Sorry for not updating last week, Been very very busy.
I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
"What the hell is going on?" Carla cried loudly. She was stood in the middle of Underworld and she had just been forced to get involved in an extremely petty argument between two of her employees, Eva Price and Beth Sutherland.
After a blissful weekend in Paris and in Disneyland, Carla had returned to work on Tuesday morning to find a huge spat happening in the middle of her factory floor. Santana and Simon had ended up spending Sunday night in Juliana and Carmen's hotel room, leaving Carla and Peter truly alone for the night and after a pretty perfect night together, they spent Monday more in love than ever. They got on some more rides and saw some stage shows, Carmen also queued up along with her Mum and Sister to meet the Disney princesses whilst, Simon, Carla and Peter went shopping for presents. Time to go home had come way too soon and upon leaving Disneyland, Carla couldn't believe that the next day she'd have to be back at work.
At the factory, She rolled her eyes when she had walked in to see Eva and Beth practically screaming at each other and as she approached them, the rest of her staff shot backward to their seats to try and pretend as if they weren't all watching and that they had nothing to do with the altercation that was currently happening.
"Hello Mrs Barlow, I hope you had a lovely weekend." Sally Webster very quickly said, smiling as bravely as she could, in true sucking up mode like she always was.
"I did actually Sally, Unfortunately I'm walking back ere to all of this." Carla replied bluntly as she turned her attention back to Eva and Beth who looked rather worried now their boss was staring at them furiously. All of the Underworld employees knew by now that the last thing their boss liked after a holiday was to come back to a load of drama and as Carla sighed heavily, Beth and Eva both wished they had left this argument to another time.
"Well?" Carla asked, both hands on her hip, staring between a disgruntled Eva and Beth. "Do either of you care to tell me why you're both standing ere at each other's throats instead of aving your backsides plastered to the seats at your machines?"
"She started it." Beth said childishly, shoving Eva on the arm.
"Errr no I did not!" Eva cried shoving Beth back. "You so started this entire thing..." Eva began as if she was about to start ranting. Carla shook her head very quickly and raised a hand to say,
"I didn't ask you who started it, I ask you both why you thought it was appropriate to stand ere bickering when there is work to be done." The telephone in Carla's office started ringing and as Sally ran to get it, Carla then said, "So? Go on then, enlighten me ladies, What's more important than doing your job?" Beth and Eva both looked down at their feet for a moment, gradually realising their argument was rather stupid as Sally appeared out of the office and called,
"It's for you Mrs Barlow…"
"Clearly." Carla said, rolling her eyes at Sally before taking a deep breath in and trying not to lose it. "Can't you just take a message?"
"Well I did try but It's Bradley Denning… he said it's about the order he made... He wants to talk to you... he sounds rather cross..." Sally said delicately. Carla nodded and looked back at a irritated Eva and Beth before saying,
"Right... I'm going to take this phone call… I don't want to hear another word out of you two... What ever happened forget it, Save your petty little spats for your lunch break. Get back to your machines n get on with the jobs I pay ya for." Beth and Eva both glared at each other and turned around to walk back to their stations whilst Carla walked towards her office. She would have been lying if she said she had really wanted to be at work today and as she walked inside her office, She looked around it, saw the pile of paper work on her desk and said,
"Where is Alya?"
"Off sick… apparently." Sally said with an eyebrow raised, "That girl is just taking liberties if you ask me." Carla ignored this comment and picked up the phone. Within minutes she was made even more furious to find that one of their very new and very important clients hadn't received an order that they had been expecting today.
It didn't take long for Carla to promise the client that she would sort out this delivery as soon as she could, She then deeply apologised over and over again and as she hung up, She took another deep breath before starting a quest to find out where the delivery driver Kirk was.
After many, many more deep breaths, Carla was sat in her office with her head in her hands. So far the morning had been a nightmare. She eventually found out that Kirk had broken down on the motorway, which is why he was late and he had been unable to call anyone because he had left his phone at the factory. He had managed to borrow a stranger's phone to call work and explain but he had another delivery which was due this afternoon which obviously meant that that one would be late as well.
Carla then had to phone up the client who was supposed to be getting the afternoon delivery and apologise for the late order and then, Eva and Beth's argument had reignited. Carla had to get up and send the pair of them home, She shouted so loud, it intimidated the rest of her employees so much that they didn't speak again until they were out on their lunch break.
