TITLE: Wednesday's Child.
AUTHOR: memellymoo.
RATING: PG13
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Coronation or anything related to it, I'm just borrowing them for a short while, I promise to put them back when I'm finished.
SUMMARY: After 7 years away Carla is forced to face her past to save a life.
AUTHORS NOTE: It's been a long time since I've written anything, maybe one day I will finish SBR but right now I have a few other projects taking up my entire muse. This is an idea that came to me and then would not leave, so I wrote it. It has many pairings but it's not really about any one of them in particular. Also this was written before Coronation Street had a character by the same name, but I fell in love with my little creation so I kept it.
in my daughter's eyes I am a hero
I am strong and wise and I know no fear
but the truth is plain to see
she was sent to rescue me
The sun was rising lazily over the tide casting the surf and sky in a hazy orange hue as the waves hit the sand, fizzing a little before washing back out to sea and joining the southern California swell as the early risers mounted their surfboards, board shorts and wet suits crowding the popular surf beach.
"Mama, watch," a tiny figure clad in a purple wetsuit called out as she tucked her surfboard under her arm and headed for the water, unruly dark curls bouncing behind her as she laid on her board and paddled out into the ocean, waiting a few minutes for the next perfect wave before following in, her tiny feet planted firmly on the multi-colored fiberglass surfboard.
Pulling her designer shades down over her eyes Carla watched, a smile gracing her lips as the tiny 6-year-old once again followed the wave back onto shore.
"Sunny, time to get your cute little behind back onto dry land or you will be late for school. Again," she ordered rising from the sand and walking towards the water's edge.
"One more wave, please?" the youngster pleaded.
Shaking her head in amusement Carla relented. "One more."
"You're the best," she exclaimed, blowing her mother a kiss before running into the water once more.
Carla rolled her eyes at her daughter's antics. "Until I say no, then I'm the worst."
"Talking to yourself?" Jake asked, walking up behind her he handed her a coffee before wrapping his arms around her waist.
Leaning her head backwards against him Carla cradled the coffee in her hands. "Mm, I thought you had an early start?"
"My first patient cancelled, so I figured I'd head home and join my favorite girls for breakfast, that's if we can separate Little Miss Sunshine over there from her board," Jake chuckled.
"This is the last wave of the morning," Carla said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Good java."
Jake kissed the side of her head. "She's giving the pros a run for their money out there."
"I know … the kid has no fear," Carla laughed.
"Well she is your daughter," Jake reminded her.
Carla nodded her head. "Yep. That she is."
Out in the ocean 6-year-old Summer waited, riding out a few waves before mounting her board, if this was going to be her last wave of the morning she wanted it to be a good one, squinting into the sun she stayed low on her board, her arms ready to catch the wave coming up behind her as the edge of her tongue poked through her lips like it always did when she was concentrating and then in a matter of seconds she was on her feet, riding along with the wave.
As the wave approached the beach she bent her knees even more, following it right up to the shore before lifting her board up and heading over towards her parents.
"You looked incredible out there," Jake told her, wringing the water out of her hair.
"I know," Summer agreed. "Delta says I'm probably good enough to compete this year."
Helping Summer out of her wet suit Carla picked it up and put it over the back of the chair ready to dry as the youngster took the towel from her mother and started to dry her wild curls.
"Shower. Now. We have exactly 37 minutes to get to school before we both find ourselves in the principal's office. Again," Carla ordered.
Mouthing something under her breath Summer headed towards the stairs. "Life would be so much simpler if the President banned school," she huffed, the last bit purposely louder than the rest.
"Remind me again how that is my child?" Carla laughed, from the moment she had been able to walk and talk Summer had been a spirited child, choosing trousers over dresses, skateboards and scooters over dolls and teddies.
"Oh she's all you," Jake replied. "Spirited, independent, beautiful, stubborn, argumentative, loving, compassionate."
Carla leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of his face as she pulled him into her. "Keep going."
"How long was I?" Summer asked, taking the stairs 2 at a time. "I bet that was quickest someone has showered and dressed. Ever."
