A few days had passed, and the purple were back home in Devon. It was a Saturday, so Nick was busy working in their restaurant while Carla was working on the company accounts from home. It was compromise that the couple had come to. This allowed her to continue to work, and it gave Nick the piece of mind that he needed - Carla was at home so that she wasn't on her feet for hours on end serving customers.

It was the early afternoon and Carla was sitting on her laptop, distracted by looking at a website filled with nursery furniture and accessories. The phone rang. She sighed, moving the laptop from her lap, and walking the short distance to where the phone was resting.

"Hello?" Carla answered the phone. Hardly anyone called on their landline, if it was important, they'd usually ring a mobile.

"Oh, hello Carla. Is Nick there?" The woman on the other end of the phone asked. Her voice instantly recognisable. It was Gail.

"He's not at the moment, Gail. He's working. Is there anything I can help with?" She asked, half expecting her mother-in-law to want nothing more than a catch up with her favourite son.

"Well, I don't want to worry you or anything..." Gail began. Rather ironically, as soon as Carla heard those words, she knew that something was wrong.

"Honestly, I'm fine." She replied. "What it it?" Carla followed up. Not only did she want to know what was going on, but Nick was working and he was probably best left alone during the current lunch rush.

"It's Bethany." Gail began, sighing. Carla felt a small lump in her throat. She half expected it, although she desperately wanted everything to work out between her and Sarah.

"What about her?" Carla asked, wanting to know how she and her husband could help.

"She and Sarah, they've had a bit of a falling out." Gail explained, as Carla closed her eyes in disappointment. She understood that sometimes relationships just break down, but she expected better from Sarah.

"Is she ok?" Carla wondered. Bethany's welfare was the priority, and it was quite possible that if things were going wrong again, the teen could just make her way back down to Devon at a moments notice. After all, she'd done it before and there must have been a good reason for Gail to call in the first place.

"She's fine. Or, she says she is. But I'd thought I'd let you know, she wants to go down and stay with you." Gail informed her, with Carla's response being instantaneous.

"You know; she's welcome anytime." She smiled, not seeing that having her niece stay again would be too much trouble. The couple enjoyed having her around last time.

"Only, I think we might be talking permanently." Gail mentioned, with a deafening silence taking over the conversation. Carla certainly wasn't expecting that, especially as Bethany had only been back a few days. Just how bad had things got?

"Why? What's happened that's so significant in the past few days?" Carla asked, interrupting the quiet after taking a few moments to gather.a string of thoughts and be able to speak her mind.

"I think Bethany's having a bit of a crisis. She had a chat with me about the time she spent in Devon with you, and she said she liked it more down there, so could think about things more." Gail explained. Although she should have been miffed that the child had decided to move in with therm without asking for permission, or concerned at why Sarah didn't seem to be communicating with her daughter on any level, she couldn't help but understand where Bethany was coming from, and she knew that if she was in the same position as the young girl - she probably would have made the same choices.

"I'd agree with her." Carla nodded. She knew that she definitely felt calmer in the open air, compared to the stuffy backstreet.

"I just don't want you to be unprepared when she gives you a call later on." Gail told her.

"Alright, well I'm at home today, and my mobile's on, so she can get hold of me easily." Carla explained, reassuring the worried grandmother.

"Don't feel like you have to say yes to her staying, though." She replied, not wanting to put any pressure on her son or daughter-in-law. With the baby on the way, she knew how stressful things could be. Add in Nick's brain injury and the business they were running, putting a troubled teenager in the middle of it; Gail couldn't help but worry that Bethany living with them for an extended period of time might be the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Do you think Sarah would want us to say yes? We're more than happy to have her. We loved having her here. But, I don't want to make things difficult for them. Would Sarah like us to say no so she has to stay and talk about it?" Carla asked, worried that she was stepping on Sarah's toes. It was true, she loved having Bethany. But she wanted things to be alright between the mother and daughter first. Having lost her mum, she felt like she would do anything for a decent conversation with her - despite how she treated her and Rob during their childhood. If there was anything that could help the pair fix what was broken, Carla would be willing to try and assist.