At around one fifteen in the afternoon, the telephone began ringing again and as Carla reluctantly answered it, she hoped and prayed that it wasn't more bad news.
"Hello Underworld, Carla Barlow speaking." She said, staring ahead at her computer screen, simultaneously reading through her emails as she spoke.
"Hello Mrs Barlow." Said Peter, sat at his own desk where he worked at betting website's head office and he really was making Carla's day by surprising her with a call like this.
"Uh Peter…" She sighed, already feeling a lot cheerier than she had done all morning. "Thank god it's you."
"Hey… how's your first morning back going?" Peter asked, although he could tell she'd had a rather bad morning by the tone of her voice.
"Dire." Carla said, Peter chuckled sympathetically on the other end of the phone and Carla couldn't help but smile to herself at the sound of his husky laugh. "It's not funny baby... I'm this close to walking out of ere and going home."
"Why? What's happening over there?" asked Peter.
"What's not happening? Ahh it's just been one of those mornings y'know, petty arguments left right n centre, late deliveries, broken down vans, ill employees…" Carla said with a light sigh.
"Back to reality eh?" Peter said down the phone.
"Definitely." Carla groaned as the Underworld employees all walked back into their building, she sighed heavily and said, "Oh take me back to Paris Peter… please…"
"I wish I could love..." Peter said apologetically, hearing the desperation in her voice. "I reckon we've both got a lot of work to catch up on..."
"You're telling me, the pile of paper work on me desk this morning today is a joke… Simon is so lucky to be on his school holiday... bet he's sat on your sofa right now playing the Playstation and having a great time." Carla sighed, thinking about how Simon had the week off as it was half term. She had left him in bed after waking up at Peter's flat this morning and was sure he was probably having a much better day than she was. "How's your day going?"
"Pretty good…" Peter said, not wanting to sound too happy with the way things were going with his morning because Carla's was going so badly. He had returned to find his boss offering him a promotion and after accepting it, he wanted to call Carla and tell her the good news.
"Pretty Good…" Carla said with a smile. "What's pretty good about your day then?" She could tell by his tone that he was excited about something and wanted to know exactly what it was.
"Well other than the fact that I'm talking to you…" Peter began with a pleased grin. "I actually got a promotion."
"Really?" Carla cried, actually standing up with excitement and gaining the attention of a lot of her employees because they could see her through the blinds and they were now wondering what was going on.
"Yes." Peter nodded, still smiling and still sat at his desk as he spoke to Carla, he was glad to hear how truly pleased she sounded for him and as she said,
"Congratulations Peter, Awww I'm so proud baby." He couldn't help but chuckle again.
"Thank you, I really wasn't expecting it, Just walked in this morning and found a note on my desk asking me to go see the boss, I'm not gonna lie I thought I was in a bit of trouble or something." Peter explained. "But he said he was really pleased with my work and wondered If I wanted to take on more responsibility... Long story short, I'm the new project manager."
"Oooohh." Carla gushed, sitting back down on her chair and now not paying a single speck of attention to her emails anymore because she was overcome with pride, proud that Peter had been promoted and how well he was getting on at work. "Tell me more."
"Well where as before I was just in charge on helping out with the website's competition now I'm also in charge of a team of people who have to come up with fresh new ideas and games for the site, I can also offer up me own ideas of course… but yeah, It's a really amazing opportunity…" Peter said, sounding pretty chuffed with his new role.
"Baby I am so happy for you." Carla beamed, "I can't wait to give ya a big celebratory snog..." She then looked through the window to the factory floor and saw that Michelle had entered.
"Well as much as I can't wait to receive that snog…" Peter chuckled, "Can we meet in the pub after work? I wanna tell Steve about me new role."
"Yeah sure..." Carla said waving Michelle into her office, "Speaking of Steve, his Misses has just arrived, So I'd better see what she wants... I won't say anything though… I'll let you tell everyone the good news later."
"Okay." Peter said happily, "Well I'll let you go then, meet you in The Rover's at about six yeah?"
"Okay darlin." Carla nodded as Michelle walked into the office. She looked rather pleased and smiled excitedly at her best friend as she got up off her chair, still on the phone.
"Bye Carla, I hope the rest of your day gets better love." Peter said.
"Awww it already has." Carla said with a smile, "Bye Bye." She gushed. Michelle rolled her eyes at how love drunk Carla looked whilst on the phone and as she hung up Michelle said,
"Peter?"
