'What's that?' The man asks, going over to look at his partner, who is hiding something in the corner, 'Carla, what exactly are you doing?'

'Nothing.' She mutters, shutting the wardrobe she had been looking in, her guilty face igniting suspicion in him. 'How was work.'

'Fine, fine. How's your day been?'

'I'm working tonight.'

'Are you? I thought I could cook.' He tells her, as she edges closer to the kitchen counter, hands on her back. 'Are you sure you're up to it?'

'I'm 22 weeks pregnant.' She deadpans, 'it's hardly like I'm full term. Anyway, Jenny and Johnny can't change the rotas now, it's too late.'

'I'm sure they'd understand.'

'Peter, they're getting their head around me being pregnant, me not turning up to work is just stupid. I'm not ill and I'm not tired. I am perfectly capable of pulling a few pints. If it makes you feel better, I won't do any heavy lifting.' She gets a grumble in response, but knowing she's won the argument.

'Don't stress yourself out. You need to conserve your energy.'

'Please Peter, I need to-do this for me. I'm not working 24/7 anymore and I've managed to-do it for the last 21 weeks. Everyone knowing isn't going to make a big difference. Not to me, not to the baby.'

'Well I'll come and join you.'

'You don't have too.'

'I know, I want too. Anyway, I'm sure Johnny will talk about reducing your hours.'

'Peter, it doesn't matter. Look, please stop worrying. I'll be fine, she'll be fine, we'll be fine. Stay in, see Si or your dad. Do something besides worrying about me. I promise, if I feel ill or something, I'll stop.'

'I know.' He whispers, 'I just don't want anything bad to happen. You are two of the most important things in the world, to me.'

'I know.'

-CS-

'So, when's baby due?' A voice asks, as she comes over to the bar, word had clearly got around. It wasn't a secret, not anymore. The t-shirt highlighted the bump, not deliberately, but she wasn't actively going out to show the bump, she just wasn't actively hiding it. 'I bet your excited.'

'May. She's due in May.'

'She?' She nods, passing the woman a drink, 'how'd you keep that a secret.'

'Coats.' She laughs, 'and black tops.'

'I had no idea.'

'No one did, we only started telling people last week. Just to make sure she's fine, would have kept it a secret right up until she's born.' The woman laughs, taking a sip of the cool liquid. 'But we're both excited.'

'A boy and a girl.' The older woman muses, 'hopefully girls are easier to look after than boys, my two had their issues.' She laughs, 'but they were fine.'

'If she's anything like the Connors, we have no hope.'

'What's that? What's wrong with us Connors.'

'Nothing, nothing. I was just saying, if she is a Connor, we've got no hope.'

'My lovely granddaughter won't be a nightmare.' He tells her, looking at her. She's got a bump, a noticeable one this time. He hadn't, quite, believed what she said when they announced it, but now it was obvious. There was proof that there was a little baby inside her.

'We'll see. She's not really moving a lot yet, so maybe she won't.' She grins, 'now, what can I get you?' She turns away from Eileen, greeting Brian.'

-CS-

'Me and Peter were talking.' She puts her hand up, turning on the kettle.

'Let me guess, it was talking about shifts. Peters already tried to talk to me about this. I'm 22 weeks pregnant, I'm fine.'

'He's right, we do have to think about shifts, about maternity leave.'

'We really don't. I'm tired.'

'That's the point.' He tries, 'I don't want to overwork you. We can change your shifts if you want, we can do more.'

'No.'

'Why?'

'Because I'm fine. Me and baby are fine.'

'You look shattered.'

'I'm always tired. I've been tired for the last twenty-one weeks.'

'I still don't know why you didn't say anything. You wouldn't have done nearly as much.' He gets a sigh in response.

'Brew?'

'No ta.'

'Suit yourself.' She finishes making the hot drink, going to sit at the dining room table. 'Not telling people, it wasn't deliberate move.'

'No?' She shakes her head.

'A few years back, I had a miscarriage.'

'What?'

