Still going to keep it cryptic for a bit longer so I hope you don't get annoyed with me...
Thank you for the reviews!
After endless hospital tests, Ken was finally out of the woods, he was making excellent progress but he would need round the clock care when he came out of hospital causing Peter to agree to a care plan with Tracy. It must be stressed that he didn't regret agreeing to the care plan, he just didn't know the extent at how much time he would have to dedicate to his father and put it like this Carla was less than impressed that Peter had decided to go up to Manchester every weekend. Soon after his stroke, Ken took a turn for the worse causing Peter to ring Adam in Canada to see if he could return, which he did.
A few weeks passed and to Carla's dismay, Peter spent most of his time in Weatherfield when she really needed help down south, she would never admit it though and Peter always promised that he would make it up to her which she always believed but Peter knew she was secretly fuming with it and needed to make it back down south as soon as possible.
Two months later; it was Christmas and Peter had finally ironed out Simon's behaviour after a long stroke of days where Simon was aggressive and misbehaving, he made a plan that he would take Simon back down to Portsmouth to spend Christmas down there as his behaviour improved drastically and of course that wasn't the only plan he had up his sleeve. Peter spoke to Steve about the possibility of Michelle coming to visit and Steve agreed on the basis they kept it from their partners until absolutely necessary.
"So then, where am I sleeping?" Simon asks as Peter drives down the motorway
"Probably the sofa, mate," Peter says as Simon raises his eyebrows "It's a big flat but the girls have their own rooms as Hayley's been upgraded to a bed now"
"I can't wait to see her and Emma, I bet they've grown so much" Simon replies playing on his phone as Peter chuckles
"I can't wait to see them as well as I've been in Manchester for a couple of months now," Peter says as Simon smiles slightly "And there are plenty more surprises"
"Really?" Simon questions "Like what?"
"Well technically it's a surprise for Carla which she will probably hate when she first sees it," Peter says as they pull off the motorway, Simon looking out the window at the long stretches of sea in front of his eyes
"What is it then?"
"You'll have to see, it is Christmas Day after all as well as our anniversary," Peter says as Simon chuckles rolling his eyes as he pulls up outside a mates house
"What are we doing here?" Simon groans as Peter gets out of the car and opens the door for Simon to get out
"We are collecting Carla's Christmas present from my mate, you're going to love it," Peter says as they both approach the door and ringing the doorbell
"Peter," Dave says as Peter greets him "Is this your kiddo?"
"It is, this is our Simon," Peter says as Simon smiles slightly at Dave "Everything going good here?"
"The best, I reserved the one you wanted," Dave says inviting them both into the house as they walk through Dave's house and out into his garden where various border collie puppies were playing in a playpen
"Oh my god, Carla's going to go crazy" Simon mutters as Dave chuckles at Simon's response Peter grinning at them both
"She'll love it Si," Peter says as Simon raises his eyebrows
"Yeah she'll love taking you down to the solicitors as well," Simon says as Peter rolls his eyes watching Dave pick up the puppy with the purple collar and handing it to Peter
"Arent you a sight for sore eyes little lady?" Peter says stroking the puppy's silky fur as Dave grins "You have all the presents as well?"
"Stored in my shed, I'll get them for you," Dave says as he walks to the shed pulling out the bag of presents
"Hold her for a minute Si," Peter says as Simon nods taking the excitable puppy into his arms "Ah, she likes you"
"Yeah? I'm sure Carla's going to like you as well" Simon mutters running his hand through the puppy's fur as Peter lifts the bag of presents into his arms "There better be a pair of Louboutin's in there otherwise I think you'll be in the dog house, no pun intended"
"I see you've got your sense of humour back" Peter mutters "The money did get transferred, Dave?"
"Yeah it did, you can take her," Dave says as Peter nods "I'll speak to you soon yeah?"