"Yes." Carla nodded in an amused fashion, "Come ere..." She said putting her arms around and hugging Michelle lovingly.
"How was Paris then you lucky cow?" Michelle said, letting go of Carla and sitting down on the chair opposite.
"It were completely perfect." Carla said wistfully, still wishing she was back there with Peter and Simon but also being glad to be back now to spend time with Michelle.
"And how about Disneyland?" Michelle asked with a smile, thinking of all the photos she had seen so far of the trip.
"So much fun Chelle, I honestly could never ave seen me self in a place like that but it was a riot, the rides, the music, the funny little characters running about the place, I loved it..." Carla said, grinning from ear to ear reminiscently.
"Oh ya big kid." Michelle teased, "You all looked like you had so much fun, I'm glad you did, you really deserved it babe."
"Aww Chelle, thanks. How was your Valentines day then?" Carla asked, intrigued to hear what Michelle had been up to on Sunday, sure that Steve must have planned something nice.
"Really really lovely, Steve took me to a day spa, it was really really relaxing actually, which is good given the next nine months or so I've got ahead." Michelle said with an eyebrow raised. "He treated me like a queen, made me feel really special."
"Ahhh, I'm pleased Chelle, You derserved a good day too, I'm glad you both had a relaxing time." Carla smiled, thinking that a spa was probably the perfect thing for someone who was pregnant with Steve McDonald's baby to do.
"Yeah we did, although we got back to the pub to some drama though" Michelle said, now looking as if she had some proper gossip to reveal to her best friend.
"Oh yeah?" Carla said intrigued, "Drama from who?"
"Your delightful sister in law." Michelle said with a dramatic eye roll as she thought about what had happened when she and Steve had returned home from their peaceful day at the spa.
"Tracy?" Carla asked, wondering how she hadn't heard what ever happened in the pub from Beth or anyone else at the factory for that matter, especially since they were such gossips, although given the way she had shouted them, Carla then wasn't surprised her employees hadn't spoken to her about it. "What did she do?"
"Well… It's not something she did as such... She were in the pub on Sunday and everything was okay until… Ken walked in, hand in hand with… Audrey." Michelle explained.
"Really?" Carla asked, wondering if Peter knew about this but deciding that he couldn't because she was sure that Peter would have mentioned it. "What did Tracy do?" Carla knew that Tracy already wasn't happy that her Dad was spending so much time with Audrey so soon after her Mum's death and she was sure that Ken walking in the pub on Valentine's Day with Audrey like that must have made Tracy go mad.
"Well she was outraged as you can imagine, she raised her voice and said that Ken had no right to walk in the pub and make such a statement like that in front of everyone. She said that he was insulting the memory of Deirdre..." Michelle said, looking as if the entire situation was an extremely awkward one.
"What did Ken do?" Carla asked, now intrigued to hear about Ken's reaction because he was normally a very calm man and wasn't the type to retaliate to shouting from anyone, especially from Tracy who was known to be quite temperamental.
"He just nodded and ignored her, Audrey too in fact, the pair of em turned their backs and sat in one of the booths, they left Tracy to it which as you can imagine, made her even more furious." Michelle said.
"Yeah, I can imagine…" Carla nodded, she wondered about maybe talking to Peter about Tracy's behaviour although she knew that once Tracy Barlow was in a mood it was hard to get her out of it.
"Anyways, In the end Liz turfed her out, said she was making too much noise and that she wasn't welcome in the pub on such a happy night because she was spoiling the mood." Michelle smirked, "As you can probably guess Tracy didn't like that either."
"Wow... I bet she's in a right delightful mood eh?" Carla said, then she realised that there were much more important things she and Michelle should be discussing. "Never mind all that though with Tracy... How are you doing?" Carla looked down at Michelle's stomach and smiled at her, still unable to believe that Michelle was pregnant.
"Okay." Michelle nodded slowly, "Stopped being sick all the time so that's good... Although I feel a little iffy right now, it's probably just because I'm slightly nervous..."
"Nervous... why?" Carla asked with her head on one side, after knowing Michelle for practically her whole life, she could tell that whilst her best friend looked very cheerful and happy, she also looked truly anxious about something.
"Y'know I was supposed to ave a scan on the twenty ninth, well they had to move my appointment so they phoned me this morning, Anyway it turns out they had a closer spot so I took it..." Michelle said slowly.
"And… when is it?" Carla asked, absentmindedly fiddling about with a pen she had just picked up.
