Thank you for all your reviews, they really do make my day! This chapter's slightly shorter but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

Ten minutes had gone by when Carla and Peter had stopped crying hysterically and only had a few sobs or so left in them.

Their eyes were red, their throats were sore and their hands were still entwined.

They had never really had the chance to grieve about the miscarriage together, to talk about the loss of their precious little girl, not until now.

The last time they had spoken about the baby, they were both highly intoxicated and had ended up kissing. Carla had lunged herself towards Peter in a drunken state of rage and yet when her lips touched his, just for a second it became a soft and gentle moment.

Very quickly her senses came back to life, very quickly she was reminded of what Peter had done and she soon pushed him away. She hit him as well and with each slap came a different frustration. Rob suddenly interrupted the situation, He eventually chucked Peter out of her flat upon hearing that they kissed and Carla would often sit and wonder what might have happened between her and Peter if they hadn't been interrupted, if he hadn't gone to prison and if he hadn't moved away to Portsmouth.

"Who d'ya think she would ave looked like?" Carla asked tearfully, her voice croaky and her eyes still swollen from all the crying she had just done.

"I'd like to think she would ave looked like you, beautiful, dark hair and light eyes… stunning in fact… like you." Peter said softly as Carla wiped away another tear that had fallen from one of her eyes.

"Really? I wanted her to have eyes like yours…" Carla sniffed, Peter gave her a sad smile and asked,

"Where did you get the name Maia from?"

"When I were a kid… about six I think, there was this girl at school called Lucy. Her parents were filthy rich and she had everything she could ave ever asked for." Carla began with sad sigh, "She could ave been mates with anyone… but for some insane reason she chose to be mates with me."

Peter smiled at Carla as she spoke about her past, she was normally such a guarded person, someone who had always kept her childhood memories to herself and she never usually told a soul about them… well expect Peter of course. During their relationship she had shared memory after memory with him and he always felt truly honoured whenever she decided to tell him another story about when she grew up.

"She were so lovely, we'd go around the playground together and tell each other secrets, she were actually me best mate before Chelle came along. It were my birthday n that particular year I'd practically got no presents. I told Lucy about it n the day after she came into school with a present for me… It were this cute little doll, it had dark hair like mine, green eyes like mine and she said that it was going to be my baby…" Carla stopped talking for a moment but was smiling reminiscently now, even though she still had tears pouring down her cheeks. Peter gently used his thumb to wipe away a tear that still lingered on her face. Carla had to take a quick breath due to Peter's tender touch and then continued with her story. "Lucy actually had a doll the same as mine and she called hers Marie so I suddenly came up with the name Maia… anyways we both vowed that when we grew up we would call our daughters by those names. I'd actually forgotten about it until the day I'd taken that pregnancy test. I dunno the name Maia… it just felt right… It's stupid I know."

"No…" Peter said, shaking his head at Carla. "That's a really sweet story."

"I've never told anyone it before… not even Chelle." Carla said with a slight shiver. She hadn't spoken about her childhood for the longest time, not even with Nick and to sit there and share such personal moments of her life with Peter again felt some-what nostalgic and also refreshing. "Did you ave any names in mind?" she asked watching Peter.

"No… No I didn't… even If I had though… it wouldn't have mattered because Maia…" He swallowed back tears and tried his very best to continue speaking. "Maia is… perfect."

"Peter…" Carla said closing her eyes for a second, she knew that he was trying his absolute hardest to remain strong and she also wanted to keep it together as much as she could. "We would ave been good parents… I know that before... I told you that we wouldn't ave been but… we would ave… I know it."

"We would ave." Peter said with a nod, "We would have been great ones… especially you Carla."

"You really think so?" Carla asked with an eyebrow raised. Until Peter had come along, she'd never actually wanted kids or even had much experience with them until Simon and judging by the way he had reacted to her when she had first got with Peter, she thought being a mother was definitely not in her nature.

"Carla... you may not believe it but you would ave been an amazing Mother." Peter insisted and then he moved closer to her and looked straight into her eyes. "You know what? You still can be one."

"No…" Carla sniffed but Peter interrupted her.

"Yes you can… Carla. Now I hate to tell you what to do but you really need to look at that pregnancy test."

"No… not yet." Carla said. She wanted to stay sitting with Peter and not know whether she was pregnant or not. It was easier that way, that way her future was not dependant on the words that were sitting on a little white stick."

"Yes Carla… It's time." Peter nodded.

"I can't Peter… I just can't do it."

"Carla you can do this…" Peter said but Carla interrupted him this time.

"I'm a flamin mess Peter… I can't be pregnant." Peter, who was still on his knees moved even closer to Carla, as close as the chair she was sitting on would let him, so close that he now had his forehead gently pressed up against hers and he gently leant forward and took hold of one of her hands again.

"Carla this could be the making of you… you might ave another chance to be a mother."

"But that's just it Peter... I don't want to be a mother." Carla cried with tears pouring down her cheeks, "I don't want to be a mother if you're not the father."

History seemed to repeat itself as their lips then met for a tender kiss.

It was a kiss that didn't last long, in fact it lasted two seconds or maybe even less than that but it was a kiss that didn't need to last long.

It wasn't a moment of lust or even a moment of love, it was a moment of grief, loss and longing.

They both pulled away from each other with a slightly guilty look about what they had just done and then Carla shook her head again,

"I'm serious Peter… you're the only man I've ever wanted kids with and you're still the only man I want kids with… I can't have Nick's baby I just can't." Carla cried. She got up off the chair that she was sitting on, her breathing was erratic and she was shaking her head violently. Peter watched her for a second and then stood up straight as she was starting to look slightly unhinged.

"Carla!" Peter shouted taking her by the shoulders, "Darlin you need to calm down." He said putting his arms around her as she started crying again. "Shhhhhh." Peter said as Carla sobbed into his arms. He took a hand and began stroking the back of her head sympathetically, it took a few moments for Carla to calm back down again but she did it as Peter's arms were always such a tranquil place for her to rest.

"Honestly… look at the state of me. I am nowhere near ready to be a mother Peter." She said into his chest.

"Carla Connor you listen to me and you listen good okay?" Peter said, Carla pulled away from him slightly and looked up at him. "You are going to be an amazing mother one day. I promise you. It's understandable that you are scared about this but there is no point in worrying about it until we know for sure… so you're going to wipe those gorgeous eyes of yours and then you're going to find out if you're pregnant or not."

"Peter…"

"No. We are going to do this Carla… we'll do it together. We are going to look at that stupid little stick do you understand?" Peter said shaking his head and not wanting to give Carla the chance to think of any more stalling tactics.

"But… what if I'm pregnant?" Carla asked still unable to think of a future with her and Nick's baby in it.

"Then... we'll freak out together okay?" Peter said, kissing Carla on the forehead before turning her around and leading her over to the table.

Carla was defeated. She knew that she had to do this sooner or later, she knew that whether she did it now or tomorrow that the outcome would always be the same. So she took one last deep breath and with Peter's hands still placed on each shoulder, she slowly picked up the pregnancy test. She looked down at it, her hands trembling and her heart pounding whilst Peter closed his eyes.

Neither one of them was prepared for what was coming next.

Carla actually felt as if her heart might have stopped for a second as she read what the test said. She blinked just in case her vision was compromised from all the crying and She also made sure that she looked at the test a few more times before breathing properly again and saying,

"I'm not pregnant."