Author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you're the best! As a thank you, here's more Carla and Bertie :)

Chapter 17 – Baby Bonding

It was the morning after the funeral and there was still no word from Daniel. They agreed that if he hadn't got in touch by the end of the day, they would meet with the rest of the family and discuss the next course of action, whether that meant involving the police. For now though, it was business as usual. Well, not quite. Peter had gone to work and left Carla on babysitting duty. She'd never looked after a baby before in her life and was already feeling way out of her depth. She had taken on the likes of Frank Foster and Tony Gordan yet something told her one morning with this baby would be her greatest challenge yet.

Bertie's travel cot was in the spare room. Carla peered down into it and saw him wide awake, wriggling about, smiling up at her. The sight melted her heart. "Morning Handsome."

Lifting him into her arms, she immediately caught the whiff of something ungodly. "Oh dear, I think someone needs changing."

It hit her that she was the only one around to do it. She didn't have the first clue how to go about changing a nappy so she decided to get some help off YouTube. She laid Bertie flat on the bed and began unbuttoning his jumpsuit. "Alright, this is my first time doing this so work with me here, little man. That means no peeing in my face."

Just as the tutorial had demonstrated, she unfastened the nappy, and the smell that hit her was unlike anything she'd ever smelt before. She turned her face away, gagging. " What the hell has Daniel been feeding you?!"

The inside of the nappy looked like something out of the Alien trilogy. She could barely bring herself to look at it. "God, that's not natural…"

Carla had to take a minute to physically psych herself. "You're a strong independent woman, you can do this, it's just a bit of poo…"

She held her breath and whipped off the nappy, disposing of it in a sanitary bag like it was an explosive device. She finally let go of her breath, gasping loudly and Bertie giggled up at her from the bed. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

After securing a new nappy, she carried him into the kitchen and read Ken's instructions off the fridge. "Ah, looks like someone's due a bottle feed."

Carla microwaved the bottle for the exact time specified and she sat rocking Bertie on the sofa as he drank. Admittedly, she was rather proud of herself. It wasn't even 10 o'clock yet and already she had nappy changing and bottle feeding nailed. Maybe this parenting business wasn't so bad after all?

Less than an hour later and Bertie was crying so loudly Carla swore she had perforated an eardrum. She paced with him in her arms, trying to get him to settle. "What's up with you eh? Why are you getting yourself so worked up? What is it you want?"

She had tried everything; his dummy, a bottle, mashed banana, a story, but nothing would make him stop.

She caught sight of Bertie's overnight bag slumped in the corner of the bedroom and an idea came to her. She rifled through it and dug out his toy rabbit. "Look who it is?" she said, waving it in front of him. "It's Mr Rabbit. Your mummy gave you this. It smells of her." Bertie's hands reached for it. "That's right, you hold onto that."

As if by magic, the crying stopped.

Carla dropped to the bed, exhausted. Never before had she been so grateful for the sound of silence. Bertie happily chewed on the rabbit's floppy ear. "Mr Rabbit's calmed you down, hasn't he? You were just missing your mummy weren't you kiddo?" She sighed sadly and kissed the top of his head. "I'm sorry I can't give her to you. And I know I'm not as good at all this as she was, but I'm trying my best here…so just give me a chance, eh?"

Rob stood outside the builder's yard, staring down at the spot on the ground where Tina's body had been found. He could still hear her cries, her pleas for him to stop, and each thwack of the metal pole as it beat relentlessly against her skull. Being back here, it felt like it had happened yesterday. Rob felt disgusted with himself. How could he have done such a thing? Something so brutal, so cold-blooded? For the longest time he had tried to justify his actions, but now he saw there was no justifying what he had done. It was murder, plain and simple.

"You."

Rob turned his head and saw Rita hurtling towards him like a tornado. He had been dreading these kind of confrontations, but now word had gotten out that he was back, he was bound to be getting a lot of them.

Rita stopped within a few feet of him. She didn't dare get too close. "What are you doing out? Why aren't you in prison?"