"Today… at two thirty pm." Michelle said.
"Wow…" Carla said, stopping what she was doing and moving closer to her friend. "Are… you looking forward to it?"
"Yeah course… it's just… seeing the kid on the screen… it makes it more real doesn't it? Scary eh?" Michelle said, Carla nodded slowly at her and put the pen down on the desk next to her as Michelle then asked, "So… what's happening with you n Peter then? On the baby front? It is after Valentine's Day after all." Michelle had remembered Peter saying to Carla that they'd need to wait until after Valentine's Day to talk about the prospect of a Barlow Baby.
"Well… we spoke about it a little bit in Paris… I dunno... I mean, I think we'll just wait n see… maybe? I need to speak to him about it again I think..." Carla said vaguely, thinking about Peter's new promotion and wondering if it would be the right time for her and Peter to talk about possible babies after all because he was bound to be highly busy these days because of his new job role.
"You sure you don't wanna get pregnant now?" Michelle grinned, "At least we can get fat together that way."
"Yeah you'd love that wouldn't ya." Carla said with a perfectly raised eyebrow.
"Yeah I would actually." Michelle chuckled, "Our kids could be best mates then, go to the same school and everything."
"You've thought this all through haven't ya?" Carla grinned.
"Yeah… I don't know any other babies... I want me n Steve's kid to ave a best mate for life, Y'know, so they can grow up together like we did." Michelle said wistfully.
"N I spose you'd want me n Peter's kid to marry you n Steve's eh?" Carla teased, making Michelle laugh and say,
"Yeah that would be amazing..." She then looked over at the clock that was on Carla's wall and then said, "Well... I guess I better head back to the pub, me n Steve ave to leave for the hospital soon."
"Ahhh…" Carla nodded, getting up and hugging Michelle again. "I'm dead sure everything is going to go fine though... Me n Peter will be in the pub later so you can fill me in on it all yeah, plus I'll bring your present from Paris too."
"Alright then." Michelle said with a nod, she let go of Carla and then took a nervous breath before saying, "Goodbye babe."
"Bye…" Carla said, waving at her best friend with a sad smile. She knew how it felt to be headed to a baby scan and knew exactly how nervous Michelle must be about things, she also knew that the next few months would fly by and that their would be a new baby on the street before they knew it.
Carla walked into the Rover's Return at five minutes past six to find Peter sat at one of their favourite tables in the corner, he was already drinking a orange juice as Carla approached him and as she happily sat down next to him she said,
"Ello handsome."
"Evening..." Peter said leaning forward to give Carla a quick kiss. She moved up and sat right next to him, still pressing her lips against his and as she let go Peter asked her, "How was the rest of your day then?"
"Not bad…" Carla said, taking off her black jacket and scarf, "I think I scared everyone half to death when I shouted earlier so I didn't hear a peep for the rest of the day... It were almost too quiet." She said putting her coat and scarf down next to her bag, She then smiled at Peter proudly and said, "I'm so glad to see you though... Congratulations Mr Project Manager." She leant in and kissed Peter again only this time she let her tongue slide into his mouth and her arms go around his neck.
After a rather passionate few moments, Carla and Peter both let go of each other and it was then that Carla saw Peter had already ordered her a glass of her favourite wine. At first she couldn't help but wonder how if felt for him to sit in front of alcohol like that when he couldn't drink it but then she quickly smiled gratefully and picked it up. She then remembered what she had wanted to talk to Peter about since lunch time.
"Have you spoke to your Dad since we got back?" she asked, after taking a sip of wine.
"Yes." Peter said taking a quick breath, the look on his face let Carla know, that he knew exactly what he was going on between his Dad and his sister. "He told me about Sunday… about an hour ago... He's absolutely fuming with Tracy."
"Right..." Carla nodded, "So ave you spoken to her at all?"
"No…" Peter said vaguely, not letting on whether he was going to say anything to his little sister about her behaviour or not.
"And… are you planning to speak to her or...?" Carla said, staring at Peter who took a drink of juice and said,
"Well yeah… I... dunno I just don't know how to go about it, I mean I really get why she is upset… Deirdre was her Mum..." Peter's voice broke when he had said Deirdre's name and he took a quick moment to mourn as Carla took hold of his hand silently. "I'm slightly upset too... Just because it's sad that Deirdre's not around anymore... she really was the light of me Dad's life."
