They all had their suspicions.

From the moment of her birth, they had all begun to wonder. Even when Carla was just a few hours old, so tiny as she laid in her mother's arms after having cried for attention.

Even when she was merely hours old, people could see it, and they began to wonder. Even if it was still too early to tell, and it would take a while for her features to be more distinct and recognizable, with her simply looking like a newborn baby, everyone still began to wonder. Everyone came to the same conclusion.

She doesn't really look that much like George. Not at all really, especially not when she's just born. Everyone can see it, but no one says anything, because they know it might just be suspicion and not something else.

After Carla's first birthday there was no denying that she wasn't George's child. But Sharon didn't exactly have the greatest reputation so it was never really spoken about

Sharon and Johnny had told themselves that it would be only one time and that they would never speak of it again. A mistake from their past and It would be a heavy and horrible secret that both of them would forever carry.

--

Johnny was pacing back and forth, he couldn't quite believe the mess he was in. He never wanted to hurt Carla, to leave her with her mother. If you could call her that. Rob was right, he had broken Carla's heart.

He was young and foolish, if he could go back in time and change the way he had handle things he would, not that it mattered now, all that he cared about now was how he was going to fix this problem he found himself in.

He leaned his head against the glass he held in his hand as a knock on the door sounded. He pried his eyes open and glanced towards the door. He tried to ignore whoever was on the other side. After a few minutes the knowing stopped and Johnny let out a sigh of relief until the knocking started again.

"Who the hell is that?" He grumbled before getting to his feet and stomped over to the door

"What..."

"Hi" a voice spoke. Blood began to pound in his ears and he tightened his grip on the door handle

"Carla? What are you doing here?"

"Drop the innocence act"

"Please, listen..." Johnny started.

"No, I will not listen!" Carla yelled. She was a force to be reckoned with in the best of times, and right now wasn't one of those times. Everything hurt, and she was glaring at Johnny fiercely that he thought his head was in danger of exploding. He pushed the door open enough so Carla could come in before slowly clicking it shut

Carla leant against the wall. Arms crossed and eyes focused on Johnny

Johnny nodded at Carla "I'm sorry...look I"

"No. Just tell me the truth" There was no backing out of this now

"Okay. The truth" He breathed in slowly "I've been keeping all of this from you for so long, and I've wanted to tell you so many times I just..." Johnny reached out and was just barely able to put his hand on Carla's arm "I didn't want to keep this from you. I just didn't want to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt anybody"

"But you did" Carla threw her hands up in the air, shrugging Johnny's hand off her in the process and took a few steps back. She was breathing heavy and was sure she was shaking. Adrenaline getting the better of her

"I know" Johnny responded. All went quiet. After a long pause and the sound of shuffling as Johnny made his way towards his kitchen and poured himself out another glass of whiskey

"Please. Just let me explain" he pleaded

"What would you have done if I hadn't found out? Would you have told me? Or would you have stayed quiet and just carried on lying to me?"

You could have heard a pin drop in the pleading of her voice. Father and daughter stared at each other, the force of the revelation driving the temperature of the room down. Carla's eyes flickered with a mix of anger and hurt

"Am I wrong, Dad?" she meant it to sound mocking, but some small part of her genuinely hoped that somehow she was wrong. His silence was all the answer she needed. The last hope she could look for was gone in that wordless reply.

"Why?" she hated the way her voice broke; to show weakness, just like her dad must have shown weakness and so put her in this nightmarish position. Carla only wanted to feel fiery hot anger for her father, not the coldness of shame and disappointment she tried to ignore.

"I'd see your mother around her estate a few times. Sometimes we drank in the same pub, we got to know each other" He mumbled "She was lonely, I felt bad for her. The men she was with always put her aside. She used to meet up with me when it got too much"

"Cosy" Carla scoffed

"It was never meant to happen. I was young and stupid. I suppose you could say we were friends at one point and I messed that all up"

"Did you know? Did you know I was yours when she got pregnant?"

