Her feet were tapping as she sat on the uncomfortable plastic hospital chair in the waiting room, she was fiddling with her hands trying to distract herself from the entire situation but it didnt happen, it wouldn't happen especially when Ivy was in such a way. Did she do something wrong? No, she couldnt think of anything that went wrong maybe it was the DNA test but no it couldnt have been because that was some time ago which left her muddling through her brain for answers which was just stressing her out more. Glancing around she saw posters, the sort you find in a clinical setting, Stoptober ones, sepsis awareness, maybe that was it! But no it probably wasn't. The images flitted through her mind as if they were being advertised on a private cinema inside of her head; her baby in the way she saw her it haunted her already and all she wanted to do was hold her, she missed her. Using her thumbs to wipe underneath her eyes she sighed and looked up to see Peter standing there with a bag as well as Johnny, Jenny and Maria who were there for moral support but to be honest she just wanted it to be her and Peter and their daughter, it was still weird calling Ivy their daughter all of a sudden but it was the truth and she thought of how much of a shame it was for it to end this way, an end to what should have been a celebration for Peter as well as her.

"She'll be alright" Peter places his hand over hers which were clasped in her lap, she grips onto his hand for dear life "She's strong just like you"

"And you" she quips quickly before avoiding his gaze and biting her lip "What if she doesn't make it?"

"She will" Peter reassures her "She was breathing, thats a good start isn't it?"

"Yeah I guess" she murmurs resting her head on his shoulder "I still can't believe I have a baby, I know its been weeks an all that but...I still can't believe she relies on me; what if I did something wrong?"

"You haven't, you are such a good mum Carla, seriously you put her first before anything," Peter says as Carla shakes her head standing up and pacing the corridor which must have been offputting for the other people waiting "Why dont you sit down love maybe Johnny could get you a coffee?"

"I dont want a coffee" she snaps before tears trail down her face "I want my baby, my little girl"

"Come here" Peter hums bringing her into a hug as she sobs into his chest just wanting to be with her baby, wanting to hold her baby; right now she was supposed to be doing her nighttime routine and showing Peter how to do it but instead she was in accident and emergency with her daughter and ex

"Carla Connor?"

"Yes!" she says, her head spinning around at lightning speed as she takes hold of Peter's hand "How is she?"

"If you would like to follow me" the nurse smiles as Carla glances to Peter he gestures for her to go but she wanted him there, he could tell she was scared so she tugged gently on his hand and they followed the nurse into a consultation room "If you would like to take a seat"

"What's going on?" she questions wearily as Peter takes hold of her hand, their fingers weaving in and out of each other

"Ivy had seemed to have had a stroke-"

"A stroke?" Carla questions incredulously as the nurse nods "Dont people who are old have them, people who have disabilities heart disease that sort of thing not an almost two-month-old baby?"

"Calm down love," Peter says as Carla scoffs shaking her head "Please continue"

"Ivy had a disruption of blood flow to her brain which means it is likely that a part of her brain had experienced a lack of oxygen for an amount of time so therefore a part of her brain could have become damaged"

"So what?" Carla states blankly as Peter sighs holding her hand and squeezing it "Is she living is she dying? Come on doc, you have all the answers dont you?"

"Carla" Peter admonishes, she just scoffs knowing the situation was getting to her "So what happens next?"

"When Ivy is strong enough she will need to have some more tests such as scans to determine how much damage this stroke has done to her body"

"Does it have any long term effects?"

"It's possible that she could develop epilepsy when she's older, learning disabilities and movement disorders, I'm so sorry"

"When can she come home?"

"Not for a while, I'm sorry" the nurse smiles sympathetically causing Peter to run a hand over his face "Do you two want some time alone?"

"I'm fine thanks" Carla snaps before getting up and leaving the room, Peter flashes the nurse a sympathetic look before chasing after Carla, he takes her wrist and pulls her into his body, she just wrangles her wrist free and storms out of the hospital leaving Peter to sigh in response, he glances to Johnny who smiles sympathetically at him

"Go with her, we'll stay here send you any updates" Johnny smiles as Peter nods grabbing his jacket and leaving the hospital on his search for Carla

Peter looked right and left then saw her sitting on a bench with tears in her eyes, he sat down beside her and put his jacket around her knowing it was cold. Neither of them spoke, both of them still very much in shock with the situation but they found comfort in each other's company before one of them eventually spoke up,

"Do you want to come back to mine?" Peter offers, Carla looks up at him and sighs "Johnny and Jenny are going to stay and wait for news, they'll ring when we can see her I think we both just need to talk"

"Nows not the time I need to be here"

"Come on why dont you come back to mine you can have a shower then you'll be in a much better headspace to see Ivy when we can?"