"I know..." Carla said softly, nodding at Peter who sighed.
"This isn't about me n Tracy though, I mean as I said I'm sad but me Dad deserves happiness N I think Tracy needs realise that."
"I thought she was okay with things though... I mean we had that chat around her place on Rob's birthday and she really seemed to hear what I said and as if she understood your Dad y'know." Carla said, leaning against Peter and on cue, Tracy walked into the pub with a very miserable look on her face.
"I guess she was okay when me Dad and Audrey were just mates… but now they're more than that… I guess she's finding it difficult again..." Peter said, watching as Tracy leaned against the bar and said something to Sean.
"Yeah but would she really rather your Dad be alone?" Carla asked, linking her arm into Peter's and resting her head against his shoulder.
"This is Tracy love, I mean she's hardly known for being sympathetic is she?" Peter sighed, along with another sip of juice.
"Well I still think someone should speak to her, let her know that her behaviour is only going to push your Dad away." Carla said, also watching Tracy and shaking her head.
"Yeah me too…" Peter said dejectedly, "Although I really don't think she'll listen… not to me anyway…" Peter was looking at Carla intently, in a way that told her exactly what he was thinking.
"Wait… oh no…" Carla said, shaking her head adamantly. "You want me to speak to her?"
"Well why not? You were so good with her last time, you said so yourself." Peter said encouragingly.
"Yes but it were different then, we were just chatting in general and your Dad and Audrey came up in the conversation we were having…" Carla said, remembering how much she and Tracy had unexpectedly bonded over Rob and remembering how she saw a side to Tracy she'd never seen before, only now Carla wasn't sure that she'd get to see that side of Tracy again, especially if she stuck her nose into her business out of the blue.
"I know, but you and Tracy get on alright these days… maybe you could just slip it into the conversation..." Peter said, looking pained at the thought of his Dad and Tracy falling out properly because right now, life was so good, he couldn't stand the idea of things going wrong.
"How exactly?" Carla asked, she looked up at Peter who was watching her so adorably and so irresistibly that she knew she'd end up caving and being the one to talk to Tracy.
"I dunno…" Peter said with a little shrug, "All I know is that things are really going well at the moment… y'know with us n Si… Life's pretty much perfect I'd hate me Dad n Tracy to start drifting apart..."
"Peter they won't..." Carla said shaking her head, she couldn't stand the look on her husband's face for a moment longer because she got up and sighed, "Uh… You are so lucky I love you so much Barlow." Before Peter could say anything, she had approached Tracy who was stood at the bar with a drink in her hand. "Alright Trace…" Carla began, not quite knowing how to approach the situation because Tracy wasn't the sort of person who was the approachable type.
"Oh… Hi." Tracy said, slightly taken aback by Carla's sudden presence but the smiling at her all the same.
"You alright?" Carla asked trying to act completely natural and trying not to look at Peter directly who she knew was watching her from a far.
"Yeah…" Tracy said slowly, "Why?" She suspiciously asked.
"Just asking." Carla shrugged, she let her eyes travel over to Peter who was staring over at them and then quickly turned her attention over to Tracy. There was an awkward silence between them and then, thankfully Amy Barlow appeared. She walked up to her Mum in a pair of leggings and a long jumper and as she approached her and stood against the bar, Tracy said,
"Errr Amy, what are you doing out ere? You're not over eighteen?"
"Obviously not…" Amy said, rolling her brown eyes and shaking her head. "I've come to speak to you about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Carla asked, showing an interest and hoping it would help her think of a way to get Tracy to talk about Ken without it being too obvious.
"Yeah, Mum has to do something with me tomorrow, I spent Monday with me Dad and today practically on me own… All my friends are spending their half term on holiday and I'm ere…" Amy said, looking at Tracy pointedly. "So? What we doing then?"
"Oh…" Tracy said, taking a slow sip of wine as she obviously thought of something. "I'm not sure…"
"How about shopping?" Carla very quickly said, "I'm planning on going over to the Trafford Centre tomorrow for a full afternoon of retail therapy n I could do with some company if you two wanted to come…"
"Aren't you working tomorrow?" Tracy asked, looking over at Peter this time who trying his hardest to nonchalantly sip his juice.
"Well that's the benefit of being boss, you can take as much time off as you want." Carla said smiling as innocently as she could. Tracy looked at her sideways knowing that she was up to something but Amy had become quite fond of Carla over the past few months and very quickly nodded, jumping at the chance to spend a little more time with her.
