"I'm sorry Carla, but we've found some potential foster parents for you…..And they've asked if they can spend the weekend with ya?" Officer Eddie Murkins asked Carla, who sighed in pure frustration.
"Right, well, where do they live?" Carla asked Eddie.
Eddie took a deep-breath-in, knowing the reaction he was going-to get when he revealed this piece of news. "Cornwall." He finally came-out with.
"I'm sorry, Cornwall? CORNWALL?" A young but angry Carla shouted at Eddie, catching the attention of the rest of the pub. "There is no way I'm moving to Cornwall! I'm a Manchester girl!" She continued to rant-on about not moving-away. She didn't want to leave Peter. Because leaving Peter, potentially meant loosing Peter. – Something which Carla just couldn't handle with right at this minute.
"Carla no-one said anything about moving to Cornwall, they just want to spend the weekend with ya, and who knows you might decide that you quite like it down there with them….." Eddie tried to re-assure her that she wasn't going-to be moving down there unless she was happy to…..
"Not as much as I'd like it if you'd just get-lost and let-me celebrate my boyfriend's 18th Birthday with the people who are actually invited to this gathering!" Carla responded harshly.
"Fine, I'll leave you for tonight….." Eddie paused as Peter staggered-over to Carla drunkenly, his hands all-over her as it was obvious that his first time out drinking was starting to affect his balance quite badly. "But I'll be back to sort things-out tomorrow. Okay?" Eddie questioned, and Carla nodded in response.
"Who was that Baby?" A drunken Peter asked.
Carla put-on a fake-smile for Peter, taking hold of his cheeks with her hands and wobbling them around slightly as she spoke. "No-one sweetheart." She replied to Peter as if she was talking to a baby. She refused to ruin his 18th Birthday Party.
Peter awoke the next-morning feeling very sick and with a stinking headache. Carla laughed as Peter tried to sit-up then groaned as the pain hit him and he slumped back-down, crashing his head back against the pillow again, and then pulling the covers over-his face to try and block the light-out.
"Oh dear, you are so not a pretty sight this morning." Carla Joked as she got out of bed and went to retrieve her phone from Peter's desk. "Remind-me of how you're feeling right-now when it's my 18th won't ya darlin'?" She asked-him.
Peter could barely manage to speak so all that came-out was an "Ugh" in response to Carla's teasing. Carla turned her phone-on to see that she had a text from Michelle.
Michelle: How was lst night n how is Peter this morn? xxxxx
Carla giggled at Michelle's text and how she was going to reply to it. Putting her phone onto the camera-mode, Carla gently removed the duvet-covers away from a hungover Peter, causing him to groan loudly as the light stung his eyes.
"Peter, look at me baby." Carla whispered to him as she prepared herself to take the photo.
"What?" Peter grumbled as he looked at Carla just long enough so that she had the chance to take a photo.
Carla attached the picture to her message to Michelle and then replied to her…..
Carla: Be glad yr not 'ere Babe. He's a rite grumpy guts this mornin. Check out the piccy. XxX
Michelle: LOL. Gr8 Pic Babe. xxxxx
Reading Michelle's reply, Carla then placed her phone onto Peter's bedside table, and then smirked mischievously as she then ran towards the bed, and then dived on-top of Peter; who had since covered himself back-up with the duvet-cover. "ERGH. Carla what'd you do that for?!" He moaned, feeling sick enough as it was already, without having his own-girlfriend jump on the bed and landing directly onto his bare-chest.
Pulling the cover away just enough to reveal Peter's face, Carla lay on-top of Peter and cheekily smiled at him. "Time to wake-up baby." She whispered to him, placing a gentle kiss onto his lips.
Peter yawned before pushing Carla off-of him and then slowly sitting himself-up, holding his head as he did-so as it was killing-him this-morning. "Listen Babe, come-here." Peter began as Carla went and cuddled-up to him.
"What is it?" Carla asked-him.
"Did Eddie make an appearance last-night?" Peter questioned.
