They held onto each other, afraid that if they were to let go of one another they would lose each other forever. It was very much a lazy day and Carla wasn't exactly keen about going into work with Frank after the whole thing with Leanne. Luckily it was getting warmer outside even if it was practically still winter, they had breakfast out on her balcony looking out over the streets, they curled up under one of Carla's thick blankets and just stared out ahead, none of them spoke anything to each other, it wasn't an awkward silence but a companionable one and that was ok for them.

"I love you" Peter states, Carla looks up at him with a small smile on her face "I love you both"

He didn't know why he sensed she needed reassurance it was more of a gut feeling he had but no doubt he was correct, she knew what he was thinking, she knew that he knew how she was feeling.

"I love you too" she murmurs clutching onto him, her hands were securely fastened around his left arm, her head rested on his shoulder

"Do you want to do anything today?" he asks, she grumbles in response causing a brief laugh from him

"We could go out I guess? Somewhere romantic maybe, take some time out for ourselves" she suggests, he nods "Although I am very comfortable here, I could almost drop off again"

"You can sleep if you want, I'll be here"

"It does sound tempting" she admits, he just smiles at her "I would love to wrap myself up in my duvet all day"

"We need to talk about things as well to do with the baby" he smiles, she nods before yawning, he sighs lifting her up into his arms she giggles as he takes her into the bedroom and places her in bed "You get comfy, do you want anything?"

"The washing powder" she states, he groans knowing it would go everywhere "I'm sorry but she wants me to smell it, well she really wants me to eat it but I cant so smelling will have to do"

"Ok fine, I'll bring it in" he rolls his eyes, she grins watching him leave the room, he returns with a small tub of powder "Here"

"Hmm thank you" she smiles smelling the powder before jumping slightly and placing her hand on her bump "She likes it, I knew it was her and I wasn't being weird"

"You're weird anyway" he states, she shoots him a look, he places his hand over hers "She's happy and that's the main thing"

"Exactly" she smirks, he rolls his eyes "This still smells so good"

"Well…I'm glad?" he frowns, she stretches out on her pregnancy pillow "Are you sure you don't want to do anything today?"

"I'm good ta" she smiles, he nods "Don't let it stop you from doing things though, if you need to go out you can go, I'm just going to sleep probably"

"Alright I might actually pop into town" he kisses her on the forehead before kissing her bump "You look after your Mum for me yeah?"

"I'm sure she will" she replies with a laugh "She likes you making a fuss of her"

"Well she's going to have plenty of that to enjoy in the near future" he grins, she smirks "See you later ok? I'll be back as soon as I can"

"Alright I'll see you later"

Carla slept for the whole time he was gone. She was curled up and nestled in her pregnancy pillow for the whole time and was enjoying some peace and quiet apart from the gentle tumbles of the baby every now and then rousing her from her sleep but she soon dropped off soon after they were over, she was just thankful that her daughter seemed happy inside of her. Peter was in town traipsing around the shops, he hated shopping most of the time but this was a special occasion, after the last month or so since he and Carla had become a couple he had fallen in love with her, he couldn't imagine life without her and he wanted to make it official, they had a baby on the way and they had a stable environment, well he says stable environment but they themselves were stable enough to make him think it was ready to take their relationship to the next level; he was going to propose. He picked out the most intricate ring, three platinum bands plaited and to finish it off there was a simple diamond in a clasp which sat on top of the bands, he was sure she would love it. He went to the florist and bought her flowers, a multicoloured floral arrangement which he was sure she wouldn't find generic, he thought red roses were a dead giveaway.

"What is that smell?" he asks, grimacing as he walks through the flat, Carla looks up embarrassed at her weird food concoction

"Um," she falters biting her lip and patting her bump "She wanted pickled onions, barbeque sauce and mustard…"

"That's gross," he remarks, she pouts her lips, the tears fill her eyes, he panics and walks over to her "Sorry, baby, don't cry, it's ok?"

"Sorry" she whimpers, "I thought that you would understand but…"

"I do, don't worry" he chuckles, she pouts her lips "Come here, do you want a cuddle will that make you feel better?"

"Yeah" she nods curling into his side, he places his arm around her, she sniffs "What's that smell?"

"What smell?" he frowns, she narrows her eyes

"Flowers. I smell flowers" she states, Peter rolls his eyes

"Ok, close your eyes," he says, she does what she's told and he gets the flowers out of the bag and grabs a vase from the cupboard and puts them in there, he places them down on the coffee table "Open them"

"Oh Peter!" she exclaims "They smell so good, these are so nice, I love them"

"I'm glad you like them" he whispers kissing her on the side of the head watching as she sniffs each one of the flowers "If you look inside the bouquet there's a little something in there for you"

"Oh?" she frowns looking through the flowers pulling them each away from each other careful she didn't snap the stems until she found what she was looking for; a black box

"Open it" he smiles, she narrows her eyes suspiciously and opens the box, her heart flutters, she was not expecting that, she didn't know what to say

"What is this Peter?" she sighs, Peter frowns as if it was obvious

"Well it's an engagement ring, so I guess I should ask will you marry me?"

"Um" she falters, she glances down to the ring, it was definitely her taste, it had her written all over it but something was holding her back, something was telling her no, she had been through two marriages already and they didn't exactly work out, she was thinking about whether this one would work out as well and if it didn't then her daughter could possibly be affected, she didn't want to do that, she didn't want to hurt her daughter, she made a promise at the start of this pregnancy, at the times she thought she was losing her baby that she would put her daughter first over her happiness, yes she was in a relationship and she said that she couldn't get into one with a baby on the way but this was Peter, he was different, he was her baby's father but something still pulled her back from accepting, she couldn't accept, not yet anyway

"Come on" Peter smiles "I know we haven't known each other for that long but I think this will be good, we have a baby on the way, we love each other"

"We do," she says because it was true, they did love each other, "But I've done this twice before, Peter, I was married for a good ten years with no honesty between me and Paul, I married Tony only to find out that he killed Liam and then he attempted to kill me, I don't think this will work, not yet anyway"

"Yet?" he scoffs "What do you mean by that?"

"I just mean that I want to have this baby first, I want to have our daughter first before we get into settling down, I just worry about how she will be affected if we do this, I don't want her to be pushed out by what we want, I want her to have the world, I want her to have us as us without engagements and weddings overtaking our lives, she needs us, Peter, she will need all of our attention and if we do this then she's not going to get that, I'm sorry it's a no"

"So that's it then?" he questions, she sighs "A no, just like that"

"Just like that, I'm sorry I know it's not what you want to hear"

"I was hoping we could do this Carla, be a proper family"

"We can be a proper family without weddings and engagements, love is what matters Peter not fancy gestures, I don't want that from you"

"Do you even want me, Carla?"

"I do, I love you" she states somewhat confused sensing this was going to brew into an argument "I love you so much"

"Then why won't you marry me?" he asks, she could tell that he was hurt, she had a mind to agree now to spare his feelings but she couldn't, her daughter came first

"Because now is not the right time, Peter, I'm sorry I can't give you what you want"

"All I wanted was to be united, to show people how much we love each other and how much we love our daughter"

"I know you did, but I can't marry you. Not yet anyway"

"So it's not a never?"

"It's just a no, it's not the right time, I need to put our daughter first, I'm sorry"

"Right" he states feeling rather awkward and embarrassed "I'm just going to go out and get us some food, I'll be back later"

"Peter" she sighs knowing exactly how he was feeling, he ignores her and grabs his jacket, he leaves the flat, she places a hand on her bump "We'll be okay angel, we'll get your daddy back and we will be happy"