'Are you sure you want to-do this?'

'Of course.' Her boyfriend grins, as she places her hands in her head, letting out a sigh.

'Not you, Delilah.'

'Of course, muuummy.' She grins, grabbing her dad's hand.

'But on the road.'

'We live in a cul-de-sac.' She points out, looking out at the, silent, drive. There is no cars moving, no noise suggesting there is a car on the road. Nope, Peters right it is, perfectly, safe. Their little girl will be okay.

'She can't do it in shorts and it's too hot for jeans.'

'Carla, it's fine, we have knee and elbow pads. And she'll where a helmet, won't you princess?' She nods, hopping off the side of the counter. 'C'mon. Let's get you ready.' She nods, running off as he can feel Carla's eyes burning into the back of his head.

'Peter.' She warns, as he, finally, dares to look around at her. 'she's too little. She'll get hurt.'

'Carla, she's fine.'

'Right, football is one thing, but riding a bike? That's another level, you read all the time about people in cycling accidents.'

'It's hardly like I'm taking her to the ring road and teaching her there. Plus, the kids over the roads do it.' She rolls her eyes,

'Natasha and Phoebe are 8 and 10. She is six.'

'How do you know their names?' She just rolls her eyes.

'People, chatting to people.' She teases, edging closer to him. 'Mary, Phil and the Labrador live there.' She points to the house opposite, 'Johnny, Ben and Robbie, then its Lauren, Jake, Ryan and the twins Aria and Lula.'

'You can stop, I know to smile at them in the street. Right, she will be fine. You have a meeting at, what, 9? It's 8:45 now. I still can't believe you have a meeting on bank-holiday Monday?'

'Shit. Right, you need to go off because I need to get everything. Do not, under any circumstances, kill my child. We're going to the pub later, remember. To see my dad.'

'Love you too, all that faith you have in me.' She makes a gesture to him as he goes off laughing, in search of their child.

-CS-

'Why doesn't mummy want me to learn?' The child questions, as her dad helps her do up all the protective gear. 'Loads of people ride bikes.'

'Mummy just worries about you; she is your mummy. It's her job.'

'Her job is with ASOS.' The child questions, confused, 'does she get paid to look after me?' She asks, 'can she quit me?' Peter lets out a laugh, probably disturbing his girlfriend.

'No, it's not that job. And she loves you, more than anything else in the world.'

'More than you?' The child questions, confused.

'Yes, you're the most important thing in her life, in both of our lives.'

'Why?'

'Because you're our little girl. It's our job to look after you.'

'That's why she doesn't want me to ride a bike? Why do you want me too?'

'I thought it would be fun.' He suggests, testing if her helmet was tight enough. 'You said you wanted to learn; I just don't worry as much as mummy. Not because I don't love you' he reassures the child, 'just because i think you'd enjoy it. Mummy and I have different types of worry.'

'Why?' He pauses, wondering why they're different. She has a point, they both have the same job, but they do it in two different ways, with two different worries.

'I think it's because mummy grew you in her belly and I didn't. She made sure you were all big and strong, then when you were born, she looked after you, feeding you and you keeping her awake at night. She just wants to know you're going to be safe.'

'And she worries about me?' She tries, at a loss with her dad. He doesn't know what to say, their past experiences have impacted their ability as parents, Carla is far more protective. Peter jokes to Johnny, she'd kill him, if he called her a mama bear. But she was. She'd kill anyone to protect their little girl, he was sure of that.

'She doesn't want you to get into harms way. She's worried you will, that's why she doesn't want you riding a bike because she's worried you may hurt yourself.'

'Like she does when we play football?'

'Exactly.' He grins, 'but you enjoy that. It's because you have different relationships with you. Mummy does the day-to-day school stuff, as well as some fun stuff, whereas I'm your personal chauffeur.'

'A what?'

'Chauffeur. A personal driver.'

'Ohhh.' She smiles, 'we do more sporty things.' She agrees, 'and you take me places. With Bertie.'

'And sometimes Simon.' She nods, as they quietly walk to the garage.

'And Si.'

'Stop, sweetheart.' He says, looking at her. 'Let me take a picture for Grandad Johnny.'

'Why? Does he want me to learn?'

'Yes, he thinks it's a good idea.' He laughs, sending the picture to her grandad. Unbeknownst to anyone else, they'd had a bet. Could Peter persuade Carla to let her ride a bike, Johnny thought it was impossible, but Peter thought different.

