There's no Carla as such in this chapter, but there is an underlying secret going on which will cause a stir in future chapters...I hope you enjoy, and thank you for the reviews, I'm glad you're still interested, let me know if you get bored!
October 2016
Portsmouth had been a welcome thing in Carla's life, she would have never thought she would be seen living it up by the sea but with her family being there the happiness was overbearing and a positive outlook. 6 months on from when they all left Weatherfield, they were living in a cosy apartment, Peter had a job which was to taxi people around the local harbour on day trips which raked in quite a bit of money each day.
Life could never be that simple though could it? Endless calls from Leanne about Simon's behaviour caused a stir amongst Carla and Peter causing them both to feel guilty about the current situation they were in wishing they could do more to help but Carla being as stubborn as ever would not return to Weatherfield to help out as she was more than happy chilling with her children in Portsmouth with Peter.
The sleepless nights came with Peter worrying constantly about Simon causing Carla to agree into letting him go reassuring she would be fine with both Hayley and Emma and that there would be enough money coming in for them to survive with her shares in Underworld. So Peter did it, he went on a train up to Manchester to check on his rebelling son, with Carla's utmost blessing, inwardly wishing she would join them but he understood why she wasn't ready.
"Simon!" Leanne shouts bashing on his bedroom door "Open this door!"
"No!" Simon shouts "I'm busy" he screams as Leanne sighs, the buzzer going off; she left Simon to stew for a while longer and answered it letting whoever it was up without even checking
"Leanne," Peter says as she gasps "I know it's a shock"
"What the hell are you doing here?" she questions incredulously peering behind him "No Carla?"
"No, she's staying down in Portsmouth," Peter says as she flicks the kettle on "She didn't want to uproot the girls as they're pretty settled down there"
"Right" Leanne nods "I've been trying to get him out of his room"
"Let me try," Peter says as Leanne points to his bedroom "Simon Barlow open this door now"
"Dad?" Simon calls through the door turning his music down and opening it ajar "What are you doing here? Is Carla here with Hayley and Emma?"
"Twenty questions, I'm here to help your mum deal with your behaviour," Peter says sternly as Simon rolls his eyes moodily "Enough with the attitude"
"Where's Carla?" Simon questions as Leanne scoffs audibly from the kitchen "Shut up"
"Simon!" Peter admonishes his son "Right, you're coming with me and we're going to talk. Mind if I take him, Lea?"
"Feel free, it'll give me a break from his horrible moods. I'll indulge in the peace and quiet" Leanne groans as Peter nods "You can leave your bag here if you want?"
"Ta" Peter nods as Leanne smiles slightly "Come on, we're going out"
"Fine" Simon mutters "Bye"
Peter and Simon were sitting on the bench outside the medical centre picking away at a portion of chips as they talk about trivial things in a bid to get things off Simon's chest. Peter questioned him about school and his grades as well as friendships and how he really felt about them all leaving causing his heart to sink at the response.
"So how did you really feel about us all leaving?" Peter questions as Simon looks down at the floor, he was so like Peter in many ways, the fact he always refused to reveal his true feelings
"Annoyed, I miss my sisters and Carla" Simon mutters "Why can't you come back here permanently?"
"We just can't" Peter replies vaguely as Simon glares at him "Woah, sorry I touched a nerve"
"Please speak to Carla, I bet it's her that won't come back!" Simon shouts scuffing his shoes on the floor as Peter sighs knowing Simon was most likely missing having his sisters around and both of his parents
"It's the both of us, I'm only here because you're my son and you seem to be going through a difficult time" Peter responds calmly trying not to let Simon's attitude get the better of him "I want to help Si but I can only do that if you communicate with me"
"Fine" he mutters as an audible gasp is heard from the door of the medical centre causing Peter to follow his son's gaze seeing an excited Michelle and Steve standing together
"Peter!" Michelle beams as he chuckles slightly knowing another round of '20 questions' will occur imminently "It's so good to see you!"
"You too Michelle," Peter says bringing her in for a hug before releasing her from his embrace "Steve" Peter nods offering his hand out for him to shake which he does
"How's Portsmouth?" Michelle questions eagerly "And where's Carla?"
"Carla who?" Peter jokes as Michelle raises her eyebrows "She's back in Portsmouth, she didn't want to uproot the girls and we're both enjoying it down there"
"So she's not back here?" Michelle pouts her lips disappointedly wishing she could see her best friend in person
"No, sorry. I tried to get her to come but you know what she's like"
"Stubborn" Michelle grins slightly as Peter nods "Anyway, we're just heading back to the Rover's we have an announcement you see. We'd really like it if you were there?"
"I'm sure I can make time" Peter smiles as Michelle nods excitedly "Nothing too bad though?"
"The opposite, We'll see you there" Steve beams as he leads Michelle back to the pub leaving Peter with Simon again
"How long are you staying for?" Simon questions hopefully as Peter sighs, he really needed to speak to Carla about the whole thing but there was one thing that Peter was good at doing and that was creating promises he couldn't keep
"As long as it takes to get you behaving well again," Peter says putting an arm around Simon's shoulders and tousling his hair, the both of them lapsing into general conversation…
Simon and Peter talked about everything and anything ranging from Carla to Hayley then to Emma which made Simon realise that the world really didn't revolve around him. After a couple of hours of chatter, Peter made his way to the Rover's for his grand entrance deciding that it was better to get this whole thing over and done with. The Barlow's and Connor's were there, of course, both of them gasping at Peter's unexpected arrival, the Barlow's, in particular, turning their nose up but deciding against causing a scene more intrigued in Michelle and Steve's announcement.
