a note telling Karen to stay the fuck away from his family. He went out to see if he could repair any of the damage. He had the food in one hand and Ollie in the other, he knew enough to know not to say much in front of the little boy or talk in code.

'I remember now,' he told her, she just nodded and held her hands out to Ollie to get him in the car. 'We need to talk,'

'I don't want to, it hurts, I think... I think I'm dying or having a heart attack,' she held onto her chest, and tried not to sob, Ollie looked frightened, She reached out and rubbed his hair trying to reassure him she was fine but she wasn't. Everything hurt, it did. She crawled into the back seat with Ollie refusing to sit near him and shut her eyes waiting for him to start the car. He couldn't' because Ollie was wanting breakfast and Daryl was trying to fix it all for him to eat in the car. Finally they drove, he turned the music on to try calm everyone down and just get home to the house where he knew going inside the house would be a big ask also.