Carla sighed in frustration. But not at Peter, at the fact that Eddie had turned-up uninvited despite Carla telling-him to leave-it. "Yes. Yeah he did. But I told-him to get-lost, and he said that he'd be back today….." Carla trailed-off. "Anyway how's your head feeling this morning?!"
"My head feels like it was used as a football last-night, anyway, what did Eddie want?" Peter interrogated, pushing Carla for answers as he vaguely remembered seeing Eddie and Carla chatting in the Rovers last-night.
"He wanted me to arrange going down to Cornwall to spend the weekend with some potential Foster Parents….." Carla trailed-off sadly.
"Cornwall?!" Peter panicked but soon regretted-it as his thumping-head gave-him a reason to shut-up for a bit.
"Yeah that's what I said….." Carla replied, but she then paused as she observed Peter's scrunched-up face; his head hurting, his stomach feeling very wobbly, and his eyes not yet used to the beaming-light above-them. "Gosh you really over-did-it last-night didn't you baby?" She Joked with Peter.
"Ergh, don't even go there love….." He replied as he shut his eyes in hope that he might find some relief from the pain of this post-birthday hang-over as he did-so.
Later that day, Eddie re-appeared, as promised, but this time he had two people in tow. – A man and a lady. – The potential foster-parents of-course. Carla soon figured that she was going-to have to spend at-least a couple of hours with these two whether she liked-it or not. It took everything in Carla not to shut the door in Eddie's face again, but Peter just about managed to stop her from doing-so in time.
"What do you want Eddie?" Carla whined as Peter hugged her from behind, his head peering over her shoulder as Eddie explained the situation to Carla.
"Carla, Peter, meet Eric and Linda. These two are potentially going to be your future foster parents, and they have travelled through the night from Cornwall to come and see you with me today, so it'd be nice if you at-least gave them the time of day Carla." Eddie told-her, a little-more firmly than usual, which Carla wasn't all that amused at.
"Fine. Doesn't look like I have a choice now does it?! But they need to realise that I come with Peter…..So Eric. Linda. – If you want to get to know me, then meet-my boyfriend…..Peter…..He's 18…..Old-enough to look after the likes of me….." Carla trailed-off for a second as Peter smiled at the both of them, still recovering from his birthday hang-over and not quite with it enough to think to shake hands with them both like he usually would have done.
"I'm sorry guys but you've wasted ya time if you think I'm gonna come running to ya with open arms…..Because I'm not…..Okay I'll quite happily spend the afternoon with ya…..As-Long as Peter's there…..But there's no-way that you're gonna be my foster-parents. No-Way. Because I don't need foster parents…..I have Peter." Carla explained to them bluntly, raising her arm up and finding Peter's cheek with her hand as she rested-it there.
"Carla, come-on just give-them a chance will you?" Eddie tried to reason with her.
"I wouldn't give them a chance if they offered-me 3 Million quid…..Officer….." Carla said selfishly, but Peter stopped her from going any further.
"Hey Baby, come-on, they've travelled a long-way remember? Why don't we take them for lunch ey? No decisions have to be made, but at the very-least they've had a day out in Manchester…..Right Eric and Linda?" Peter suggested and they nodded in return, both with wide-and understanding smiles plastered across both of their faces.
Carla turned to face Peter and wrapped her arms around his neck, placing her hand over the back of his head, and gently pushing-him towards her face as she kissed-him on the lips. "I'll do anything for you Baby." She whispered to him before turning back-around to face, Eddie, Eric and Linda. "Alright guys, why don't we go out somewhere?" Carla suggested, putting-on a fake friendliness for them as she showed them the way.
"Eddie, make yourself scarce for an hour or two ey mate?" Peter told-him firmly.
"Fine, but have my number, and ring-me when you're finished alright?" Eddie told Peter in reply, and Peter nodded, before then running to catch-up with Carla and the other-two.