"There was a retrial. They let me out."

"On what grounds?!"

"Evidence was tampered with by a senior investigator. A judge ruled it as inadmissible. They had no choice but to let me go."

Rita's entire body shook with rage. "No, that can't be! You're lying! I'm calling the police!"

"Call them. They'll just tell you the same thing."

Rita stopped rummaging through her handbag and let out an exasperated cry. "Is there no justice in this world?! I don't know how you have the gall to stand here. Brings it all back does it? Do you still see her face at night? I hope it haunts you!"

Rita had been like a mother to Tina. Rob was finding it impossibly difficult to even look her in the eye. "Rita, I know it must be a shock seeing me again, but you have to know, I am truly sorry for what happened."

"Sorry? Sorry?! If that were true, you would have served your time! And you certainly wouldn't have dared show your face around here again!"

"That's kinda difficult considering he lives here now."

Rob closed his eyes as Tracy came walking over. "Leave it, Trace."

"No, I will not leave it." She sidled up next to him and linked her arm in his. "Now you listen up grandma, Rob's a free man and he can live wherever he likes so you best get used to it."

Rita, feeling utterly powerless, burst into tears and hurried away. Rob watched her go with a heaviness in his heart and a sense of guilt he couldn't shake.

"Take no notice of her," Tracy said. "She's a raddled old crone with too much time on her hands. I bet she secretly loves the drama of it all."

"I wish you hadn't got involved."

"What was I supposed to do? Say nothing? I'm not having people berate you on the street, Rob! If you're serious about living here then you can't be walking on eggshells. Sometimes what people need is a short, sharp shock."

Rob's gaze had returned to the spot on the ground and it lingered there long enough to unsettle Tracy who felt a sudden chill come over her. She gently pulled him along. How about some lunch? My treat."

That afternoon Carla dropped Bertie off at Ken's as planned then headed over to the Bistro to begin her shift. She greeted Peter behind the bar with a kiss then surveyed the light scattering of customers as she fastened her apron. "How's it been here?"

"Yeah, not too bad. How was babysitting?"

She caught the smirk on Peter's face as he said it.

"Let's just say we had our teething problems but by the end of it I'd mastered the art of nappy changing and bottle feeding, so all in all, not too bad."

Peter looked visibly impressed. "I've got to hand it to you, changing a nappy is no easy feat."

"No it's flamin' not. I don't think I'll be doing it again either. The smell nearly finished me off!"

"With any luck, Daniel will be back tonight and you won't have to."

"Yeah, finger's crossed."

Carla noticed Peter had become distracted by something behind her. She turned around to see what it was he was scowling it. Her brother and Tracy were stood at the entrance, both smartly dressed, holding hands.

Rob grinned, looking around. "When Tracy told me you were running this place, I knew I had to come see for myself."

Carla placed her hands on her hips. "If you've come here to cause trouble—"

"I've come for a table," Rob said. He noticed Ryan slouched at the back of the bar and smiled. "Hey mate, how are you? Heard your mum's off sunning herself on some cruise."

Ryan looked unsure whether to speak to him. "I'm going to see if the chef needs a hand with anything," he said to Carla before quickly escaping into the kitchen.

Tracy gave an impatient cough. "Any chance of someone showing us to a table or is it self-service now?"

Carla turned to Peter who was twitching with agitation. "I can serve them if it's easier."

"No, I'll do it." He snatched up two menus. "Don't worry, I'll bite my tongue."

"It's not your tongue I'm worried about," she called after him. "It's your temper."

Although his manner was frosty, Peter managed to show them to their table and take their order without any bloodshed. When it came to serving the food however, things kicked off massively.

Rob cut into his steak and shook his head. "Nah, not happy with this. Peter, I said bloody. What part of this looks bloody to you, mate?"

"First things first, I'm not your mate. Don't ever call me that again. And secondly, it looks alright to me."

"Well, it's not. Take it back."

Rob pushed his plate away like a petulant child.

Tracy sighed. "Babe, can't you just eat it?"