"That's because you didn't wash your hair," Carla pointed out, trying to get the sand out of her daughter's hair.
"Sand is good for your hair," Summer shrugged. "It has minerals and stuff."
Carla eyed her daughter. "Says who?"
"I don't know, but it sounds like something that might be true," Summer smiled.
Grabbing their bags from the side Carla made sure she had her car keys before ushering Summer out towards the car. "Buckle up," she ordered.
"Already done," Summer nodded. "After all I know how you drive."
From his place in the passenger seat Jake couldn't help but laugh, from the moment he'd first met her Summer had won him over, just like her mother.
"Do not encourage her," Carla warned under her breath.
"I'm not," Jake smiled innocently.
"Hmm," Carla breathed.
The minute they pulled out of their residential street and towards the freeway they found themselves in bumper to bumper traffic, everyone else in Los Angeles trying to get somewhere too.
"Fu … freaking traffic," Carla huffed.
"You were going to say a bad word," Summer accused.
Carla watched her daughter in the rearview mirror, watching as she played with the frayed edges of her black converse. "No I wasn't."
"Yes you were," Summer countered. "You were going to say f-"
"Don't even think about it Little Lady," Carla warned.
Immediately Summer recognized the tone, it was the one her mother used when she was about 2 seconds away from getting in trouble, and she needed to try really hard to stay out of trouble this week if she wanted to go to the skate park at the weekend.
"You know we could probably walk quicker," Summer observed, changing the subject.
"We probably could," Carla agreed.
Summer let down her window a little. "I could definitely run faster. Sam says I'm super fast for my age and I might even be able to run in the Olympics one day … but I don't want to be in the Olympics… it looks boring they have no skateboards or surfing."
"They have other fun stuff," Carla suggested.
"I guess throwing the pointy stick could be fun," Summer mused as the wind caught her hair blowing it away from her face as the car finally began to move.
A few right turns later they pulled up outside the school just as everyone was heading in. "You got everything?"
"Yep," Summer sung, the word popping between her lips.
"Don't forget Delta is picking you up today, Lucas wants you to help him ride his bike," Carla reminded her.
Summer nodded. "Love you."
"I love you too, now run before we both get in trouble," Carla laughed blowing her daughter a kiss.
Watching until Summer was safely inside the school building Carla shook her head. "I need coffee and lots of it, I swear that kid is going to give me grey hairs before the school year is out."
"I think it might be a bit late for that," Jake teased pulling an imaginary grey hair from her head.
"Urgh not you too," Carla laughed pulling out of the parking lot and back onto the freeway.
"What time is your meeting?" Jake queried.
Pulling up outside the market Carla stepped out the car. "Not till this afternoon."
"Breakfast?" he suggested.
"I would love too but I promised I'd meet Amelia," Carla apologized.
One of the first things Jake realized about Carla when they first met was that he would never know everything about her, that there were some parts of her life that would always be a mystery to him and her relationship with Amelia was one of them. "Later?"
"Always," Carla breathed, kissing him gently before heading across the road to meet Amelia. Who was sat outside waiting for her.
Sitting down opposite her sponsor and friend Carla gratefully inhaled the steaming cup of coffee. "Sorry I'm late."
"Sunny refusing to get out of bed again? Amelia guessed.
"Nope," Carla popped. "It was a perfect surf morning so she was up at the crack of dawn, getting her out of the water however … not so easy," she explained watching as Amelia's eyes clouded over. "Is everything ok?"
Amelia took a deep breath before speaking. "Yeah. Everything is good, with me anyway … have you made a decision yet?"
"I don't know, I mean it's all I've been thinking about, when I agreed to get her tested I really didn't think she would be a match. I only did it because Michelle begged me to but now … she could save his life, " Carla whispered, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on her.
"But by saving his life it could ruin the life you've created here for yourself and Summer," Amelia added, saying what Carla was too scared to say out loud.
