'So he told me... ugh I said I wouldn't tell you,' Carol looked at him, 'But...'

'Why?'

'Cos he's ashamed, what he did,' Carol flicked her eyes up to him. His face was stony and he wanted her to blurt it out what she knew. He needed to know right now and this was stressing him out, it was stressing her out he could tell she was twisting her wedding bands while looking at him.

'Your not buying this bullshit right?' Daryl run his good hand through his hair. He was worried sick that Carol might forgive him and want to go back, he knew he was being irrational in his thought process but he couldn't keep the idea's out of his mind. He just wanted to shout at her Don't leave me! he was completely freaked out. He loved her and Sophia and he wanted to keep them safe, he hoped that he was keeping his face calm.

'He did what he did but ... ' Carol looked at him, Daryl was trying to keep his cool Carol could tell, 'But... he's sober now, he's... different I guess,'

Daryl shut his eyes she almost sounded like some of the wives he'd met on call outs. He wanted to block her voice because he was scared she was going to say she wanted to ... he didn't know what she was going to say, he just knew he was holding his fork really really tight and it was starting to hurt.

'Ok, look... here's the thing, he's seeing a counselor in there a few times a week he told me... anyway...' Carol started fiddling with her knife she was turning it up and down on the point of the table. She was starting to make a little mark, she didn't seem to be worried about what she was doing, it looked like she was struggling to put her words together.

She was focused on trying to form her words and trying to form her thoughts she didn't know what she thought really. She knew why he saved Sophia. She just didn't know how Daryl was going to take it.

'He saved Sophia because in his own little way he loves her,' Carol told him quickly.

His breath sucked in, he felt like he had been gut punched by Carol at her words. He wanted to do something make him stop loving Sophia. He wanted to go into the jail and tell him to stop, she wasn't his. He needed to forget everything, he had no rights to Sophia.

'He was raped Daryl, his whole childhood, then... until he was 17 I guess he got out, he couldn't handle it and he started self medicating with booze and drugs, his memories were... he doesn't remember a time he wasn't being molested,'

Daryl opened his eyes and looked at her. He half sighed, he didn't want to go making excuses for Ed. He wanted to hate him but he did know trauma from childhood. He wasn't molested, he'd come across men who had been, they were angry men, he was beaten but at the same time he didn't turn to booze and beat up women or try and hit babies.

He was struggling to keep his shit together and not to go pick up Sophia and run. He forced himself to stay in his seat without saying anything and keep it together. He knew Carol still had information to tell him. She had been gone for ages. He had to hear it all and hopefully they could put the whole thing with Ed behind them. Work on their family.

'Anyway... I told him...' Carol flicked her eyes up again, she was playing with her wedding rings and he was getting nervous about what she could have told him.

'He's not having access to Sophia, she's mine,' Daryl told her.

Carol shook her head, 'No, I told him... I told him I would tell her what happened, what happened to him as a child, when she's an adult... old enough to make her own choices, she can meet him if she wants too.'

'Your going to tell her about him?'

'Well she's going to know she's adopted, what if we travel or she wants a drivers licence she will know she's adopted by you,' Carol told him, 'Isn't it better she knows from the start?'

'No... spose... She's mine,' Daryl told her, Carol reached across the table and took his hand and squeezed it.

'I know she's yours but... she's going to find out, if we are matter of fact about what happened with Ed, won't it be better for everyone in the long run that she knows he's her bio sperm donor and your her Dad?'

'He's not going to try see her?'

Carol shook her head, 'He's promised to stay away, I promised I would send a photo every year and on the half year,'

'A photo?'

'Yeah, I'm trying here, he saved her, he didn't have too,' Carol told him, 'You can't take that away, why he did it was because no one saved him from his Dad. Not his mum no one, he knew what they would do to her... to me,'

Daryl had no doubt what they would do to Sophia, and they would have raped Carol he knew that, he did have Ed to thank for that not happening at all. He did have some thanks for Ed to not let that happen to his two favourite females in his life, but he still felt conflicted on whether he wanted them taking photos of Sophia to send to him. They sat holding hands thinking for some time, it was a tricky situation for both of them.

'What's happening with his old man?' Daryl asked finally.

'I think... he's going to file charges, his sister too,' Carol looked at Daryl, 'His sister... she doesn't live far from here, she's been visiting him. They been talking, she got a lawyer and ... well yeah, they filing against the mother too, she knew,'

'She knew?'

'Yeah and never did anything,' Carol told him, 'She knew never protected him,'

'I feel sorry for him on one hand but Carol on the other hand I want to plant him, he hit you and my baby,'

'I know, but I need to put it to bed, its my choice... so I'm going to send him photo's, I'm going to send it to his sister,' Carol kept squeezing his hand, 'But I'm not going back to see him again, we cleared the air. I feel better, lighter... ready to move on... and I love you,'

'Love you,' Daryl let out his breath he was worried sick she was going to keep visiting and it was going to be a blimp in their marriage. 'I do, I've been a dick,'

Daryl stood up pushing his chair back, he knew he'd been terrible about the whole Ed thing, he couldn't put it down to being jealous or terrified or worried sick. Full protection mode had been activated. He had gone into full Dixon mode of protecting his family. He knew they would have always had to tell her she was adopted by him, he never thought much about it. Sophia would become her own person to decide what she wanted or didn't want when she was a adult. He would support her through that.

He crushed himself against her, tilted her head for a kiss.

'You ok?' he whispered.

'I'm ok, I'm a lot better now, sorting this out,' Carol told him, kissed him back, kissing him again, 'We can focus on us, and you can try convince me that we should expand our family,'

'Expand?'

'Yeah, a kitten... puppy?'

'Baby,' Daryl suggested.

'You just like the boobs,' Carol sat down to start eat her dinner, Daryl moved away hearing the cries from the bedroom of Sophia who no doubt wanted her milk out of the real containers.