"Of course, let's get this little lady home, Carla has plenty more surprises as well"
"Hmm, I'll just sit back and watch the fireworks" Simon mutters as Peter says his goodbye to Dave, both of them getting in the car and Simon sitting in the back seat with the puppy as they take a drive to the flat…
Peter and Simon arrived at the flat, it was situated by the harbour, the boats bobbing up and down on the calming waters. Simon was in love with the place so far, it was new, exciting and much better than Weatherfield. Peter took hold of the puppy and Simon took hold of the bag of gifts as they walked up the stairs to the penthouse apartment. It wasn't very luxurious but it served its need for the time being until Carla was ready to return to Weatherfield.
"Right she may scream, Hayley may run towards you and Emma, she's probably just walking around in her walker," Peter says as he puts the key in the door somewhat anxious at Carla's reaction
"Look who's home!" Carla beams as Hayley squeals in response running over to her dad "What on earth is that?" Carla says pointing to the puppy as Peter looks anxiously at her
"Surprise?" Peter questions nervously as Carla crosses her arms shaking her head unamused watching as Simon lifts Hayley onto his hip
"What have you done, Peter?"
"This is your anniversary present…" Peter trails off as Carla raises her eyebrows looking at the excitable puppy in Peter's arms
"When in the world did I say I wanted a dog?"
"You didn't," Peter says "That's why I thought it would be a good idea...something unique"
"So the opposite of what I wanted?" Carla glares at him as Simon snickers in response "Were you in on this as well?"
"Me?" Simon questions "No…I only found out as soon as that puppy was placed in my arms"
"Right" Carla nods "So I don't get a say?"
"Carla" Peter starts "Look, I thought it would be good for us all, teach us a sense of responsibility. I always wanted a dog as a kid, come on, just give her a chance and I guarantee you'll fall in love with her?"
"A week, that's it," Carla says sternly "A week and if I don't like it then it's going back to wherever it came from"
"Her" Peter corrects Carla as she glares "We have gifts"
"What sort of gifts?" Carla peers into the bag out of curiosity which Simon was holding "All for me?"
"All for you, some are for the girls' as well"
"You can take that puppy with you as well"
"Carla just give her a chance" Peter sighs placing the puppy down on the floor and taking the puppy training pads out of the bag and placing some down in the corner of the room
"Fine" Carla replies abruptly as Emma's cries ring out from the baby monitor "Ugh, she's been so unsettled, I'm so glad you're back"
"I'll go, Simon can watch the dog," Peter says as Simon smiles slightly kneeling down on the floor to play with the puppy as Peter and Carla walk into Emma's room
"Look who it is Em" Carla beams lifting her daughter out of the cot and handing her to Peter
"Have you missed me?" Peter questions as Carla smiles running a hand through Emma's blonde hair watching as she snuggles into Peter
"I'm so glad you're back"
"Me too, let's not talk about Emma whilst Simon's here ey? Let's wait until we're all in bed then we won't be disturbed?"
"Yeah, I agree. Let's just try and enjoy today" Carla nods kissing Emma on the back of the head as they head out into the living room Carla shrieking in response "Peter! The puppy is peeing on the floor!"
"I know, it'll take a while to train her, so you just have to be patient," Peter says as he places Emma in her walker allowing him to deal with the mess the puppy was creating
"So then Si, how do you like Portsmouth?" Carla questions as Simon hums looking out of the patio doors which were connected to the balcony
"It's nice and calming," Simon says as Carla grins sitting down on the sofa as Hayley comes running over to her
"Mummy!" Hayley beams as Carla chuckles lifting her up onto the sofa "Presents?"
"I know, we'll do them in a minute," Carla says as Hayley grins at her "Peter hurry up"
"Alright!" Peter exclaims before walking into the bedroom to get changed into his pyjamas so he was in something comfy as well as being armed with plenty of presents "We can start now"
"Let me get changed!" Simon says as Peter points to the bathroom; Simon appearing rather quickly "Right now we can start"
"So then we have a present for mummy," Peter says handing Carla a rectangular box watching as she shakes it, "I think you'll like this"
"Hmm we'll see" Carla murmurs as Peter smirks at her watching as she unwraps it; a pair of knee-high Louboutin's
"Ooo" Carla giggles taking the shoes out of the box "These are the ones I was drooling over!"