Reaching out Carla grasped the cup tightly in her suddenly too cold hands. "They don't know. Well Chelle she knows, but everyone else. When I left … I didn't look back, I couldn't."
"How long do you have to make a decision?" Amelia asked
"They know there's a match but they don't know it's a child, I need to talk to Jake because if I do this … there will be no turning back, this life we have here; the calm, the peace it will all be over, chaos will descend and … then there's Sunny to think about, she's not even 7 yet … how do I ask a 6 year old to undergo an operation for someone she has never met?" Carla worried, wondering what all of the upheaval would do to her family if she agreed to it.
But if they didn't find another match or if she left it too late to make a decision and the worst happened she didn't know if she could live with herself, was keeping her secret really worth risking a child's life.
"Whatever you decide, I'm here for you," Amelia reassured her.
Carla swallowed down the rest of her coffee. "Good. Because not once in the last 6 years have I wanted this cup of coffee to be laced with whiskey as much as I do right now."
CS-CS-CS
"Can I ride a tram car? Auntie Amy says they're the best thing about this god-saken town."
"Do they have a beach? If they don't have a beach we are getting back on the plane and going straight back to Los Angeles."
"What about a skatepark? I know we didn't pack my board but we can buy one right? I mean Aunt Amy says you're richer than … a really, really rich person."
"Do you have to work here?"
"Aunt Amy says they call soccer football here, that's weird."
"Aunt Amy says that when I'm 7 she'll let me color my hair blue."
Carla listened to her daughter talk a mile a minute trying not to think about why she was here and what was about to happen.
"You are not having blue hair," she told her daughter.
Summer stopped, placing her tiny hands on her hips. "But Aunt Amy said-"
"Auntie Amy says lots of things that she perhaps shouldn't, which is exactly why I have told you time and time again that-"
"Although we love Auntie Amy very, very much we shouldn't always take what she says seriously," Summer finished, obviously having heard this lecture many a time before.
Carla nodded. "Exactly."
"It's cold here," Summer shivered stepping out of the airport and into the cold Manchester night. "I don't think I like it very much."
"You'll get used to it," Carla tried to reassure her daughter.
Summer frowned. "I think I prefer Los Angeles."
"That's because you're a California girl," Carla smiled taking her daughter's hand, grateful for all the perks that came with flying first class as a member of the airline staff helped load their bags into the waiting car.
"It's because I like the beach," Summer agreed.
Carla helped her daughter buckle up. "It's only for a few weeks Sum, we'll be back to sunshine, surf and skateboards before you know it."
"Are we here to save a baby?" Summer wondered.
"We're here to save a life," Carla hedged.
Summer wound down the window, closing her eyes as the wind blew through her hair. "Los Angeles is my happy place Mama."
"I know, mine too which is why we will be home before you know it," Carla tried to reassure her daughter. "Little Bug, do you remember what we talked about the other day?"
"You talk a lot Mama, how am I supposed to remember it all?" Summer asked with a roll of her eyes.
Carla couldn't help but laugh. "You make a fair point, but I mean the other day when we were talking about how even though Jake is your daddy now he wasn't always your daddy and that when you were really tiny someone else was your daddy?"
"I remember that talk, but it's ok Mama, I don't want another one, I like Jake," Summer reasoned, not really understanding the significance behind her mother's words.
"I know Bug, you see the thing is the other man, your biological dad well he lives here in Manchester and the little boy that we are here to help is very special to him so we might see him whilst we are here. I know this is all very confusing Bug but this little-boy needs you, the blood test we took last week shows that your blood can help him get better," Carla explained.
"So they're going to take away my blood?" Summer panicked. "But I need it. It's mine."
Carla rested her hand on her daughter's knee. "No, no, no. They just need to take a little bit, but it's ok because the human body is really clever and it will make back what they take."
"So I will still be able to bleed?" Summer asked.
"You can still bleed, although I would appreciate it if you didn't," Carla told her daughter.
Summer raised her eyebrows at her mother. "I can promise to try, but I can't promise never because sometimes I fall especially when I'm skating with Betsy."