"No. Not until you were a bit older. Carla please. I was married and your mum, I don't know what it was but I shouldn't have happened"

Carla's blood turned to ice. She tasted sickness in the back of her throat

"So I was a mistake"

"No!" Johnny was on his feet in an instant. Reaching to take Carla in a comforting hug. She pushed him away. Growing up she had loved a hug from her uncle Johnny, enjoyed feeling like someone in her life truly loved her. Now she couldn't bear the thought of another hug, knowing that every touch they'd shared had been laced with deceit since the day she'd been born

"How could you let me live for years without knowing we're related!?"

Johnny buried his face in his hands as he explained.

"I was married. I didn't want to hurt her"

"But you were fine to hurt me?" Slow tears were falling down Carla's face. Johnny's stomach twisted

"I loved you, Carla"

"Save it," Carla shot him down in an instant. She didn't want to hear anything about how much he loved her. She wanted the truth.

Johnny wilted under his daughters coldness. His voice trembled as he said "I was a coward. I should have taken you when I had the chance. I kept putting off doing something, until it was too late."

A gasp escaped Carla. Johnny could see she was on the verge of breaking down. The pain deep in her chest was getting worse.

"When you had the chance?"

"Your mum...When I found out you were mine. There was so much going on in my head, she told me to take you..."

"So she didn't want me either" The threat of tears had passed, and now she just looked forlorn- resigned to the truth of Johnny's story

"I did want to have you, sweetheart," Johnny implored his daughter, but her head turning sharply away showed she didn't want affection or reassurance. With a defeated sigh he said "I was never going leave you, not my little girl. But I didn't want leave Lou' either. I wanted to be there for both of you"

"And you let me grow up with you both for all those years, without letting either of us know the truth?"

"How could I have told her?"

Carla didn't have an answer for that, but she wasn't going to forgive her dad because of it. And besides, there was a more important question on her mind.

"Did she ever know?"

Johnny gaze dropped again. Dark silence descended on the room. Carla was feeling weary, the emotional turmoil draining her. She felt so many things- hurt, betrayal, mistrust, even a bizarre sense of jealousy for Louisa

"In the end. Yes"

"The end?"

"It was an accident. Your mum, she came round drunk one day, screaming and shouting that we had an affair. About...you"

"So you were too much of a coward to tell her yourself" She spat

Johnny flinched and broke eye contact with Carla

"What happened after?" Carla pressed.

Johnny let out a defeated sigh "Does it matter?"

"Did she hate me?"

"Carla. She was thinking straight. We problems, but that was pretty much the last straw." She was hysterical, she ran out the house and..." tears were now filling Johnny's eyes

"The...the car?" Carla felt torn between leaving and trying to offer comfort to her father. She did neither. Instead she waited to hear the rest of the story, she had to know.

"It happened so fast" Johnny finally recovered enough to continue "The car, it hit her, it was too much for her, she died minutes after the collision" Johnny rubbed his hands down his face as he paused. Carla didn't respond, but her breathe stilled for a moment at the awful admission

"When she died. I was a lost man. I didn't know what to do with myself. I had to look after Aiden and Kate, they were the only thing I had left of Louisa"

"Why would you want to see the child that caused her death" Carla whispered sadly and swept towards the door determinedly. Just as she was about to cross the threshold she stopped and turned to look back.

"Carla, no..."

"Things are never going to be the same between us, Johnny. You can still keep this a secret from Aiden and Kate if you want, but I'll never forgive you for it." A harrowed look crossed his face. Before he could give any sort of reply, Carla had left the room.

She knew she had no choice but to carry on as normal; to pretend her whole life hadn't changed. And she would, but nothing would ever be the same again

Her mother hadn't wanted her

Johnny, her father, hadn't wanted her.

Why would he? She was the reason his wife has died. The reason Aiden and Kate had lost their mother

She was a disappointment