"I know they were," Peter says "That's why I tried to divert your attention from buying them"
"You did well, baby. The puppy aside" Carla says as the puppy comes trundling over sitting beside Carla "Speaking of the puppy…does it have a name?"
"Well, you get to name it?"
"I don't know what to call it" Carla scoffs dramatically "You name it"
"We'll think of later…speaking of the puppy these are also for you," Peter says handing over a bag of presents as Carla eagerly tears them open; a pink diamond collar as well as a matching lead, a pink bowl as well as a puppy harness
"Treating the dog to the best gear in town, I like it" Carla nods as Peter smiles at her warming to the thought of keeping the puppy
"Anyway, now it's little Miss Hayley's turn," Peter says grabbing a couple of presents out of the bag and handing them to Hayley watching as she tears them open eagerly
"Wow!" Hayley beams pulling out another educational toy to add to the collection "Thank you, daddy"
"No problem my angel," Peter says bringing Hayley in for a hug "Now open this one"
"Ok" Hayley smiles sweetly tearing open the next present and looking at the contents of the box and frowning; she was so much like Carla in many ways
"It's a space hopper," Peter says as Carla raises an eyebrow "We'll blow it up for you later then you can have a go"
"Now for Em's gifts," Peter says scooping Emma out of the walker as she giggles "How's my other little princess then?"
"Almost one year old, it's so crazy" Carla laughs slightly at how time flies so fast watching as Peter pulls out another couple of presents for Emma
"Can you open them?" Peter questions as Emma looks up at him perplexed "I'll do it then" he chuckles unwrapping one of the presents revealing a toy which was supposed to educate numbers with plenty of flashing lights and sounds
"Oh great, another annoying toy to add to the collection" Carla groans as Simon laughs from the sofa whilst he plays on his phone "Seriously Si, you should think yourself lucky"
"Don't worry I am" Simon grins as Carla rolls her eyes "Rather you than me, Carla"
"Now this one, which teaches colours," Peter says unwrapping the toy for Emma as she beams excitedly bouncing up and down and reaching out to grasp the toy "You like that don't you?"
"She does" Carla tickles her chin before glancing around and seeing no more presents for her "No more presents for me?"
"Your present hasn't arrived yet" Peter smirks as Carla frowns in response as the puppy climbs onto her lap causing her to stroke it's soft fur
"What do you mean my present hasn't arrived?" Carla scoffs watching Peter hand Simon a couple of presents as well "Peter, answer my question"
"Love, just relax, I promise you it's worth the wait" Peter grins as his phone goes off; a text from Steve saying that he and Michelle were in the flat car park "Speaking of your gift"
"Is that it?" Carla questions excitedly as Peter nods slowly getting up off the floor and handing Emma to Carla as he puts his coat on to leave the house "I'll have to blindfold you, sorry Car" he says grabbing her scarf and tying it around Carla's eyes causing her to groan "I'll be right back" he whispers heading down to the carpark and seeing Steve and Michelle standing there with their cases
"He only decides to tell me when we're already on the way here" Michelle mutters bringing Peter in for a hug as he hugs her back
"Well I thought it'd be a nice surprise" Steve mutters as Peter laughs at him taking Michelle's case
"Right, Carla's still in the dark so we need to not say anything when we enter the room," Peter says as Michelle nods following him up the stairs to the flat as he puts the key in the door and gestures for both Michelle and Steve to go in
"Peter!" Carla shouts "Can I take this off now?"
"Not yet," Peter says as he gestures for Michelle to sit down on the sofa next to Carla who was getting more annoyed by the minute "Ok, let me take it off"
"Chelle!" Carla screams as Michelle chuckles bringing her in for a hug "I've missed you so much" she cries as Michelle cries too before Carla pulls away "Look at you!"