"I think Sarah would be glad of the space, and Bethany said the best place for her to go would be with you." Gail explained. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to say yes. I'm sure you've got lots of things to sort out with the baby, and you're running the restaurant. It's a lot to ask." She added.

"Not at all. We quite liked having her around. She'd be more than welcome." Carla replied, smiling at the thought of having the teen back.

"Alright. But if she's any trouble..." Gail began, before being cut off.

"Oh, she won't be!" Carla exclaimed, not needing Gail's warning. "I'll make sure of that." She added, confident that Bethany would be on her best behaviour. While she was cheeky, she was always relatively good in the presence of her uncle.

"Alright love, just look after yourself." Gail told her softly.

"I will do." She smiled in response. Now she wasn't suffocating them, Gail was often missed by the couple. It was nice to be able to talk to her every now and then. "Bye, Gail." Carla added, knowing that she needed to get on with work and await Beth's call.

"Bye, love." Gail ended the call.

Carla got on with the rest of her online window shopping, and made herself something to eat before her mobile rang. She reached for the device almost immediately, sensing it was her niece. She was right.

"Hello trouble." Carla greeted, with a small but cheery smile.

"Hi." Bethany replied. She sounded upset and definitely not like herself. "Gail told me to call you." She added.

"I know she did, and it's a good job too. The last thing we want is for you to be travelling that far on your own again." Carla lectured, as if Bethany was her own. The teenager on the other end of the phone knew that Carla wasn't angry, she was concerned and she found comfort in that. It was reassurance that someone was there for her when she needed it the most.

"I was going to call you..." Beth trailed off, wanting to explain, but unable to find the words in time.

"Were you?" Her aunt asked, not believing a word. She was more than capable of making her own way up to Devon and not telling anyone - she'd had practice and seemed rather good at it.

"In the morning." Bethany revealed, as Carla gave a small chuckle.

"In that case, I'm glad Gail called us." She told her, with a hint of laughter still in her voice. She doubted highly whether the youngster would have called at all, unless she'd been made to.

"I'm so sorry." Bethany interrupted the tone of the conversation, shifting it completely. Her voice cracked, and Carla knew all to well that the kid was at breaking point.

"Don't be sorry. Sometimes, in life, these things happen." She soothed over the phone. Carla wished she could jump through the mobile and give Bethany a much needed hug.

"But they don't. Not to anyone else." Bethany retorted, tears flowing down her face. She felt so alone. Why did her family have to be the dysfunctional ones?

"Sweetheart, I'm sure if you give it time, things between you and your mum will get better." Carla attempted to reassure her; not entirely sure if this was what she wanted to hear at all. Things were such a mess.

"I don't know if I want them to." Bethany revealed, her voice quiet as if her admission would break the world in two.

"As soon as you've been with us a while, and had a chance to think, you might change your mind." Carla responded in a bright tone. She hoped that getting Bethany to think about the near future might help distract her mind.

"I hate this." Beth sobbed, wanting all of the hostility in her family to end.

"I know you do." Carla empathised, sighing once more. "Just think, tomorrow you'll be back with me and Uncle Nick. We'll have a chilled day, and you won't have to think about any of this." She promised. "Where are you staying tonight?" Carla followed up, needing to make sure that her niece wasn't alone - not tonight.

"At a mates." Bethany revealed.

"As long as your safe..." Carla prompted, worrying about where Beth would be spending the night.

"I am." The teen told her aunt. "Thank you." She added, humbled by the way Carla was treating her.

"Anytime." She smiled. "Right, I'm going to go and see Nick and let him know the plan. If you need either of us, you know where we are." She reminded her, smiling pitifully.

Carla immediately went upstairs and began sorting out the spare room for her niece. She made the bed, and put some towels at the end of it for her to use.

