Thank you all for the reviews x
A week had passed and things were going rather smoothly, Carla was released from further police questioning as well as Carla and Peter working together to come up with a plan for Underworld which they were excited to reveal to the workers when they finally figured it out themselves. Carla was caring for Evie practically full time while Peter ran the bar, most days Carla was curled up in bed watching boxsets with Evie settled on her chest and other times she was going out for coffee with Michelle and today she was hoping to head into town to order some of the main furniture for the nursery such as the cot, dresser and changing table.
"Hi Carla" Michelle smiles as Carla enters the backroom of the Rover's with Evie cradled in her arms
"Want a cuddle so I can get her bag ready?" Carla offers as Michelle nods eagerly, taking her niece into her arms as Carla potters around in the backroom getting a bag for Evie ready, containing the sling, nappies, blankets and burping rags as well as a cover for when she was feeding to give Evie a bit of privacy
"I think we're just about there…oh wait-" Carla grins placing the pot of dummies in the bag "-can't forget these"
"Is she grumpy in the car?"
"Very so be warned… you may get deafened, let me just attach the bag to the frame then we should be ready to go" Carla smiles as Michelle nods, placing Evie in the car seat ready for it to be put on the frame, strapping her in for Carla placing a blanket over her hoping it would settle her
"Is she all in?" Carla smiles as Michelle nods, Carla lifting the car seat and slotting it into the frame, wheeling it out to the bar with Michelle with her
"Let me say goodbye" Peter pouts leaning down to kiss Evie's forehead then kissing Carla gently on the lips, both Carla and Michelle heading out to the car
"Right I'll drive, you can entertain her" Carla smirks as Michelle rolls her eyes getting in the back with Evie, giving her a finger to grip on to as Carla begins the journey to the shops
"Gosh, she doesn't like car journeys does she?" Michelle groans in response as Carla chuckles, Evie's cries becoming louder, Michelle digging around in the nappy bag to find the tub of dummy's offering one to Evie who accepts it but spits it out soon after "Drama queen, just like her mum"
"Oi! I am not a drama queen" Carla exclaims pulling into a car parking space and stopping the car which immediately stops Evie's cries, Carla rolling her eyes at the situation getting out to buy a ticket so they could go shopping, Michelle placing Evie's car seat in the frame as well as attaching the changing bag to the pram
"Right let's get going, do you want to push her?" Carla questions as Michelle nods eagerly, she wouldn't admit it but she loved being an aunt to Evie, it even made her start to feel a little bit broody
"So what are you looking for then?" Michelle asks as Carla grabs the list out of the changing bag and having a look through it biting her lip at how much all of this is going to cost
"Pretty much everything, she needs the next size up in clothes as well so we'll need to get some more stuff for her as well as the cot, changing table, rocking chair, you know the usual's"
"Right let's look at the furniture first shall we that way you can come up with a colour for her room without needing to see if the furniture suits it" Michelle suggests as Carla nods, both of them heading over to where the larger pieces of furniture were, Carla glancing at all of the cots, a matt grey one catching her eye
"Hmm I like this one, it's girly but not overly girly, you know what I mean?" Carla questions as Michelle nods raising an eyebrow pushing the pram back and forth to make sure Evie stayed asleep
"It's nice, looks easy to put together as well," Michelle says running her hand over the woodwork as Carla nods writing the name of it down
"I don't know what theme to go with though, you know how all baby's rooms have a theme, like nature, dinosaurs for boys that sort of thing"
"Rabbits are cute I guess…stars?" Michelle questions as Carla sighs shaking her head knowing that she would be very indecisive about it
"I kind of just want her room to be airy and light, it's quite small you see so I kind of want to make it look bigger than it is and I feel light colours are the way to go" Carla contemplate looking at a cream leather rocking chair which had an electronic reclining feature so she wouldn't need to get a footstool
