Daryl dropped them off at the flat, leaving her there so he could go home change into his uniform for the shift he was working, he managed to nuzzle a kiss out of her although she was trying to put him in the dog box.

'I'll drop you back the truck if you wana?' Daryl asked her.

'No its fine, if I want to do anything, like find a new boyfriend who won't dunk my baby I can walk,' she told him. He opened his mouth in mock shock she would go looking. He knew she was teasing him.

'Good luck with that, slim pickings around here, in fact I'm it,' he chuckled, 'Give me a kiss,' she offered him her cheek with a grin he turned it and managed to get her mouth. 'I know your teasing about looking for a new one, but by some chance you don't find one you wana go out tonight?'

'How? Like leave Sophia behind?' Carol looked shocked he was suggesting leaving her.

'Not alone, I finish at 6, I can come by then we could fed, read and rock her, Amy will watch her, if we just go to Glenn's for dinner or something maybe that little cafe its open late on Saturday night, we be like 5 minutes away if she needs us,' Daryl told her. 'Please, just an hour, I wana take you out, we could even just go out for a coffee?' He was almost begging her to come with him.

'I don't know,' She twisted in her seat, 'What if something happens?' She dug her heels in, no way, she didn't want to leave her, even for an hour. She was obsessed with it because she been feeling like the worst mother in the world ever since she'd been rejected at the mothers group, saw the way people looked at Daryl like he was lunch. She wanted to wrap walls around Sophia to keep her safe.

'Something could happen with us being there, we are not going far, two blocks,' Daryl looked at her chewing his thumb a little, 'I already asked Amy,'

'When?'

'I rung her last night to ask her,' Daryl admitted,

'You rung Amy?' Carol's jealousy flared up again, did they just talk about baby sitting or was it more. Why didn't he ask her first. Why was he ringing Amy, why did he have her number.

'To ask about baby sitting Sophia, so we could go on a date, she offered yesterday remember,' Daryl said.

'I remember,' Carol was quiet, fiddling with the door handle, this conversation wasn't going well she didn't know how to turn it around to he wasn't getting cross about it.

'I just thought, ...doesn't matter, forget it, I've gotta go,' he looked at his watch. 'Gotta be at work soon,'

'Daryl, its just,...'

'Its fine, I'll cancel it,' he jumped out of the truck moving around to unbuckle the car seat leaned in to kiss Sophia. She was asleep, swimming had knocked it out of her.

Carol come around to get Sophia also so he passed the car seat and the diaper/swim bag to Carol. 'I'll ring you sometime then,' he climbed into the truck and left her standing at the path to the flat. She's upset him, she just didn't want to leave Sophia, not with someone she didn't know.

She moved Sophia into her bed, and tried to make herself busy for the rest of the day doing washing, changing the sheets on the bed. She put Sophia in the pram and went for a walk to the supermarket getting diapers and comfort food. She didn't know if he still was coming at 6, she wasn't sure.

She was sure when she got a text saying he was busy at work and he would see them tomorrow. That's when she knew he was pissed, he had never blown her off using work as an excuse, she knew he was off work because she'd seen his truck go by when she was leaving the supermarket, he wouldn't have seen her.

She tried to go to sleep, Sophia was making sucking noises sucking her fist while she slept. It was one of the few nights she hadn't slept beside him since they met. She felt a bit sad not really knowing why or what she'd done to make him annoyed with her.

Daryl was lying on his bed on his back flicking a ring box open and shut, looking at the ring he was going to give her tonight to ask her to marry him, she'd point blank refused to do or go anywhere without Sophia, he loved Soph but he wanted to ask her without Soph being there, he wanted to ask and kiss her without them having to worry that she might fuss or cry or need Carol, he just thought for 1 hour he could spend some time proposing properly, telling her how he felt about them, now he was so pissed off he felt like throwing the ring into the woods behind his house.

He rolled onto his side putting the box back in the nest of his drawer where it had been for the past two weeks wondering what tomorrow would bring. He picked up his phone looking at the time, then he pushed call, holding it up to his ear waiting for an answer.