"No, I can't. I want another one. Take it back."

But when Peter refused to do so, the pair ended up passing the plate back and forth between them like a hot potato.

"Take. It. Back!"

"There's nothing wrong with it!"

"I'm the customer, I'll decide that! Take it back!"

"No!"

The plate went flying and hit the floor with a loud crash, startling diners. Rob stared down at the mess below. "Now look what you've done. Moron!"

A sea of red mist descended over Peter. He lunged forward, grabbing Rob by the collar of his shirt, and decked him in front of horrified diners. Ryan ran into the kitchen to get Carla. She hurried out and prized Peter off before he could land another punch. "What the hell do you think you're playing at?"

"He started it!" Peter cried. "He was winding me up!"

"I don't want to hear it. Go take your break and cool off. Now, Peter!"

Peter skulked away like a child who'd been sent to the naughty corner and Carla turned her attention to her brother who was holding a napkin to his bloodied nose. "I'm very sorry about that—"

"Save your breath," Rob cut her off. "It should be him out here apologising, not you. Come on, Trace, we're leaving. We'll take our custom elsewhere."

They both stood abruptly and Tracy shot Carla a look down her nose. "This place has really gone to the dogs. Expect a terrible review on Trip Advisor."

Peter returned to the bar after cooling off outside with a cigarette and Carla fixed him a bemused look. "You know, roughing up the clientele isn't exactly the height of professionalism."

"What can I say? He brings out the worst in me."

Johnny burst in through the double doors and rushed to the bar. He was breathless and wide-eyed as if he'd run all the way from the pub. Carla eyed him with concern. "Johnny, what's wrong?"

Johnny's eyes bulged further out of their sockets. "You mean you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" Peter asked.

Carla's stomach dropped like a heavy stone. "Oh God, please don't tell me something's happened to Daniel…"

"No, it's nothing like that! It's Gary! They've caught him! The police just rang. Not that they needed to. It's all over the local news!"

Carla's first thought was of her sister. "Does Kate know?"

"I'm going to ring her now, but I thought I'd come and tell you first." Johnny was smiling from ear to ear. "Now he can finally get what's coming to him, eh?"

Peter was quick to burst his bubble. "I wouldn't hold your breath. They're letting everyone out these days. He'll probably be home by tea time."

Carla glared at him. The look didn't go unnoticed by Johnny. "I left Jenny manning the bar so I better get back, but I just thought you should know."

"Thanks for telling us, dad."

Once he had gone, Carla turned on Peter. "When are you going to snap out of this silly mood of yours? With a face like that, we should stick you in a field, you'll keep the crows away."

Growling with annoyance, Peter gave an over the top smile. "Better?"

"It's a start. Now go take table three's order. And don't punch anyone this time!"

He gave a mock salute. "Yes Ma'am."

Carla finished up early and was on her way over to Ken's to pick up Bertie when Nick called over to her from the factory steps.

"Carla, hey!"

She gave a sigh of annoyance as he came jogging over. "If you've come to mouth off at me then save your breath because I've really had enough for one day."

He was taken aback by her biting tone. "Why would I want to mouth off at you?"

"Oh, I don't know, everything seems to be kicking off today."

"Someone seems a little stressed."

"Not a little. A lot."

He nodded towards the factory. "I was about to lock up for the night but how do you fancy coming in for a coffee? Plus I can give you a guided tour of the place."

She supposed she had a few minutes to spare. "Sure. Why not?"

They sat in the kitchen area, nursing their coffees. Carla hadn't set foot inside the factory since its refurbishment and it was strange seeing it all shiny and new. She barely recognised the place anymore and it made her kind of sad.

"So what do you think?"

She nodded as her eyes wandered about the room. "Very nice. Yeah."

Nick laughed. "That sounded convincing. Not."

"I'm sorry. It's just a little weird being back here again after all this time, you know?"

Nick's eyes rounded with sympathy. "Yeah, I know. It's funny though, isn't it? Me here and you working over the road. We've basically swapped jobs."