'It was a mess, I hadn't wanted the baby, but then decided I wanted to keep it. I never wanted to be a mum, look at the family I came from.' She notices the pang of guilt flashing through his face. She could say it wasn't his fault, but it was. Or at least partly. He looks out for her now, but he hadn't, and he'd never be able to go back. 'Then there was a whole lot of stress and I lost her.' She whispers, trying to remain calm. Six years down, it still hurt. 'You can't bring this up with Peter, it will kill him. I mean it Johnny; it really would kill him. It's all in the past, but you don't forget something like this.'

'I knew there was something. I didn't know that, though.'

'Well he was done up for murder, he'd cheated on me and it was a mess. The woman, she was the babysitter. She was the one Rob murdered. Rob murdered her for me, I shopped him in. I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. I was angry, hurt, ready to kill her, but I didn't. Yet, it still feels like I did. The guilt.'

'I didn't know you were pregnant. I knew he had cheated on you, though. And everyone knows about Rob, you do know that it's not your fault, right?'

'I do, but that doesn't make it easier, then there's Rana. The amount of guilt.' She pauses as her dad gently reaches over, stroking the back of her hand.

'It's okay. You're okay, now.' She wonders if she is, if she'll be able to cope when the baby is born, will she be okay? She's not worried about Peter cheating, she genuinely believed that he wouldn't cheat on her. Not again. He knew that she was too fragile, that if he did, she wouldn't cope. It wouldn't be a deliberate move, but nevertheless her life would fall apart, stitch by stich. Like it had been doing over the last few years. Until now, she felt that this baby was the saviour she needed. It wasn't replacing her little girl, but she was helping to heal wounds she didn't think she'd ever be able to heal.

'Anyway, it killed me, my baby dying killed me. I'm not going to get into what happened after it, but I was a mess. And all the pity, I couldn't take it. It was hard enough losing her.' She pauses for a brief moment, as if it was a mark of respect to the little girl. 'I didn't want that to happen again, so we kept it to ourselves. I don't think I can take more pity, over the last few years that's all everyone has given me. I couldn't take anymore. We were going to tell everyone past the 17 weeks mark, but then we just never found the words. I tried telling people, but it just didn't come out, maybe subconsciously it was because I wanted to keep it private. She's not been, really, that noticeable. My bump has only really just "popped".'

'I certainly had no idea. I was stunned.' She laughs a little, slipping her hand on the bump, giving it a gently rub. The baby isn't really causing her grief, she's not keeping her awake at night, not like she imagined. But it will come, so she's not too worried. Not yet.

'It was just something Peter and I knew about, there was something, I dunno, beautiful about it. I can't really explain it Johnny, it's a bit of a relief that it's in the open now because I just look tired.' She laughs, 'don't tell me I can work less hours because I'm fine. For now, if that changes, I'll let you know.'

'Promise?'

'Promise.'

'It's quite exciting, having a new baby in the family. It's all well and good when its someone on the street, like Gemma, but when it's your own flesh and blood, it's even more exciting. Have you noticed what we have on the side?' She looks up, something catching her eye, chuckling a little.

'The scan.'

'She's part of our family. As much as you, Kate and Aidan. Whatever her surname is, she's part of us, so why wouldn't her photo be up.' He tells her, as she tries to hold back tears. The dreaded hormones, making her act like a maniac, crying at the drop of a hat.

'Oh Johnny.' She sighs, letting him know how grateful she is, but not quite looking him in the eye.

'You know, shes's the size of a red bell pepper. She can register light too.'

'How do you know that?' She raises her eyebrow, wondering exactly how her dad knows that. She knew this, but she didn't realise her dad was that invested in this pregnancy, going as far as knowing what stage the baby was at and what she could do.

'Google.' He grins, 'I want to keep up with my granddaughter. You know she can hear you know.'

'Hmm. We know. Peter's always trying to talk to her. I tell him it's mostly my heartbeat she can hear, but there is no harm in him trying to talk to her.'

'What does he say?'

'Nothing worth knowing. He's dead excited.'

'I'm dead excited, Jenny's dead excited.'

'That's nice, when she's old enough, you can babysit.'