From: Johnny

Give my granddaughter a kiss from me, but remember, she hasn't ridden it yet….

Peter sends a laughing face emoji and puts his phone in his back pocket, letting his daughter into the garage, as she makes a beeline for her new bike Peter had brought her for her birthday. He obviously didn't tell her until the night before, much to her horror.

She'd had a go at him, calling him irresponsible and accused him of wanting to seriously harm their child. He'd learnt to just roll with it. When she got like this, he knew she wasn't thinking rationally. She was saying stuff she didn't mean; she didn't know what she was saying. He told himself. The serious ear bashing was worth it, though, to see her little face on the morning of her birthday. Even Carla couldn't deny it.

She'd hoped he'd forgotten about it, but then, last night, he announced his intention to teach her how to ride a bike. Their daughter had been thoroughly on board with this idea. Her mum? Not so much. If looks could kill, he'd have died instantaneously.

'Is it hard?' She questions, as he explains to her what to-do.

'Not once you get the hang of it, you will get a few scratches and bruises, but it's not a big deal. You will be fine.'

-CS-

She can't help but let out a little smile as she watches the faces of her partner and her daughter, the pure joy written across them. Time and time again, even when she falls off. It's usually shaken off with a kiss and she's back on the bike.

Peter doesn't notice her at the window, let alone taking pictures. There's this one, that she's dead proud of, that she's going to frame and give to him for Father's Day. He'll love it, she knows he will.

As much as she's against her riding a bike, she knew she shouldn't have googled the dangers of riding a bike, Delilah was loving it. She had mentioned it a few months ago, about wanting a bike for Christmas. Carla had remained in her anti-bike stance; the child was never going to learn. She had warned the whole family about it. She all knew they thought it was stupid, but she was her baby.

Delilah was hers and Peters. It was their decision. Then Peter had brought it and she was furious, but he was right. This was a perfectly safe area to learn in, it was quiet and empty. As she gained confidence, her and Peter would go further afield, but for the moment they stayed where they were.

She watches her, haphazardly, cycle down the road, terrified she'll fall off. But she doesn't, she manages to stop herself with her feet, giving a, big, toothy grin to her dad, who just claps in response. Suddenly, she's not as worried about her daughter anymore, knowing that her dad is right with her. She doesn't give him nearly enough credit; she knows she's being irrational.

-CS-

'I saw her face.' She tells him, as they're getting into bed, 'when she rode her bike.' She gets a raised eyebrow in response, as she turns off the main light, letting the bedroom be lit by the lamps. 'She looked thrilled. You looked thrilled.'

'It's a proud moment, isn't it? You child riding a bike, for the first time. It's all these little things I missed with Si, doing them with her, it made them that much sweeter.' He tells her honestly, putting his phone down. 'She just looked so, so, happy.'

'You made her happy, she told me what a great day she'd had.'

'Did she?'

'As I was putting her laundry away, she was telling me about it.'

'That's all I wanted. Her to have a good day.'

'She enjoyed going to the pub today.'

'She loves Bertie.'

'Did you hear her bragging.' She laughs, flicking the switch, next to her bed, off. 'She was telling him how great she was at it. She suggested Daniel taught him.'

'Don't make me laugh.'

'It was hard to keep a poker face.' She admits, 'night.'

'Night love. Love you.'

'Love you too.' The room falls silent, before she turns around to face him again. 'Also, Peter.'

'Hmm.'

'Did you get the fiver Johnny owed you?'

'What?' He asks, genuinely confused.

'Don't act innocent.' She edges closer to her, 'you know what I'm talking about.'

'I really don't.'

'So, you and Johnny didn't make a bet.'

'Oh.'

'Yes, oh.'

'How'd you find out?'

'I have my sources.' She grins, 'I expect you to buy me a coffee with that.'

'Whatever you say, love.' He whispers, pulling her in closer, 'whatever you say.'

A/N Thought's? Obviously not the holiday chapter, but I hoped you liked this… Two things today:

When Toyah and Peter had Susie, when did Toyah tell Peter it was a girl? Was it before or after Christmas (I've looked everywhere, and I can't seem to find it? At the time, I'd sort of stopped watching corrie). It's for another fic that I'm writing but I want to keep the continuity of the show in the fic and this is pretty important…

And has anyone seen the latest news…. To-do with underworld? Not gonna lie, I am buzzed. I saw it on twitter with genuine disbelief (and thrill) because she deserves to be there… What does everyone else think?