"That one's nice," Michelle says as Carla nods adding it to the list of potential buys for Evie's nursery before walking over to the changing tables to have a look at them
"I kind of want a dark colour" Carla tilts her head to the side looking at a dark oak changing table which had plenty of storage which Carla was all for considering Evie's room was going to be small
"Oooh that one's nice, you have to get that one" Michelle beams pulling the draws out slightly amazed at how smooth they moved in and out, Evie starting to whimper in the pram, Michelle pushing it back and forward gently to settle her
"Yeah…I might just order it now, I love it as well" Carla smiles as Michelle nods, Carla glancing to the price seeing it almost totalled £450.00, Carla biting her lip guiltily
"Maybe you should just buy the matching cot as well?" Michelle questions as Carla leads her back to the cots to find the matching one
"It comes with those bumpers as well, yeah I think I'll get this one, keep it all the same and paint the room white, maybe a grey feature wall" Carla nods in confirmation writing everything down on her piece of paper
"Shall we get a spot of lunch then?" Michelle questions as they head to the checkout, Carla handing her card over to pay for the furniture, both of them heading to the car
"Yeah I guess we could, I'm feeling a bit sore though, maybe we could grab a takeaway and head home?" Carla says as Michelle nods stroking Evie's cheek, as she whimpers still threatening to let out a loud wail which she does, Carla unlocking the car for Michelle to get in, Carla scooping Evie out of the pram and holding her close to her chest as her cries soften
"Oh, so you were just lonely then?" Carla questions rubbing her back gently, sitting in the car to see if she wanted a feed but Evie refusing "Worth a try"
"Do you want me to drive?" Michelle offers as Carla sighs nodding in the process, strapping Evie back into the car seat, one of her hands gripped around Carla's finger as Michelle begins the journey home, Evie crying all the way, as usual, Michelle pulls up at the Rover's helping Carla with the pram, Kate and Jenny walking down the street towards them as Carla lifts Evie's car seat off the base so she could place it in the frame but Kate and Jenny just ignore her
"You don't have to ignore her you know?" Carla says pointing to Evie who was gripping onto one of her fingers, Kate walking over somewhat timidly Michelle offering a small smile to her, Kate glancing into the pram and seeing Evie snuggled up under a baby pink blanket
"She's beautiful" Kate whispers glancing to Carla briefly before returning her gaze onto Evie not really knowing what to do with this olive branch
"You can hold her if you want?" Carla offers as Kate shakes her head leaving and heading off with Jenny causing Carla to sigh in response, Michelle putting an arm around her shoulders Evie's face scrunching up again
"They'll come round, give them time, why don't you go in and I can grab us some fish and chips from the chippy, have a cuddle with Evie" Michelle suggests kissing the side of Carla's head before heading off towards the chippy, leaving Carla to go inside to see Peter
"Hey, love" Peter smiles as Carla smiles slightly back pushing the pram through to the backroom, Peter joining her a short while later, Carla unstrapping Evie
"Chelle's gone to get some food from the chippy" Carla smiles stroking Evie's head gently before letting Peter have a hold, Evie cuddling up to her dad
"You ok? You seem down" Peter observes as Carla sighs tearfully, her hormones obviously still messing with her emotions, Peter taking a seat next to her with Evie propped up against his chest
"I saw Kate and before you start she didn't say anything…I let her have a peek at Evie, I don't know it just made me feel weird, I'll be fine in a minute" Carla smiles playing with one of Evie's hands as she yawns, Michelle appearing with a bag of fish and chips rolling her eyes in response
"You're meant to be upstairs in bed-"
"What's all this?" Peter says glancing to Michelle who smirks at Carla who takes Evie off Peter to bounce her up and down slightly
"She's said she was feeling sore so I told her to rest and cuddle Evie upstairs" Michelle scolds as Carla rolls her eyes, Evie crying loudly, Carla checking to see if she needed to be changed
"I'm just going to change her quick-"
"Good and stay up there I'll bring this up for you," Michelle says as Carla saunters off upstairs, Peter turning to face Michelle
"Thank you for this, she could really do with a pick-me-up" Peter smiles as Michelle grins grabbing a tray from the kitchen, placing Carla's food on it