She laughed. "I hadn't thought of it like that, but yeah, I suppose we have." She blew on her coffee before taking a sip. "I'm glad things are working out for you, Nick. I really am. You seem to be doing a much better job of running this place than I ever did."

"Don't put yourself down. You were a great boss. A bit of a dragon—"

"Cheeky git."

"But great." They both laughed a little then Nick's expression sobered as he studied her carefully. "So what's got you all stressed out?"

Carla groaned. "It all kicked off in the bistro with Rob and Peter."

"I heard Rob was back. How's that even allowed after what he did?"

"It's just one of the many injustices of our justice system, Nicholas. Anyway, Rob was winding Peter up, which, let's face it, isn't hard to do, then Peter decked him, making a complete show of himself in front of the customers." She sighed heavily. "I don't know, Nick… Just when you think things are starting to settle down, eh?"

"I can't imagine it's been an easy few weeks in your household what with Sinead's passing and now all this business with Rob. Has Daniel come back yet?"

"Still no sign of him."

"Bethany's beside herself. She thinks it's all her fault that Daniel's gone off the rails."

Carla frowned at him. "Wait a minute… so you know?"

"About Bethany and Daniel? Yeah, she told me. Well, technically Sarah did, but that's splitting hairs."

Carla's finger circled the rim of her mug. "I always thought it was weird that Bethany packed her job in at the bistro. I guess now I know why."

"She thinks it's her fault that Daniel's gone off the rails," Nick explained. "She reckons the guilt of the affair's pushed him over the edge."

"Tell her to stop being so hard on herself. What she and Daniel did was wrong but they're just kids. Lord knows I've done a heck of a lot worse in my time."

She was waiting for Nick to say 'Like what? Sleeping with the chef?' but they were past all that now.

In an effort to change the subject, Nick asked, "Have you heard about Gary?"

"Yeah, Johnny told me."

"At least that gives us closure on one thing."

Carla raised her coffee mug. "I'll drink to that."

"Still, it must be hard with all this Rob and Daniel stuff going on. How are you and Peter doing?"

"We've decided to postpone the wedding."

"I see..." Nick wasn't quite sure how to respond. Once upon a time Carla and Peter's misery would have delighted him. But not anymore. "I mean, it's probably for the best with everything that's going on."

Carla decided to open up about what was really bothering her. "It's just with Rob back on the scene, it's dredging up all that ugly history and it's eating at Peter more than he lets on. It's eating at both of us actually."

Nick reached across the table and placed his hand over hers. The gesture no longer had any romantic implications, they both knew where they stood on that, but it was still one of great affection. "Well, if you ever need to talk, or rant, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Nick. I'm glad we can be like this again."

He smiled. "Me too."

It was late when Peter finished up at the bistro. He was on his way home when he spotted Rob coming out of the corner shop. It was dark and there was no one else about. Rob was busy talking on the phone, his guard down, and Peter decided to follow. When he hung up, Peter saw his moment to strike. He shoved Rob into the ginnel and pinned him up against the wall by his throat. "I want you gone. Forget about Carla. Forget about Tracy. Forget about Weatherfield. I want you out of here and out of our lives for good. Do I make myself clear?"

Rob didn't look afraid, only amused. "And if I refuse?"

Peter tightened his choke around his neck, snarling as he did so. "I'll kill you."

Rob shoved him off with surprising strength and straightened out his collar. He walked right up to Peter, matching his stare, showing he wasn't at all afraid. "Your threats don't work on me. I see you for what you are. A lying, cheating alchy on the wrong side of fifty. And my sister's better off without you."

Rob pushed past him. At the end of the ginnel, he turned back to look at Peter. "Oh, and just for the record, I'm going nowhere. So you best get used to it."

Peter arrived at the flat and was surprised to see his teenage son sat with his feet up on the sofa. "Si, what are you doing here?"

Simon looked up from his phone. "Me and mum had a row so I'm stopping here for the night. Carla said it's fine."