As it was a fairly sunny-day, they sat in an outdoor café together, Carla sat closely next to Peter, and Eric and Linda sat opposite them as they tried to create friendly conversation with both Carla and Peter.
"Carla, you have to realise that if you were to come and live with us, then you could see Peter as often as you liked…..I mean, within reason of-course, you could even go-up to Manchester every-weekend if you wanted-to, and Peter. – You could come-down here whenever you wanted-to, as-long as you let-us know in plenty of time so that we could do a food-shop….." Linda explained to Carla nicely, and Eric nodded with a smile in agreement, and Carla had to admit, she was a bit persuaded by that comment. But no, she had to stick to her guns on this one.
"And that's really kind-of you guys…..But I've lived in Manchester all me flippin' life…..They say home is where the heart is…..Well my heart is wherever Peter is…..And if Peter is here in Weatherfield…..Then so am I….." Carla broke the news gently to them, but they weren't done with their persuading.
"Peter what do you think? I really think this could be the best-thing for Carla to do…..Move-down to Cornwall with us that is….." Eric suggested to Peter.
"But Cornwall is such a long-way away. It's the other end of the country, but you make it sound like I'd just be popping-over to Liverpool for the day…..Ya know I'm 18…..I'm independent now, and if I decide that I want to move into my own flat. - Then I can do as I wish…..And if Carla wants to move-in with me, then I don't see why the likes of Eddie, or social services should stop-us from doing-that." Peter told Eric and Linda truthfully, and Carla smiled at him sweetly, glad that he was fully-backing-her-up on this-one.
"Social Services just want what is best for you Carla….." Linda trailed-off.
"Then why can't they see that what's best for me is to stay with the person I love the most….." Carla told-them as she gripped onto Peter's arm tearfully.
"It's okay baby. We'll be alright." Peter tried to re-assure as he placed the gentlest of kisses on-top of her head.
"Can ya call Eddie, and tell-him we're done?" Carla asked Peter, and Peter nodded before walking-off slightly to ring-him, as Carla turned to face Eric and Linda once-again.
"I'm sorry Eric and Linda, but I can't move-down to Cornwall with you, that was never going-to happen. I just want to live with Peter, and that is final. And I hope you understand that….." Carla told them in the politest way possible that she just didn't want to live with them.
Eric and Linda both smiled at Carla. "Okay…..Well Carla, we'd have loved to have had you come and live with-us, but we can see that you are happy here. And Peter seems like a good-person….." Linda trailed-off as Carla interrupted-him, whilst Peter made his way back-over to them and linked-arms with Carla.
"Oh trust-me. He is." Carla said with a sweet-smile.
"Alright then Carla, well as-long as you're absolutely, 100% sure, then we'd like to offer you our full-support okay?" Eric began and Linda then took-over.
"Yes, we can't make you live with us, and no-one else can make you live with them either. And we're convinced that you're happy here, with Peter, so there's no reason why we shouldn't tell Eddie that it wasn't meant to be." Linda explained to both Carla and Peter, who both now had massive-teethy-grins spread across both of their faces.
"Thank-You SOOO Much!" Carla said happily as Eddie approached.
"So, have any decisions been made? I know we said that there wouldn't be any decisions made, but Carla and Peter both seem far too happy for there not to have been a decision made.
"Carla's going-nowhere Eddie." Peter said happily as he cuddled-his girlfriend tightly.
"Right….." Eddie trailed-off a little-awkwardly.
"Officer, you can't make her live somewhere-else, when she is quite obviously perfectly happy here….." Eric told Eddie.
"Yes, we don't see why you shouldn't let Carla live with Peter….." Linda trailed-off.
"Did you hear that Baby? We can get our own place-together!" Carla said excitedly, and Peter whipped her up into his arms and spun her around a couple of times in pure-excitement before he then put her back down to the ground and kissed her passionately, before Eddie, Eric, and Linda, then said their goodbyes, leaving Carla and Peter to head-home together-alone.
There is more to come! – Peter & Carla moving-in together!
Please-Review!