This is an idea that has been floating around my head for a while now. It will basically be a rewrite of everything that has happened since Carla's return from LA in April, except, in this, she never miscarried. Instead, she had a daughter, Hayley, who is now six months old. She and Peter are still divorced and he is living in Portsmouth; Rob is also still in prison for Tina's murder, which Carla told the police about. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this, but please let me know if you would like me to! It would be really helpful. Thank you! (I own nothing, of course.)
Slowly, Now
She sleeps soundly on the plane, fingers which are not quite as tiny as they once were clinging to their mother's in a way that could melt even the hardest of hearts. She is fine when they land. Manchester is its usual rainy self and perhaps this comes as a comfort to her. At first, Carla had hated taking Hayley out in the sun whilst they were in LA. The thought of her overheating or burning herself had been too much for Carla to bear – but with a little bit of encouragement from Suzy, they had muddled through, and by the end of the first week, Carla could see that the sunshine was doing Hayley as much good as it was doing her. She seemed happy; her giggles by the side of the pool fueling Carla's love for her, a love which seems to grow more and more with each day that passes.
When they reach the airport, the holiday really does come to an end. Hayley wakes; and Hayley isn't happy. If Hayley isn't happy, neither is Carla – and the fact that the airline appear to have lost their luggage does not help matters in the slightest.
"What do you mean by 'there's nothing we can do other than wait'?" Carla asks. She's tired, jetlagged and in no mood for bullshit.
Hayley is held to her chest. Her eyes are still red from crying, her breath still in the process of being caught.
The girl Carla is talking to is only young. She is obviously inexperienced and not used to such questions. She clears her throat before she speaks.
"All of the bags that were in the aircraft will turn up eventually. It's just a case of when."
Carla nods. It is not in understanding.
"But I need my bags now," she says simply. Hayley begins to wriggle about in her arms. Her discomfort is obvious. "I also had a pram onboard, you see. An expensive pram my little girl will not be too happy if she can't get her bum into in the next five minutes."
The girl looks genuinely sorry, but this means little to Carla when all she wants to do is go home and sleep.
"We can take your details and give you a call when they turn up," she says. There is something akin to fear in her eyes that Carla duly makes a note of. She decides to let the fight leave her body and take this up with the airline at a later date. "I apologise for any inconvenience this causes."
Carla would laugh if she weren't quite so annoyed.
"Of course you are."
The driver of the taxi she manages to hail one-handedly with a baby in her arms is one of the most incompetent people Carla thinks she has ever met – and that says a lot when she considers some of the people she has employed over the years. Firstly, he finds it difficult to grasp the concept of Carla having only a handbag, even though she is being picked up from the airport. When she explains to him that the airline have lost her luggage, he says he doesn't believe her, despite having never met her before in his life.
It is the fact that she has to practically drive the taxi towards Weatherfield for him because he is not familiar with the place name, let alone the place itself, that makes Carla regret having not taken Michelle up on her offer of having Steve meet them at the airport.
Two thirds of the way into the journey, Carla notices that Hayley has managed to fall asleep, clutching the teddy bear Peter bought her for Christmas and who Simon affectionately named Simon to her chest. Carla envies her daughter's ability of being able to sleep anywhere and everywhere. She has to fight to keep her eyes open herself and is only aware that she has, in fact, fallen asleep when the taxi driver rudely awakens her – and Hayley – by continuously beeping the car horn. The horn is so loud that it causes vibrations to be felt in Carla's chest.
"We're here, love! Victoria Street."
Hayley lets out a large wail. Anger boils in Carla's veins.
"Nice one," she mutters, getting out of the car. She manages to drop her handbag as she does so, the contents of which spill all over the road. "Oh, for God's sake!"
Her exclamation startles Hayley, who has began to cry. Carla immediately goes to soothe her. She takes her out of the car and places Hayley into her arms. She then looks to the driver for help, indicating with her eyes the mess she has made at her feet, but he pretends not to notice.