"Yeah, course it is, it's just great to see you that's all. I feel like we hardly spend any time together these days." Peter joined him on the sofa and wrapped an arm around him. "So are you going to tell me what this row was about?"

Simon shut his phone off and slipped it into his pocket. Peter knew it had to be something serious if Simon was willing to part with it. "It was my fault," he admitted with a sigh. "I got upset because Rob's back. Mum told me to calm down and I lashed out."

Peter nodded slowly. "When you say lashed out…do you mean verbally? Or physically?"

Simon pulled away from him. "Verbally!"

"Alright, alright, I'm just checking."

With Simon's history of violence, Peter could never be too careful.

"I'm just mad he's out," Simon said. "Why should he get to walk the streets when Tina's dead? It's not fair."

"No mate, it's not."

"I miss her."

Peter knew how much Simon had loved Tina and how deeply her death had affected him. Simon had suffered so many losses at such a young, impressionable age that sometimes Peter wondered if that's what had caused the wayward behaviour and violent outbursts.

Peter pulled him closer. "I know you do, son. I know."

Carla came out of the bedroom having put Bertie to bed. She smiled at the pair of them. "What are you two nattering about then?"

"Oh, just school stuff," Simon said quickly, knowing better than to bring Tina up in front of Carla.

"Bad day was it, Si?" He nodded and she ruffled his hair curly hair. "Join the club."

She sat down beside Peter who shot her a look of apology. "I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have let him get to me."

"It's forgotten," she said quickly. Then she smiled. "Si, why don't you pick us a film to watch and I'll order us a takeaway. Is Chinese still your favourite?"

Simon cracked his first smile of the evening. "I'm defo staying here more often!"

They'd dimmed the lights and boxes of takeout were set out on the coffee table along with a giant-sized bottle of coke. The three of them sat huddled on the sofa, eyes glued to the flashing screen.

"Love, if you squeeze my hand any tighter it'll drop off."

"It's Simon's fault!" Carla shot a glare at the teenager. "Why couldn't you have picked something nice to watch? I hate horror films!"

Simon chuckled. "Then look away now because she's about to get ripped in half by a chainsaw."

Carla grabbed the nearest pillow and hid behind it as a woman's screams and the churning of a chainsaw played at a deafening volume. "Is it over?"

"You can look now, love."

Carla poked her head out from behind the pillow. Simon laughed at her. "Who knew you were such a scaredy-cat?"

"I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

Carla launched the pillow at him. "I am so not!"

"Alright, settle down you two," said Peter who was sandwiched between the bickering pair. "We'll lose track of what's going on otherwise."

Once the movie was over it was time for bed. Simon was in the spare room and Bertie was in with Carla and Peter. His travel cot was perched at the foot of the bed. Carla was stood over it, smiling down at the sleeping infant.

"Is he asleep?"

"He's spark out."

She joined Peter under the covers and snuggled close to him. He wrapped a tattooed arm around her and kissed her softly. "Thanks for tonight. For making an effort with Si."

"Don't make it sound like a hardship. I love the bones of that kid, you know that."

Peter silenced her, pressing a finger to her lips. "Shh. Listen."

Carla listened to the quiet of the room, not exactly sure what she was meant to be listening out for, and then she heard it; the soft in and out of Bertie's breathing. "Aww, it's adorable," she gushed.

"A right proper family set up we've got going here. Who'd have thought it eh?"

Carla rolled her eyes, trying not to smile, and switched off the bedside lamp, leaving the room in darkness. "Night."

"Night, love."

Author's note: The characters are going to go through a lighter period, but I promise you, there's plenty more drama to come!

On a completely different note, anyone else getting annoyed with how little we've seen of Carla and Peter on the show lately? I can't remember the last time they shared a scene together. I swear they had more scenes together when they weren't actually together. Most of the time I don't bother watching because I know they're not going to be in it, and if they are, it's like a blink and you'll miss it scene. Really hope this changes soon.

As always, if you're enjoying, please show your appreciation by dropping a review. Thanks :)