After this, she drove the ten minute journey to the restaurant. She needed to tell Nick about the impending arrival and it wasn't something she felt like doing over the phone. She'd had enough phone calls today.

Walking through the double doors, she immediately saw her husband minding the bar.

He shot her a confused look, wondering why she had decided to come in, especially after their discussion on why it would be best for Carla to work from home.

"This is a nice surprise." He told her, as Carla walked towards the bar. They leant over their respective sides of the counter, and Carla gave Nick a quick peck on the lips.

"Bethany's coming back down to us." She revealed quite casually, sitting on a stool and making herself comfortable.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Nick was a little shocked that arrangements seem to have been made without him - when it came to Platt family dramas, he was normally first to know, whether he wanted to be, or not.

"She's had a fight with Sarah, and it sounds like they're at breaking point." Carla replied, as Nick began making his wife a drink. "I had a chat with your mum this morning, warning me this might happen, and Bethany's phoned this afternoon, virtually in tears. I've told her that she can stay with us." She went on to explain, as Nick passed her a glass of lemonade.

"For how long?" He asked, his tone of voice high as if Carla had made the wrong the decision.

"How should I know?" She quickly snapped back, before seeing the surprise on her husbands face at her outburst. "Sorry." Carla apologised, placing her hard in her hand and running it through her hair.

"No, it's fine." He told her, before taking the hand she'd just run through her locks, and placing it in his. "We don't want her to just run away again." He smiled. Carla smiled weakly back. She looked tired, not that he'd tell her that.

"I've made up the spare room." Carla mentioned, taking a sip of her drink.

"When is she coming?" He inquired. Nick looked at the amount of people in the restaurant, before deciding that the bar would be alright unattended for a few minutes. He came over to the other side of the bar; wanting to be closer to his wife.

"Tomorrow morning. She's staying at a mates tonight and leaving first thing." She

"Tell her I'll come and get her." Nick sighed. Carla smiled softly. As much as he would claim that Bethany was a nuisance, he couldn't bare the thought of her travelling all that way on her own.

"You sure?" She checked. It was quite a journey, and Nick had been working hard all week.

"As much as I don't want to be away from you on my only day off, it's such a long way for her to travel on her won again." He reasoned, as Carla nodded in agreement with his explanation.

"She might have a lot of stuff with her." She warned him.

"Why? How long is she planning on staying for?" Nick asked, a confused look adorning his face. She shuffled uncomfortably, not knowing how he'd take the news that this would be a permanent thing, for now at least. "Carla?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow. He hated when she kept details from him.

"For a while." She answered, which left little to the imagination.

"Carla, what about the baby?" He asked in response, not wanting this time - that should have been focused on the baby, to be entirely centred around Bethany, despite how much he loved his niece.

"What about it?" She asked rather flippantly, with Nick glaring at her with a perplexed look. "No. I didn't mean it like that." She sighed, closing her eyes with a hint of regret. Nick placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. He knew exactly what she meant.

"Whatever happens, however long she stays for: it'll be fine. We'll work it out." He reassured her, as Carla moved closer to her husband, allowing him to engulf her in a comforting hug. "Besides, I like seeing this side to you." He smiled.

"What side?" Carla asked. She didn't think she was acting that out of the ordinary.

"You've gone all maternal; looking out for Bethany like this." He explained, the grin still on his face. "It just can't help but make me think how lucky our baby's going to be, if you're like this with my niece." He expanded, pulling Carla close.

"Nick, don't." She blushed, curling up into him, embarrassed by his sweet comments.

"I mean it. I mean every word." He assured her. "You're going to be an amazing mum." He told her planting a kiss in her hair.

Whatever would happen with Bethany, they would sort it out, together. They had no other choice.

Thank you all so much for your kind reviews!

This was a little bit of a filler chapter until Bethany comes to stay with Nick and Carla, because as you can imagine, it won't all be plain sailing!

Stay safe and stay smiling :)