'If you still work here, you can bring her here and we can look after her.' She laughs a little, her hand resting on the small bump, rubbing it. It's a comfort for her, she wonders if it is a comfort to the baby inside of her. She wonders what she knows, if she can hear her, hear everything she says to her when she's on her own. Mindless stuff, things that would have no interest to any of them. 'My other granddaughter is in France, having one around 'ere means more opportunity to spoil her.'

'You an' all.' She laughs, 'Peter has already told me how she's going to spoil her.'

'Nothing more precious than your own little baby.' She manages to hold back a bitter comment. She's over the whole childhood thing, and she loves her dad. But, no matter how hard he tries. It's always going to be in her, her traumatic childhood is weaved into her DNA, the somewhat bitter, outlook on life because she grew up in a world that didn't want her. She was a meal ticket for her mum, nothing more. She was going to make sure that her little girl wasn't like that, like she wasn't good enough.

She wondered if Simon would feel like this, Peter hasn't been such a bad parent as Sharon was, but he's hardly been brilliant. If he's good with their little baby, is he going to be bitter about it? She hopes not, but if he is, she can sympathise with it. Just a little bit. It's not the same, but it's similar.

'You okay?' She nods, yawning into the back of her hand.

'I'm gonna call it a night.' She eventually declares, she only really stayed there for that bit longer to be polite, to catch up with her dad. 'Night dad.'

'Night love.' He tells her, watching her do up her coat and disappear into the dark night.

-CS-

Peters asleep on the sofa, when she gets back in. He wakes up, as she walks into the flat.

'Sorry.' She whispers, looking over at him. 'I didn't mean to wake upi.

'Yo' 'idn't.'

'Yes, Peter, yes I did. Lets go to bed.' He nods, following him into the bedroom, as he slips into the bed, watching her lazily as she rolls her eyes.

'What was it you were doing earlier?'

'I was with me dad, in t'pub.'

'No, in the wardrobe. You were being cagey. I was worried about you.' She smiles slightly, continuing with getting the makeup off her face.

'You wanna know?' He nods, watching her bite her lip. 'Let me finish this, then I'll show you.' She's hoping, if she takes long enough, he'll fall asleep. It's not anything to worry about it, but she feels a bit embarrassed, and a bit worried about what he'll say.

After ten minutes, he speaks up. 'You know, no matter how long you take, I'm going to be awake.' He receives an eyeroll in response, before doing the buttons of the top up. He watches her venture into the side of the wardrobe. He thought about looking, whilst she was out, but he felt like he was intruding.

He wasn't expecting her to bring out a chocolate coloured teddy bear, watching her gently hold it.

'I didn't want to jinx it, but I couldn't resist.'

'Awh, it's so sweet.' He grins, as she passes it over to him, examining it. 'Why didn't you just show me?' She just shrugs, as she reclaims it, moving it back to its home.

'I don't want to jinx it, but I dunno, it wasn't a secret.' She tells him, slipping in next to him.'

'We are gonna be okay, right? Me and you. As parents?'

'Of course, we are.' He whispers to her, as she plunges the room into complete darkness. 'Our baby is going to be so lucky, and you are going to be a brilliant mum.'

'You think?'

'I know.'

A/N Thought's?

Right, another question (sorry) does anyone know if Peter found out it was a girl before or after Christmas? (I have a feeling it was after, but I'm not sure. I also have it in the back of my mind that he was told that the baby was a boy first?!)

Also, for those who don't know, Carla is returning to underworld. Nick asks her to take over…. I think you all made some good points about the return (things I hadn't thought of) and I agree, if its just a little stint it's going to be stupid and I don't want it to have an impact on her mental health. She either goes back fully or not at all imo.

Although, all I really want is for her and Peter to have a baby. Maybe they should use this rather than inflicting more pain on the couple. Also, this big thing that might split them up. I'm thinking it might be something to-do with Leanne and Peter and Carla finds out….which would be REALLY stupid - what do you guys think it will be, I am genuinely interested! Then again, they might do a Cain and Moira type storyline (if anyone watches Emmerdale) with the baby. Carla and Moira would be similar ages and, whilst I think it's lazy, I would welcome it for a Carter baby….