"And that my little daredevil is why crash pads and helmets were invented," Carla replied.
"Will they use another needle to take my blood?" Summer worried, her bottom lip quivering as she asked the question.
Carla rested her hand atop her daughter's knee. "Do you remember when I had to have an operation? They gave me some special medicine to make me sleep, well the doctors will give you the same medicine and while you are sleeping they will take a special type of blood from your hip."
"Why my hip?" Summer wondered.
"Because it's where they get the best blood from." Carla replied, trying to put it into terms that her 6-year-old would understand.
Summer's eyebrows creased as she contemplated her mother's words. "If it's ok with you I'd like to keep my best blood, they can have some of the rest … maybe my second best blood, where is that? My knee? My toe?"
"It's all your best blood Bug, it's just easier to get it from your hip," Carla tried, not wanting to scare her, after all she was already asking a lot of her daughter when the youngster agreed to get on a plane and fly to a strange place to help out someone she had never met before.
"And when they take it they give it to the boy and he gets all better?" Summer asked.
"That's what we hope," Carla nodded.
Summer bit her bottom lip nervously. "What happens if when they give him my blood it makes him more poorly? When you were poorly the doctors gave you medicine and it made you more poorly."
"That was different," Carla breathed, remembering back to one of her darkest periods.
"How?" Summer whispered.
Carla put her arm around her daughter as they pulled up in front of the hotel. "Because although the medicine the doctors gave me made me poorly it made the bad lump in my tummy disappear."
"Will my blood make the bad lump in the boy disappear?" Summer questioned with a wisdom beyond her years.
"It's a little bit different. Mason, the boy, his was born without a special part of his blood that stops people from getting sick and you have the same type of blood as him so the doctors hope that by giving him some of your blood it can teach his blood how to grow this bit it's missing," Carla explained.
Summer seemed to think about what her mother had said for a few moments before speaking. "It's good that they are using my blood, because I'm super smart so my blood is probably super smart too so it will be the bestest blood to teach the boys how to work properly," she agreed as she unclipped her seatbelt and followed her mother towards the hotel.
As they followed the concierge into the hotel Carla heard someone call out her name as she turned towards the familiar voice to find Michelle sat in the corner waiting for them, motioning for him to go ahead with the bags Carla guided Summer over towards the chairs.
"Where's Little Bug?"Michelle asked with a smirk.
Summer stood up on tiptoes. "I'm here Auntie Chelle."
"No. That's not my Little Bug. My Sum Sum, you see my little Sum Sum is only about this high," Michelle joked, motioning to her knees.
Summer laughed and shook her head. "That's silly Auntie Chelle. I've been taller than that since I was a baby, I was this tall when you saw me last. Honest. Even though I've been eating my vegetables I still have to sit in the booster seat and my feet don't touch the ground."
"Please do not get her started on the booster seat issue," Carla pleaded, exhaustion evident in her voice.
"I missed you Little Bug," Michelle said scooping her niece onto her lap and ruffling her hair.
Summer frowned. "I missed you too. But I didn't miss you doing that," she added, straightening out her hair.
Michelle put Summer down on the chair and pulled Carla into a hug. "I missed you too," she whispered, tears shining in her eyes.
"Me too. LA is … amazing but it doesn't have you," Carla admitted, knowing that one of her biggest regrets about moving stateside would be leaving her family behind, but when she left she felt she had no other choice.
Looking down at the chair where Summer was now fast asleep Michelle wrinkled her nose. "Seriously? She was practically bouncing off the walls just seconds ago."
"She's exhausted, it's been a confusing week for her," Carla smiled tiredly as she picked her daughter up and headed towards the lift.
"When I called you, you know it was because I had no other choice, you know I wouldn't have put you and Summer through this if I thought there was another way. The life you have made; LA, the business, Jake, Summer … I'm so proud of you, you're a million miles from the person you were when you walked away from here and the idea of asking you to come back made me feel physically ill but … he's just a little-boy Carla, he's been through so much already and they really believe that this could give him the chance of leading a normal life," Michelle explained, her voice quivering with unshed tears.