"So we have gathered you all here today because..." Steve smiles as Michelle grabs an envelope and opens it to reveal a picture; a black and white picture, a tiny body, a set of little legs and little arms causing everyone to gasp
"We're expecting a baby" Michelle beams as everyone smiles widely, Peter raising his eyebrows in shock knowing Carla would love to be here right now but he knew that her stubbornness would've fought out and that most likely, she wouldn't have come to Manchester
"Wow, we were not expecting that, congrats!" Aidan smiles widely bringing Michelle in for a friendly hug, Kate doing the same as Peter smiles at her
"I should probably ring Carla" Michelle chuckles as Peter smiles bringing her in for a hug
"Congrats, that's going to be one lucky kiddo," Peter says as Michelle grins at him "Hayley and Emma will have a little cousin to play with now"
"They will," Michelle says "There's also something else we would like to ask you, Peter"
"Really?" he questions wondering what it could be
"How would you and Carla like to be this baby's godparents?" Michelle questions as Peter raises his eyebrows in somewhat shock; he was not expecting that
"Of course we will, Carla will be made up. Go and ring her"
"I will" Michelle replies giddily running off into the backroom leaving them all to it as Peter returns to the conversation
"So then what's the real reason my sister won't come back then?" Aidan nudges Peter as he sighs, he really didn't want to say anything without Carla's permission, even if he did need the support himself; he thought about how everything was at home, with Carla and the girls, he just wished that things would've remained simple but in reality, they were far from it. He promised Carla he wouldn't say anything about their home life, and that was something he was determined to keep.
"I don't know, she's just not feeling the urban grind I guess" Peter shrugs as Aidan smile slightly thinking there was more to it
"Are you two…y'know? Ok?" Aidan questions as Peter frowns in response
"Yeah, we're good, well more than good. The girls are doing really well and Carla's enjoying being a full-time mum"
"That is something I never thought you'd say" Aidan grins as Peter smiles slightly in response
"Peter" Ken nods as Peter smiles bringing him in for a friendly hug "What on earth are you doing back?"
"I'm here to help Leanne out with Simon because of his behaviour which you've probably heard is rather bad at the moment"
"And Carla?"
"Still in Portsmouth with the girls," Peter says somewhat disappointedly as Ken raises an eyebrow
"You two are ok?"
"For crying out loud!" Peter cries exasperatedly "Me and Carla…or Carla and I, whichever way you put it, are perfectly fine together, stop worrying"
"I was hoping to see Hayley and Emma" Ken sighs as Peter smiles slightly getting his phone out and showing Ken some pictures "Wow, Hayley's grown so much"
"I know she has, she's going to be two this year, crazy isn't it…and as for Emma she's grown so much"
"Has she started to walk?" Ken questions as Peter narrows his eyes not really knowing how to reply
"Um no not yet" Peter coughs slightly picking up his drink and taking a sip of it
"Anyway I must get back home, I need to have words with Tracy"
"Being her usual delightful self again is she?"
"Hmm, something like that" Ken nods "Bye Peter, drop bye after this yeah?"
"I will"
Peter returned to Leanne's to get his bag and then headed back to Ken's, he entered the house timidly and heard shouting and screaming from both Ken and Tracy at this point he knew that there would be another Barlow family disagreement in the making that he would have to mediate.
"You don't get it do you, dad?" Tracy shouts as Ken groans in response "I loved him!"
"Tracy, it wasn't long ago you thought you loved Rob and look how that went down!"
"What's going on?" Peter questions exasperatedly as Tracy glares at him "Tracy what have you done now?"
"Oh it's always blame me isn't it with you? You can't exactly sit on your high horse?"
"At least I can own up to my mistakes and fix them!" Peter shouts as Ken rubs his forehead in exasperation before walking out of the room and collapsing by the stairs "Dad!"
"Now look what you've done!" Tracy shouts grabbing her phone to ring an ambulance as Peter comforts Ken
"It'll be ok, dad, don't worry, we'll get you help" Peter responds gently as Tracy rings an ambulance "Hang in there"
"Yeah I think he's having a stroke," Tracy says down the phone as Peter looks up at her all teary-eyed "Just hurry!"
"It'll be ok dad," Tracy says kneeling down beside Peter as there was a knock on the door, Tracy darting up and answering it letting the paramedics in as they immediately work on Ken
"He'll be ok," Tracy says as Peter brings her in for a hug "He has to be ok"
"He will, he's strong our dad" Peter mumbles as Tracy looks up at him "I'm sorry"
"Me too," Tracy says as the paramedics lift Ken up onto a stretcher "You go, Peter, I'll follow in the car"
"Ok" Peter nods as he heads into the ambulance as they dart off to the hospital...
Peter was sat in the waiting room and was greeted by Tracy a while later as they waited for news, Tracy clinging onto Peter for dear life somewhat scared of what might happen to their dad. Peter fiddled with an unlit cigarette whilst Tracy gripped onto his other hand, both of them wishing that there was something they could do to help the situation.
"Come on then, what's really going on then?" Tracy nudges him as Peter raises an eyebrow
"I don't know what you mean?" Peter questions as Tracy scoffs
"You and Carla" Tracy rolls her eyes as if it was obvious wondering why everyone was so nosey about his relationship with Carla
"I'll tell you something Trace, I wish I stayed in Portsmouth now, folk around here are so nosey"
"So there's something to be telling then" Tracy grins as Peter rolls his eyes
"No…well…yes but I can't say, Carla would have me dead if I breathed a word" Peter sighs as Tracy shakes her head unamused
"Nothing too bad though?"
"Well hopefully not but we'll just have to see" Peter whispers "Which reminds me I should probably ring her, I was meant to do that an hour or so ago"
"Alright, I'll go and see if I can find out some info on dad" Tracy smiles as Peter nods grabbing his phone and dialling Carla's number wondering how on earth he was going to explain about the current situation to her…