"Yeah, Let's go shopping with Carla." She said smiling, "I'll make Dad feel proper guilty that he's so busy with Michelle and her pregnancy to spend time with me n he'll give me a ton of money…" Carla and Tracy couldn't help buy simultaneously laugh at Amy's nerve and then Amy added, "And we could get something to eat afterward as well."
"Sounds like fun right?" Carla said, watching Tracy who wasn't exactly full of any other ideas.
"I suppose we've nothing better to do..." Tracy said with a small smile, unable to hide how much she was reluctantly starting to like Carla. "Okay, Let's do it."
"Great." Carla said triumphantly, "Well I were planning to head over there at about one thirty pm so d'ya wanna meet me outside Underworld and we'll drive over there together?"
"Yeah." Tracy said, looking at Amy who looked excited about her new shopping plans.
"Can't wait." Amy nodded and as she turned around to head back to the living room where she had spent most of her days she said, "See ya tomorrow Carla."
"Bye Amy." Carla said after her, Tracy almost chocked on the bit of wine she was drinking and said,
"Oh don't worry about me Amy, I'm only your Mother."
"Bye Mum." Amy chuckled and waved at her Mum before disappearing back behind the bar.
"She's a right little character." Carla said shaking her head and turning her attention back to Tracy.
"You're telling me? I ave no idea where she get's it from..." Tracy said, also shaking her head in unison.
"Are you being serious?" Carla asked with an eyebrow raised, "I mean between you n Steve…"
"Alright alright…" Tracy half laughed, causing Carla to chuckle too. She then looked over at Peter, who looked very pleased and said,
"Do ya wanna come over n sit with me n Peter?"
"Errr and watch you two fawn and slobber all over each other all night? No thanks." Tracy replied, "Besides I'm waiting on Beth."
"Suit ya self then." Carla said, giving Tracy a quick smile before heading back over to the table Peter was sat at. As she sat down Peter gave her a ever so thankful smile and said,
"So… what happened?"
"Well, I aven't mentioned your Dad yet. I've just organised a little shopping trip for me Tracy n Amy… I'll try n slip it in tomorrow or something but there's no guarantee she'll listen to me..." Carla said, rolling her eyes as Peter put an arm around her middle.
"Thank you Carla, I owe ya big time for this..." Peter said, stroking her waist with his thumb and feeling entirely grateful to have her by his side, she was so caring, so helpful and so loving and he even after many months of being back with her, he still felt like the luckiest man alive, especially when they sat close like this and when he had her in his arms.
"No… you don't…" Carla said shaking her head and smiling. Peter nodded at her slowly and placed a tender kiss on her lips before saying,
"I love you n I love how much you care about my lot too..."
"Our lot." Carla said softly, gaining another kiss from a very moved Peter.
Neither one of them noticed that Michelle and Steve had both approached them hand in hand and they continued with their kiss until Michelle cleared her throat very loudly and said,
"Can we have our presents now?" Peter pulled away from Carla first as Steve sat down in front of them and said,
"Yeah come on you two, make with the presents so we can tell you our news." Peter looked confused at first but Carla's eyes went wide as she said,
"Oh yeah… How'd it go?"
"Good." Michelle nodded happily although she also looked a little like she was in shock about something.
"How'd what go?" Peter asked looking at Steve as Carla went into her bag.
"Michelle had her scan today." Steve explained.
"But I thought it weren't for a few more weeks?" Peter asked, as Carla pulled out a carrier bag from Disneyland.
"Yeah it wasn't but they wanted to move it and there was a cancellation." Steve said, "Only found out this morning."
"Is everything alright with the baby? How far gone are you?" Carla asked, her green eyes still slightly wide as she sat opposite her best friend.
"Yes everything's fine… let's get these presents over and done with first because once we get talking about the scan we won't stop." Michelle said holding out her hands excitedly.
"Okay…" Carla replied, intrigued as she delved into the bag and pulled out Steve and Michelle's presents from Disneyland which consisted of a Mickey and Minnie Mr and Mrs Mugs and some special Disney shaped sweets.
"Aww I love it." Michelle said, grinning down at the mug she had just received from Carla and Peter.
"Yeah cheers you two." Steve said nodding appreciatively at his present also.
"We got Amy something too but it's back at my place." Peter said as Carla put her bag back down on the floor. "I'll pop it over tomorrow or something."
