Chapter 1:

One Year On:

"Happy birthday to you." I sing as I push the door open lightly to Ella's room. She is holding herself up in her cot, gripping the metal bars, full of life. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ella, happy birthday to you."

"That masterpiece was brought to you by Carla Tilsley." Nick jokes, sliding his arms around my waist as I pick Ella up out of her crib. "Vocal queen of 2017."

"Wow that's cringey." I roll my eyes. "Daddy's silly."

"Daddy." Ella flashes a wide smile and I grin. "Boo boo."

"Daddy's a boo boo?" I bite my lip and look at him.

"Mm..." He mumbles into my hair as he places kisses into it, breathing in the scent of my shampoo. "I'll put up with that."

"Shall we go and see what presents you've got?" I ask, pulling a face at her because it made her smile. "Come on then."

I support her on my hip as I follow Nick through to the living room and sit her down on my lap in the arm chair as Nick digs out a large present.

"That's from Michelle." He smiles at me as he places it by my feet.

"Woah." I lift Ella down onto the floor, crossing my legs on the carpet. "Look how big that is ey?"

"I wonder what it is." Nick says and I laugh at his enthusiasm as he unwraps it for her. He tears off the paper to reveal a baby bouncer with a mobile hanging from it.

"Ah, I've seen these." I sit Ella down next to me and hand her a rattle which she shakes. "You attach them to the door and then you can leave them in there for hours."

"Oh well isn't that lovely?" Nick asks Ella and she smiles. He picks her up beneath her arm pits and sits her down on his lap. "When are the guests arriving?"

"Chelle's getting here at ten." I tell him. "Same with Roy, you were in charge of your family."

"Your family too." He prompts me and I try to keep the smile off my face.

"Lucky me." I grin and he kisses me softly, smiling into me as he does so. "Can you not crush our daughter please?"

"Sorry sweetheart." He says to her, passing her back before kissing me again.

"Hiya." Michelle greets as she enters the flat. "Hello Ella."

"Is that auntie Chelle?" I ask her, passing her over to her Godmother.

"Hey, guess who's paid a visit?" Michelle asks, balancing Ella on her hip.

"Happy birthday Ella!" Ryan grins as he appears behind her.

"Oh my..." I gasp, wrapping him in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd pay a visit." He smiles. "Not a problem is it?"

"As long as you keep out of trouble." I ruffle his hair playfully.

"He's been here twenty four hours and so far the police have not been involved." Michelle jokes and he shoots her a look.

"Ibiza doing you good then?" I ask.

"Love it yeah." He responds before Nick appears from the bedroom.

"Ah, hello Ryan!" He shakes his hand formally. "Chelle."

"Thanks for inviting us." She smiles, taking her jacket off and passing Ella to Nick.

"Thanks for the present." I reply, giving her a hug. "She loves it."

"Tell you that did she?" Nick raises his eyebrows and I slap him playfully. The intercom buzzes and I go to answer it.

"Carla it's Roy." I hear his voice and press the button.

"Come up." I say, putting the phone back in place.

"This looks lovely." Michelle indicates to the decorated flat, where food was laid out on the kitchen surface. There were several balloons with the number one floating on a string and paper chains were hung up on the walls.

"Thank you." I smile as Nick hands Ella back to me and I lift her over my shoulder, patting her back. "Yeah we did it last night."

"I did it last night." Nick corrects me and I pull a face at him.

"Hello." Roy greets as he enters through the open door.

"Ooh, is it grandad?" I ask Ella, moving her so she was facing him.

"Gramps..." Ella points and his face lights up slightly. She knew very few words but had learnt to call Roy 'gramps' a few weeks ago. I referred to him as her grandad despite the fact we weren't blood related, he was actually Ella's Godfather.

"Yay!" I cheer enthusiastically. I had tied what hair she did have up in two high bunches and she was wearing a yellow floral dress that we had received off Audrey for her birthday present.

"I have a gift." Roy presents a neatly wrapped package and Nick takes it off him.

"Say thank you?" I ask Ella and she looks at me blankly. "Th-ank."

"Nope?" Michelle looks at her.

"Thhh..." Ella murmurs.

"Ok that's all we're getting for now is it?" I laugh. "Sit down everyone, take a seat."

"I love you." I hear Nick whisper as he buries his head in my hair, kissing me affectionately from behind.

"I'm trying to sort out a cake here." I smile as he slides his arms around my waist.

"Sorry mummy." Nick murmurs and I turn to look at him. We had taken to calling each other daddy and mummy when Ella was around because she had now picked up how to say them. "Do you remember this time last year?"

"Do I remember?" I laugh, wrapping my arms round his neck. "No it slipped my mind actually... I was screaming the place down."

"You were bringing our daughter into the world." He says before kissing me lightly twice. "I love you."

"Yeah you said that." I giggle and he looks at me, pure love in his eyes. "I love you too."

"Hey, we gonna get this cake or not?" Aidan asks, where he is sat next to Michelle, puppets on his fingers for Ella's entertainment. "Or are you gonna stand there being all loved up?"

"Always about the food isn't it?" I scoff and Aidan gives me a cheeky smile.

"I'll light the candle." Nick whispers in my ear and I smile appreciatively. I still had a fear of them, especially being in my flat and all. I kiss him on the cheek quickly as he does so and he carries the cake over to Ella as everyone begins to sing. He places it down on the table in front of Michelle, who has our daughter on her lap and wraps his arms around me as we watch my best friend help her blow out the candles.

Everything we had worked for. All the struggles. Lead to this.

"You ok?" Nick whispers once he sees a tear slide down my cheek and I nod quickly wiping it away. He plants a kiss on the side of my head as we watch the scene in front of us. "Soft really aren't you?"

"Not my fault." I reply quietly and he chuckles slightly into my ear, kissing my hair again.

"I'll take the blame for that one then." He says and I look at him.

"You and her." I bite my lip slightly before kissing him on the lips.