"Hey…I love spending time with her and Evie, you're also going to be bankrupt" Michelle grins as Peter groans in response knowing that Carla would not want to scrimp on the nursery furniture, both of them heading upstairs to see Carla settle in bed with Evie on her chest again, sleeping peacefully
"Give me that," Carla says pointing to the tray desperate to eat something "I'm starving"
"It's like you've been starved" Peter mutters sliding into bed beside her with a bag of chips, Carla picking at them trying not to drop them onto Evie who was looking at Peter, Michelle sitting crossed legged at the end of the bed with her tray of fish and chips
"How are you feeling?" Peter questions as Carla just shrugs in response grabbing a piece of fish in her hands and putting it into her mouth, Evie yawning still staring at Peter who tickles her chin gently causing her face to scrunch up unhappily
"Don't annoy her" Carla slaps him lightly on the chest stealing another handful of chips and eating some of them "Sorry Evie I'm gonna have to move you, sweetheart, cause I am starving"
"Oh please don't" Michelle groans "She'll just cry"
"But I'm hungry" Carla pouts her lips as Peter sighs grabbing a fork and prodding a bit of fish and holding it to Carla's mouth allowing her to eat it without the need to move Evie
"It's like you're the baby-"
"You can't have it all ways 'Chelle" Carla retorts as Michelle grins at her putting her rubbish in a bag as there was a knock at the door, a police officer appearing causing Carla to raise an eyebrow
"Sorry, I'm not dressed…" Carla trails off gesturing to Evie who was rather comfortable on her chest, a blanket over her slumbering body
"It's fine Mrs Barlow, we just wanted to talk to you about the incident which happened at Underworld, this is not a formality" the officer states as Carla nods shifting herself up a bit more, handing Evie to Peter so she could speak to the officers
"Right…what's happened then?"
"We have reason to believe that the roof at Underworld was sabotaged after an inspection from a health and safety officer"
"What?" Peter questions incredulously "Who would want to sabotage a backstreet knicker factory in Weatherfield?"
"That's what we wanted to ask Mrs Barlow in case she knew of anyone which was holding a grudge against her" the officers smiles slightly as Carla lets out a shaky breath racking her brains to see if there were any potential candidates
"No…" Carla trails off as Michelle rolls her eyes at the blatant lie
"Well that's a lie" Peter scoffs "Kate Connor, she's been holding a grudge against Carla for over 5 months now, she's the one you should be speaking to-"
"Peter!" Carla scolds knowing this could blow up in her face, a questioning look on the officer's face, she couldn't lie now and hated being put in this position by Peter "Ok yes…Kate Connor has been rather hostile towards me the last few months"
"I understand that Kate Connor is your sister? Could you give us any more information about why she was hostile towards you, the more information we have the better outcome of finding Miss Habeeb's killer"
"Well my brother, Aidan Connor he committed suicide last year and Kate has blamed me for his death ever since, as well as our dad Johnny's death which was in a car accident" Carla explains solemnly not really wanting to continue this conversation and just cuddle with Evie
"Thank you, Mrs Barlow, we'll leave you to get on with your day, we'll be in touch"
"What did you do that for?" Carla glares as Peter sighs knowing Carla was going to be mad at him for cutting in and revealing what happened between her and Kate
"Carla they needed to know the truth, you were just going to lie to them and I wanted you to think about Evie, the last thing she needs right now is you being banged up for perverting the course of justice or refusing to help with police inquiries"
"You took that decision out of my hands Peter, how could you do that?" Carla questions tearfully, Peter handing Evie to Michelle who takes her out of the room and downstairs leaving Carla and Peter to argue it out
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to think of our future-"
"We won't have a future if you carry on making decisions without pre-agreeing them with me"
"How was I meant to know they were going to come in then?"
"You know what, I just need some space" Carla mutters storming into the bathroom leaving Peter to sigh in confusion wondering if Carla was right…