"Or you could just give it to me…" Carla said, Peter nodded at her whilst it was Michelle's turn to look intrigued because she didn't know about Carla's plans yet.
"Oh yeah…" Steve said, "I hear you and my daughter are going shopping tomorrow, She just conned me out of a hundred flamin quid the cheeky mare."
"Sounds about right." Carla grinned as Michelle said,
"You and Amy are going shopping? That's nice."
"Yeah… Tracy's coming too." Carla said causing Michelle's eyebrow to rise slightly.
"You n Tracy are going shopping? Really?"
"Long story…" Carla said rolling her eyes, "Come on then, I'm dying ere, how was the scan?"
"Well…" Michelle said, looking at a very very excited Steve and then back at Carla and Peter, who looked as if they were on tenterhooks. "Everything is fine... I'm just under fifteen weeks pregnant."
"What?" Carla cried, "You're that far along already?" She had been expecting Michelle to maybe be eight weeks pregnant or something not already three months gone.
"Yes..." Michelle nodded slowly, smiling at Carla and knowing what she was thinking, "I were sure I were only a month or so gone..." as Steve said,
"Yeah that's not the only surprise…"
"Why? What else?" Peter asked curiously, reading the expression on his best friends face, he was grinning at Michelle so happily that it was a wonder he wasn't actually glowing with pride. Michelle laughed at the giddy look on her husbands face before looking back Carla who was still on edge.
"What Chelle?" She asked anguished.
"Well long story short, I was lying on that little bed chair thingy with my shirt hitched up and we were chatting away with the Doctor about Amy n stuff n then he says… Oh… So of course me n Steve are like Oh what? N the Doctor says, I'm picking up two heartbeats."
"Two?" Carla asked but Peter had already clocked on to what was happening and said,
"Are you two aving twins?"
"Yes." Steve said excitedly, Peter got up and immediately hugged his best friend whilst Carla and Michelle both sat in front of each other in shock.
"You're having twins?" Carla asked Michelle slowly.
"Yes…" Michelle said with a laugh.
"Seriously?" Carla asked again, in awe, almost speechless in fact.
"Yes seriously, I mean it's not what I had in mind at all but y'know what… I'm dead pleased." Michelle said with a truly delighted smile.
"Chelle…" Carla said almost with tears in her eyes. She got up and hugged her best friend too and as Peter and Steve let go of each other, Peter asked,
"What does Amy think about all this?"
"She's over the moon like we are." Steve said, "She said she can't wait n that she's hoping we ave a boy and a girl."
"That's great…" Peter said watching Carla and Michelle in a rather emotional embrace. They both wiped their eyes and as Carla sat back down next to Peter he pulled her close to him and said, "We're really happy for you both aren't we love?"
"Yes." Carla nodded with a sniff, "Happy n Scared for ya..."
"Awww…" Michelle laughed shaking her head, "We'll be fine, and especially since you two are first in line for Godparents." Steve nodded at this comment from Michelle which left Carla and Peter both speechless this time.
"Us?" Peter asked quietly, sure his had misheard.
"Yes you." Michelle said reaching over the table and giving him a nudge. "I mean we know it's a little early to be discussing stuff like this but just know that we definitely want you two as Godparents when the little twins finally arrive… Wow... I don't think I'm gonna get used to saying the word twins." Peter and Carla both beamed proudly as Michelle took a deep breath and Steve was the one to say,
"So what d'ya say? Will you be the Godparents then?"
"Of course." Carla said with a smirk, "Hey... at least now you're aving twins I don't need to get pregnant now so that your baby can have a little mate."
"What's this?" Peter asked, watching Michelle giggle at Carla.
"I wanted Carla to get pregnant the same time as me so our kids could be best friends." Michelle revealed.
"Oh right..." Peter chuckled, pulling Carla even closer. "Sounds like a good plan."
"She were even hoping our kids would get married." Carla said with a laugh.
"I'm still hoping that thanks very much." Michelle said, "Go on Carla, get pregnant, you know you want to." She grinned reaching over the table and nudging Carla who snuggled up against Peter and said,
"All in good time Michelle... All in good time..."
"Yeah." Peter nodded, "Don't worry though, We get in a hell of a lot of practice thats for sure."
"Yeah I bet..." Michelle said, going into her pocket and pulling out a leaflet. "I got this for you two... just in case you wanted it." Carla reached forward and took hold of the leaflet which was titled, Trying To Get Pregnant.
