'So, this is all ours.' Peter grins as they stand in the hallway of the empty house. 'Every single inch of it.'

'We have a, family, house.' She replies, as she feels her daughter snuggle into her shoulder. 'Wow.'

'I guess now we have to sort out which room is which.'

'Well that, Mr Barlow' she teases, 'that is the kitchen.'

'No, really?' She grins, as she feels the hot breath of the child on her neck. 'Did you bring the travel cot? She's falling asleep on me, and I'm going to get a numb arm.' She stares around the hallway, gravitating towards the room that would, likely, become their living room, as her partner comes in, the object required in tow, watching as he sets it up.

'She's really cute when she sleeps.' He wraps his hand around her shoulder, letting her place her head on his shoulder. 'Look at her.'

'Shall we explore the house?' She suggests, setting up the baby monitor, 'label what room is which. I have paper and pens.'

'Why do we need to label them? It's not like anyone else is living here?'

'We just do.' She declares, going into the hallway, 'so this is the living room?' He nods in response, 'kitchen. Are we making it a diner?'

'What adding a table?'

'There's a breakfast bar' she highlights, 'we could fit a table in the side.'

'That might work.'

'We can work that out in the end' she concedes, not sure if she's talking to herself or Peter.

'Something needs to be done about the garden.'

'Considering we aren't those sorts of people, maybe we should hire someone?'

'Well look into it' he promises her, as they move onto the next room. 'You could have this as an office.'

'Really?'

'You said you want to go back to work.'

'No, I do. It's just weird thinking about it, now we have a baby. So much has changed.'

'Good change though?'

'Absolutely. The best sort of change.' She promises, peeking in on the sleeping baby. 'Every sleepless night, it's worth it. The way she looks at me, it gives me a warm, fuzzy, feeling inside. I love every moment. I'm resisting the urge to pick her up, right now.'

'Maybe it's best not too.' He tries, 'considering we didn't get much sleep.'

'I wish she wasn't in so much pain. After her first teeth broke through, I thought that might be it, but no' she tells him, glumly.

'She has a whole set.' Peter reminds her, leading her up the stairs. 'We need new carpets.'

'I also want to paint the bedrooms, that will have to be done before we move in.'

'So, we agreed, that one is ours, that's hers and that ones the playroom?'

'Yeah. I know we talked about a guest bedroom, but we can get a sofa bed. I feel like I'd rather her have that.'

'No, I agree. What colour do you want to paint it?'

'A bright colour. I want baby pink for her room, it goes with the new stuff we brought.'

'Pink it is.' He grabs her by the waist, 'you and me, we're gonna be so happy here.'

'I know we are.' She promises, 'I know we are.'

-CS-

'So, when can I come and look at it?' Johnny questions, as the duo sit in the back, both nursing a cup of tea. 'I'm dying to see it.'

'It's not finished, there is still quite a lot to-do. We've got someone in next week to sort out the bathroom, we're adding a shower downstairs and just fixing up the one upstairs. Then we've got the decorators coming in. You're more than welcome to come with us, but it will be a building site.'

'Are you bringing Delilah?'

'No, no we've got people babysitting her. Dad's doing it Monday, he's minding Bertie and she's much less trouble.'

'It's because she's a baby, she'll be a nightmare when she's a toddler.' Carla reminds him, 'she's my child, she's never going to be easy.'

'I'm not letting you talk about my granddaughter like that.' Johnny teases, 'no she's going to be an angel, isn't she Jenny.'

'We can already tell she's going to be a grandad's girl.' Jenny grins, 'but grandma loves her just the same. If we can get cover, we'll come along.'

'That will be nice. You guys are welcome to help with the painting. We were going to ask Si but thought against it.'

'How is the little'un?'

'He's getting sicker by the day. ' Peter tells him, 'it's really sad and it seems insensitive.'

'Leanne must be going out of her mind.'

'I know we've had our differences, but that must be the worst feeling in the world.' She tells him, as the baby alerts them to her waking up. 'Hello my precious girl.'

'Can I have a cuddle?' Jenny questions, going over to, yet another piece of baby equipment that Johnny brought, Carla often joked that it was like he was having the baby.

'Go ahead, she'll like that. Only thing is that you need to watch your hair, she loves mine at the moment. It's so bad, I have to tie it up sometimes.

'No.' Johnny mock gasps, watching as she picks up the baby, who stays their contently. 'Soon she'll be running rings around us all.'

'She's starting to crawl; we're having to be so careful in the flat. We've got everything guarded and all that. She's just so mobile.'

'That's good.' None of them bring up the fact that Ollie struggled with walking, her hitting all these milestones was a good thing, whilst it was, somewhat, irritating that she couldn't have a moment to herself when she was awake, they always counted their lucky stars that she was reaching these.

'And she'll be talking before we know it.'

'Kate reckons she's going to be a right little chatterbox.'

'Oh, of course she will be. With a mum like Carla, how would she be anything else.' A laugh rings around the room. 'How are the quads?'

'Oh' Jenny smiles, 'they're getting bigger.'

'Imagine having four, one is hard enough, but four.'

'When she's old enough, Jenny wants a playdate.'

'I hope you'll be hosting it.' Carla notes, a hint of humour in her voice, 'five small children. It's bad enough with her and Bertie.'

'Oh, it will be fun.' Jenny laugh, 'you'll have a laugh.'

-CS-

'Hiya.' A voice calls, making the pair jump. 'You're the new tenants?'

'Yeah.' Carla asks with strained voice, surprised. 'I'm Carla, this is my partner Peter.'

'Nice to meet you, I'm your neighbour Francesca and I live with my husband Joshua and our three children, Georgie whose 6, Zach whose 3 and we have a 10-month-old little girl called Jodie.'

'Oh, that's nice.' Carla prays her indifference isn't radiating off her. 'We have a little girl, Delilah, she's, what, eight months? It just goes so quickly. And you have a son.' She turns around to Peter, 'how old is he?'

'He's seventeen. Not that we'll see much of him, probably.' He smiles, not really sure what to say, 'his mum, or his step-mum, her son, his brother, is seriously ill.'

'Oh, that's awful.' He wanted to tell her so that he didn't look like a completely feckless parent. He loved Simon and he just wished they had a better relationship with him.

'I just want to say, we'll have the decorators and builder in, they said they'll be working 8:30 to 5. Hopefully they won't be there long.' Carla tries, before her phone starts ringing. 'I'm really sorry, but we need to get this. Nice meeting you.' She grins, before the pair wander in the house, before she looks at the phone. 'How did you do that?' He smirks, cutting the call.

'I just wanted to get out of that conversation.'

'Me and my husband.' He puts on a voice, making her laugh. 'I hope she's not like Gail flipping Platt.'

'Oh God, don't.' He laughs, going into the empty living room. 'So, this is our home. Mine and yours. A house. I can't get over it.'

'It's mental, huh. We're properly domesticated.'

'Now that's a thought.' She muses, 'I know I keep saying it, but I'm just so happy. It's been a tough few years, but now she's come along, it's all falling into place.' She smiles, leaning into him. 'We're going to be happy.'

A/N thought's? Right, can someone please explain to me who Natasha is? I literally do not remember her, then again, in 2010 my main storyline I was interested in was Tyrone/Molly/Kevin affair and Jacks paternity (I was heartbroken when she died, it was just so sad). But I have no recollection of who she is.