"Fine" she relents standing up as they walk to Peter's car, the both of them getting in, Peter in the driver's seat and Carla in the passenger seat resting her head against the cool glass allowing Peter to drive her back to his...

The unexpected frothiness of the coffee in the mug which he had spent the last five minutes stirring in some sort of nightmarish trance; a splash of boiling liquid touched his hand causing him to jump out of his thoughts. He padded through to the living room and sat down in one of the seats and breathed in a long breath before crumbling into a state of tears. Bittersweet is what it was because that is the reality, gets his daughter, she's almost taken away from him which made him feel hurt and broken understandably. Eventually, Carla entered the room and the sight of Peter in tears brought her own tears back to life as they splashed down her face and into her damp hair from where she washed it upstairs in the shower. Gingerly she sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him on the side of the head, it was like the old times but also like the new times, it was a weird mish-mash of past and present and it was ever so confusing for them both not just her.

"You didnt have to snap at the doctor you know, she was only trying to do her job" he states abruptly, she slides off her lap and sits on the sofa pulling a cushion onto her lap

"I know and I feel terrible but Peter our daughter is lying in a hospital bed, it hurts I dont think you understand"

"Understand?" he scoffs "No of course I dont, it's not like I've been there myself, been there with Simon and to be honest Carla you were the one who wanted to play the knight and shining armour and keep her all to yourself without a dad-"

"Then I changed my mind because it was what was best for her!" she raises her voice he just laughs "Maybe I shouldn't have..."

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I disagreed about the DNA test" she snipes as Peter rolls his eyes releasing a faint sigh, "You think I'm a bad mother dont you"

"No"

"Well you do"

"Stop putting words into my mouth!" he shouts she doesn't even flinch instead she just stares blankly at him, numbingly "You are the best mother Carla, everyone's seen that but-"

"But what?"

"Nothing"

"No go on!" she states as Peter sighs in response knowing he was digging himself a bigger hole "Go on say it, its teetering on the edge of that tongue of yours go on"

"Maybe you should have been more careful at your age and getting pregnant"

"Oh," she states frowning and getting up to pace the room "I'm sorry that contraception wasn't on my to-do list when one I was still grieving for our son-"

"Dont bring him into this" he warns her she just breathes out before chuckling slightly

"Two; wanting to hurt you because of all those horrible nasty things you said to me, I mean yeah I'm so sorry for not thinking twice Peter I really am, it's like you dont want my baby to exist"

"I never said that"

"Sounds like it"

"How?"

"Let me think if I used contraception she wouldn't be here" she states the obvious causing Peter to groan "Is that what you want Peter, for her to go?"

"You know I dont want that!" he shouts standing in front of her, she glances away from him unable to look him in the eye with a borderline smug grin plastered all over her face "I love her, you know that"

"I know!" she cries before breathing in and out great gasps of air "You have no right to tell me what to do with my child!"

"So this is what this is about-"

"No, no, Peter I'm so sorry, I didnt-" she shakes her head until she feels his lips on hers, their lips mashing together as she throws her hands around his neck her fingers raking through her hair as he pushes her up against the wall; she moans feeling Peter's lips move along her collarbone and neck, he pulls away to look at her in the eyes which confirmed everything he needed to know so he picked her up, Carla's legs wrapping themselves around his body instinctively so he could take her up into the bedroom

They both undressed and it wasn't long before Peter was on top of Carla's body and inside of her both sets of mouths emitting loud and listful moans over the motions of both of their bodies. He was whispering loving words into her ear and she began to cry so did he but they weren't going to stop not until they both felt something other than sadness; the afterglow of sex, it's what they craved. Seeing her back arch and her body writhes under him he placing his lips over her mouth as both sets of lips moved in sync and their tongues exploring one another's mouths as they both succumbed to the motions in the room. Carla's body writhed under Peters as Peter collapsed on top of her and rolled off her body to cradle her head in his chest as they both cried the same tears sharing the same grief and the same pain even though everything felt so still.