Carla nodded. "I know. Do they know? Who the bone marrow match is I mean?"
"No," Michelle confirmed. "They don't have a clue they think it was someone found through the most recent donor drive, they think it's an adult …I didn't know if you wanted me to be the one to tell them or not."
Sighing tiredly Carla handed Michelle the keycard as she entered behind her and placed Summer on the bed, opening up her oversized, designer handbag she took out a blanket and well-loved cuddly giraffe placing it in her sleeping daughter's arms before covering her with the blanket.
"It should come from me," Carla said, breaking the silence.
"Are you sure?" Michelle wondered.
Carla looked over at her sleeping daughter. "I told her. I explained that when she was in my tummy she had a different daddy and that he was going to be here. I tried to tell her that the boy she was helping was her brother, well half-brother but I couldn't … she's been begging Jake and I for a sibling for ages now and I just can't … knowing that I think will be too much … especially knowing I can never give her what she wants, not after the … surgery … and now he can … it's just too much."
"Car-"
"I should do it now," Carla announced, cutting Michelle off as the last thing she wanted to do right now was get into a conversation about past health battles.
Michelle frowned. "Now?"
"No time like the present right? Besides tomorrow morning I have to be at the hospital with Summer for her pre-op tests and the last thing I want is to run into them, I want to remove the element of surprise," Carla reasoned.
"Babe … today or tomorrow it doesn't matter when you tell them this is going to be one hell of a surprise for all involved," Michelle reminded her.
Running her hand through her daughter's curls Carla nodded, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "I know. But if I don't do it now … I'll lose my bottle … or hit the bottle … and neither of those is a viable option so I have to do it. I have to tell him tonight."
"Do you want me to call him?"Michelle offered.
Carla shook her head. "No. Do you know where I might find them though?"
"They'll be at home, the hospital discharged Mason for a few weeks so he could enjoy some time at home before he has to go into isolation," Michelle informed her best friend.
"Do you mind-"
"I'll watch her," Michelle reassured her, taking Carla's hand in hers to try and stop it from shaking.
Carla kissed her daughter's head. "If she wakes up she can ring me, I'll keep my phone on me."
"I think she's out for the night," Michelle smiled lovingly, impressed by the fact the youngster hadn't stirred once since falling asleep.
Carla laughed, her daughter's ability to sleep anywhere was legendary amongst their family and friends in LA. "When I get back I'll tell you where I found her sleeping at the Fourth of July fireworks."
Grabbing her bag Carla headed towards the door, pausing with her hand gripped tightly on the handle. "He's going to hate me."
"He'll understand you did what you had to in order to survive," Michelle tried to reassure her friend.
"No he won't," Carla breathed. "All he will see is the fact I kept his daughter from him for nearly 7 years."
Michelle looked up. "When things have calmed down he will also come to realize that you have risked everything to fly over here and agree to let your daughter undergo a general anesthetic to save his son's life."
"Maybe," Carla muttered under her breath as she stepped out into the hallway. "But I doubt it."
CS - CS - CS
Standing at the edge of the cobbled streets Carla willed herself to keep putting one foot in front of the other as a series of moments seemed to flash across her subconscious, reminded her why she walked away from here over 7 years ago taking her secret with her.
Putting her head down for fear of being spotted she headed towards their house her eyes darting almost frantically from side to side every time she heard the slightest noise, after all the last thing she needed right now was to be forced into a catch up with someone before she had spoken to him.
"Now or never," she muttered to herself as she rang the doorbell, her hand shaking so much she wasn't sure she was going to be able to.
On the other side of the door she heard movement, before a familiar voice could be heard approaching the door. "I'll get it," she heard him call as his silhouette approached the door before it was carefully pulled open.
"C … Car … Carla," he stammered as he found himself face-to-face with the last person he expected to find on his doorstep at 10 o'clock on a Sunday night.
Carla smiled, a small ghost of a smile as she lifted her head up, her eyes finally meeting his. "Hello Nick."