"Thanks Michelle." Peter said, watching Carla who just rolled her eyes and said an amused,
"Yeah, Thanks Chelle." She knew that her best friend was just trying to be helpful and that this leaflet probably would come in handy soon enough.
"Hey…" Carla said walking hand in hand with Peter on the way home from a long night in the Rover's. "You never got to tell Steve n Chelle about your promotion." It was ten thirty pm and they had spent the rest of the evening sat at a table with Steve and Michelle, talking about babies and a whole lot of other subjects, When Liz returned home from a day out, It was entertaining to watch Steve tell his Mum the good news and as she cracked open bottles of champagne, the whole pub soon found out about the twins.
"Ahhh well, I'll tell him tomorrow. I mean tonight should be all about him n Chelle's amazing news." Peter shrugged as he and Carla turned the corner on their way to his flat.
"I cannot believe they are aving Twins… how insane is that?" Carla said, squeezing Peter's hand tight. "I mean… Chelle's gonna ave two babies... two babies at the same time."
"Y'know it happens all the time love." Peter grinned earning a nudge in the side from Carla.
"I know..." She grinned, "It's just a shock thats all, I mean it's one thing if you've planned to conceive n stuff but this whole thing has been a shock for Chelle n Steve… I'm dead pleased that they are so happy though… they deserve this after everything they've been through."
"They really do." Peter nodded, he stopped outside his flat and looked at Carla who was still slightly teary in the eyes because she and Michelle had kept happy crying on and off all night. "You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah course." She smiled, "But whilst we're on the subject of babies n stuff… what are we doing? Y'know with the whole baby thing."
"I dunno…" Peter replied, "I mean… Is this something we should be talking about on me door step?"
"Probably not..." Carla smiled, "I just… well I was just wondering if now is actually the right time for us, I mean with your promotion n stuff, You're going to be so busy…"
"Carla we're not having a baby tomorrow y'know..." Peter said softly, taking his keys out of his pocket and smiling at her. "There's plenty of time."
"I know…" She said with a grin, "I just wouldn't want to put any extra pressure on you that's all."
"You n me, adding to our pretty much perfect family is not pressure love... it's exciting." Peter said pulling Carla towards him.
"You sure?" She asked, smiling down at the hand she had rested on his chest.
"One hundred percent." Peter nodded, "Besides with the raise I'm getting with this promotion and with you being a factory owner it seems as if financially, now is the best time for us to do this..." He looked at Carla affectionately before opening his front door and saying, "Come on, let's go in eh?" They both walked inside slowly and after they were in his flat and after Peter had put the kettle on. They both settled down on his leather sofa whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and Peter was the one to talk first.
"So… how d'ya wanna go about this?" He started, "D'ya want to go to do this whole thing properly, Y'know with like tests n stuff or should we just let nature take it's course?"
"I dunno…" Carla shrugged with a giggle, finding this whole conversation alien. "I'm not sure I like the idea of all that planning y'know, like finding out when the best time to ave sex is and all that jazz…"
"Yeah me neither…" Peter nodded. "It seems as if it would be a lot of stress to be honest."
"Besides on that leaflet Chelle gave us, it says that all most couples need to conceive is a happy n active sex life." Carla grinned, having had read part of the leaflet earlier on that evening when she'd been left at the table alone.
"Well..." Peter smirked, "We've definitely got that covered eh?"
"Exactly." Carla said with a grin as Peter put an arm around her and pulled her right up against him as she said, "So... I guess I'll just come off the pill then… and we'll let nature take its course… right?"
"Right." Peter nodded, pulling Carla so that she was practically sat right on his lap.
"Okay then…" She breathed nervously.
"Okay." Peter repeated also a little nervously, he and Carla both smiled contently at each other for a moment until Carla asked,
"Do ya find talking about this stuff as weird as I do?"
"Yes." Peter nodded, "In a good way though right?"
"Yeah... in a good way." Carla nodded, kissing Peter gently on the nose, She then took in a deep breath as she thought about what the future could possibly hold for her and Peter.
"It's okay to be scared y'know..." He said softly, "I'm scared too... but what ever happens, we're going to be alright you n me."
"I know." Carla nodded again slowly, "I know we will." They sat in a comfortable silence together until the kettle that was in the kitchen behind them boiled.
"Do ya want a brew?" Peter asked but Carla shook her head at Peter suggestively and said,
"Forget that… let's go to bed."