"I know," Michelle says patting her bump before taking Carla's hand and placing it on her tummy, the baby squirming actively
"Oh my god, this is so exciting" Carla beams as Peter boils the kettle "Another cousin for these two"
"How are my little nieces then?" Michelle questions as Carla smiles watching Hayley run over to her "And haven't you grown!"
"Hi Aunty 'Chelle" Hayley beams climbing up onto the sofa to give Michelle a hug "Missed you"
"Me too princess," Michelle says glancing to Hayley who was bouncing up and down whilst sitting on the floor causing Carla to glance to Peter shiftily before getting up and picking her up and bringing her over to Michelle
"And how's my other little princess?" Michelle questions as Carla smiles running a hand over Emma's head
"Why don't you get into your pj's then we can all slob out in front of the TV and watch Christmas films for the rest of the day whilst Peter cooks?" Carla questions as Michelle nods getting up and grabbing her suitcase as Steve grabs his "The bathrooms straight ahead, you can't miss it"
"Right," Michelle says as Steve chuckles leading Michelle into the bathroom
"No funny business you two!" Carla calls as Michelle glares at her "Can I have a coffee baby?"
"Of course," Peter says as Carla smiles at him whilst he flicks the kettle on "I'll get the snacks out"
"Good," Carla says gently "Emma's fallen asleep on me"
"You'd think I'm incapable Car" Michelle groans as Steve mocks a shocked expression "I'm not allowed to even go out alone"
"Don't you love an overprotective hubby?" Carla questions sarcastically as Michelle plonks herself down beside Carla "How about I make it into a sofa bed?"
"Good idea, I'll take Emma," Michelle says as Carla carefully gives her Emma to hold "She's very peaceful"
"Hm you haven't met the three a.m. screams" Carla groans as Michelle raises an eyebrow knowing that she should be sleeping through the night now
"Does she not sleep through yet?" Michelle questions as Carla sighs realising her slip-up and closing her eyes in response
"She'll get there" Carla blags chucking the cushions back onto the sofa which was now a bed "Right hop on, I'll get the duvet," she says running off into the bedroom and returning with the duvet and placing it over them both
"Oi! Give me some!" Michelle pouts her lips before groaning "Go to sleep" she whines rubbing her bump
"The joys of pregnancy" Carla replies sarcastically as Michelle scoffs watching as Carla's eyes glaze over when she glances to Emma
"Out with it" Michelle whispers as Carla shakes her head "Come on, what's going on?"
"Nothing" Carla murmurs as Emma wakes up causing her to tickle her under the chin causing a wide smile but no giggle, as usual
"I don't believe you," Michelle says quietly running a finger over Emma's cheek "First she doesn't crawl for a one-year-old, and she's not sleeping through the night"
"Nothing's going on 'Chelle" Carla snaps getting out from under the duvet and storming into the bedroom with Emma dissolving into tears, a gentle knock at the door "Go away"
"Carla," Peter says gently as Carla looks up at him "Come here"
"I'm so scared" Carla whispers as Peter soothes her cries "It's been so hard with you in Weatherfield"
"I know it has, I'm back now," Peter says quietly as Carla nods "We'll get through this, whatever's wrong with Emma, we'll get through it"
"We all know what's wrong with her, Peter. It's just a matter of time before a diagnosis and we know what the mums are going to say when I take her to school don't we?"
"Carla, stop getting ahead of yourself, we don't know exactly what's going to happen do we?"
"And then there's Gail, she's automatically going to say that I'm a bad mother-"
"Carla," Peter says pressing a finger to her lips "Stop talking for one minute"
"Sorry" she whispers "I just worry"
"I know you do, but we don't need to worry right now do we because it's Christmas and we should be enjoying ourselves"
"I know," Carla says "You're right"
"Thank you, come on, let's go and join Michelle and Steve" Peter whispers taking her hand and leading her out into the lounge in a bid to enjoy Christmas day the best they could, even with the thought of Emma's future being so different to every child her age. All they could do was hope and pray that things would go smoothly…