"That's £27.50, please," he says, undeterred.
Carla feels like screaming.
"Here. Let me."
Before Carla is even aware of what's happening, Nick Tilsley has paid for her taxi fare and is knelt down on the floor, putting her things back into her bag.
She stares at him as the taxi drives away.
"Hi," she says, looking extremely confused.
"Hi," says Nick. He smiles at Hayley as he stands to his full height. She stops crying immediately and stares at him in a way that mirrors her mother. "Here you go."
He hands Carla her bag, which she accepts from him with a furrowed brow, and places Simon back into Hayley's outstretched arms.
"How was your holiday?" he asks.
Carla nods.
"It was good, yeah." She blinks herself out of it. "Wait a minute. How much do I owe you?"
She goes to retrieve her purse, but Nick shrugs it off.
"You don't owe me anything. It's fine," he says.
Carla shakes her head.
"Don't be ridiculous, Nick." She maneuvers Hayley onto her hip as she rummages through her bag, not recognising its new order – or lack thereof. "You gave him thirty, didn't you?"
"Yes, but—"
"You shouldn't have let him keep the bloody change. He doesn't deserve it."
Nick chuckles.
"Keep your money, Carla. Please." She looks up to be met with a look of genuineness in his eyes that she has never seen before. "Call it my good deed of the day. If it means so much to you, you can pay me back another time, but I can see you've got your hands full right now."
It seems that Hayley knows she is being spoken about, for she gurgles and kicks her legs. Carla smiles at her and places a kiss to the top of her head. Nick waves at Hayley and she waves back at him just a little bit too enthusiastically.
"I'll see you later," he says, walking back the way he came.
"Okay. See you," Carla replies before calling after him, "And thanks!"
He simply smiles and carries on walking.
Carla has to laugh to herself at the absurdity of what has just taken place. It is Tracy who takes her from her thoughts, approaching the two of them with a sickly sweet smile Carla doesn't ever think she will get used to.
"How's my favourite niece?" she asks, taking Hayley's hand.
Carla rolls her eyes.
"She's your only niece, Tracy."
Tracy frowns.
"So?"
"Eh, listen. It might be a while yet before you get it, but I got you a little something whilst we were away," says Carla.
Tracy looks just as confused as Carla still feels.
"It's to say thank you," she explains. "You know, for saving my life that time."
"Oh, that!" Tracy laughs; Carla doesn't. "You didn't have to get me anything."
"Well, I did," Carla replies. "But like I say, I don't think you'll be getting it any time soon."
Tracy nods.
"How come?" she asks.
Carla has to suppress the urge to yawn.
"It's a long story," she says, holding a hand to her mouth. "And I'd love to stay and chat to you about it, but I'm afraid I may actually fall asleep standing up if I stay out here any longer."
After showering, sleeping, and feeding what turned out to be a very hungry six month old baby, Carla finally manages to build up the courage to check her work emails and, just as she expected, finds that she does not like what she sees.
Hanlon has been on at her again. He wants to place another order with Underworld, but Carla doesn't think she can deal with having another Hanlon-related headache so soon after the previous one. The order would be good for business; there's no denying that. It's just that demanding clients are honestly the last thing she needs right now when Hayley is already demanding so much from her. Maybe she shouldn't have gone back to work so soon after having her, maybe she shouldn't have taken advantage of Ken's kindness and allowed him to dote on his granddaughter in a way he'd never have imagined he'd be able to.
But Carla feels she is nothing if she can't support herself. People aren't wrong when they say that business means everything to her. If she can't work, what can she do?
She sighs, staring at her laptop screen, and wishing that someone would make her mind up for her. Eventually, she reaches for her phone and dials a number she can't wait to delete again.
"Mr. Hanlon?" She forces a smile, even though he is not in the room to see her do so. "Hello! Yes. It's Carla Connor. From Underworld? Yes, I'm fine, thank you. Now, about this order..."