A little under two months had passed since my one-night stand with my ex-husband and the news of Nick's baby was spreading round the street like wildfire. Nothing more happened with either of the men in my life as I carried on with life as normal. A few smiles to Peter as we passed in the street, cordial nods but nothing more, maybe a polite hi as we passed in the street, but I wanted to distance myself from him after my moment of weakness. Nick and I had also been different, he had been more persistent than Peter though, I guess it was because Peter knew why I was putting distance between us, Nick didn't.

The morning after started with me going into work earlier, avoiding the Bistro and the Rovers but that was to avoid the wrath of Michelle rather than to do with Nick. It wasn't until a few days later when he caught up with me and caught me in the office later than normal offering a slice of fancy chocolate cake as a peace offering a smile on his face more hesitant than I had ever seen. What else was there to do but accept and let him sit at the empty desk as he filled me in on the recent events in his family drama. We laughed as I poked fun and we both demolished the cake, walking back to the flats as nothing had changed. The next day I went back to avoiding him though as I was reminded how easy it was to be with him, it was painful. A few days later though, he cornered me again at Roy's and made me have breakfast with him. The radio silence.

The next time, I finally faced my best friend and let her whisper yell at me over the bar about my disappearing act and her questions about Peter. I told her that he followed me out and we talked to clear the air as he was stopping on the street and neither of us wanted any animosity, she had to buy it as I wasn't giving anything else away. Nick approached both of us this time with a wavering smile, it wasn't until the next day I overheard the gossip that told me why he was more nervous with me. Just as predicted, Nick had started dating Erica as she was pregnant with his baby and he didn't tell me, I had to hear it from someone else. So, I went back to avoiding him too angry to see his face, I wanted to believe that I was angry because he didn't tell me and not because he was dating someone that wasn't me.

He finally cornered me again a week later as I was walking home, I tried to pretend like everything was fine and that I wasn't avoiding him, he could hear the truth. He still never mentioned his relationship as he walked me home trying to keep his arm looped in mine even though I kept trying to subtly pull away. It wasn't until two days later when I was in Roy's enjoying an ok cup of coffee that was definitely worse than the Bistro's but a better owner when he cornered me again. Nick saw me and sat down opposite me leading the discussion with his confession of his relationship and waited for me to accept before he launched into a rant about one of his suppliers. We talked less and less about his family, I realised after a few more encounters that he was probably getting the support from his girlfriend now, instead of me.

He carried on walking me home, he carried on inviting me round to the Bistro for coffee's but now I was more likely to reject these offers, I was more likely to try and be stronger instead of running to him. Michelle never dared mention him until she found me drinking alone in my flat upset over the recent discussion with Nick that day, he had the scan for the baby and was overly excited to tell me about it. I was proud that I waited until I left him until I left Dev's with the bottle of wine and until I got safely back into my flat until I broke down. It just hurts to see him so happy and moving on when I was stuck on him, stuck seeing his love and start a family with someone else. Michelle had a key which is why she was able to just walk in as I had stupidly forgotten to put the latch on, she took one look at me before running over and wrapping me in her arms.

"Oh Car, come here."

I just sobbed, more dramatic than necessary but I let out all the heartbreak, hurt and upset I had been feeling for nearly two months and I just let it all out.

"What's happened, honey?"

She pulled away from me slightly as she wiped my cheeks dry and brushed my hair back away from my face as I stared at her with glassy eyes.

"Nick showed me his and Erica's ultrasound."

Then another rough hug was initiated again, this time even tighter as she now knew and understood the cause of my pain. It felt stupid to be this hurt but maybe this was the first step to getting over him, maybe this was the essential moment of moving on from the man I never had. It felt almost like a release. Michelle stayed with me all night as she helped me clean away the kitchen and she climbed into bed with me after borrowing some pj's from me, she only uttered one more thing before we both drifted off to sleep.

"I never liked that Erica in any way, right bitch."

I love Chelle.

The next day we got up early, we acted like a married couple and left the building laughing and with our arms looped. The moment was short-lived as Nick called out to us and came jogging to us wanting to chat, Michelle was polite but eagerly pulled me away stating that I had a lot to do in the factory. Nick kept looking strangely at my face the whole encounter like there was something on there that was making me paranoid. When I did get into work, the mirror in the girl's bathroom confirmed that there was nothing on my face, so I got straight to work only to be interrupted midday by Simon. He came running in looking frantic and begging to talk to me, so I sent Sally out of the office and made him sit as he spoke to me.

"Can my dad have a job?"

"What?"

"My dad, he used to work here right, and he must have been good, or you would have fired him."

"That is true but – "

"I heard him tell my grandad that he needs a job, or he doesn't know how he's going to afford to stay here."

"Doesn't he live at number one rent-free?"

"I don't know, I just want him to stay."

Oh Christ, how was I in the middle of more Barlow drama? Simon looked so hopeful though and it was hard for me to just tell him no or crush the hope that he was beaming out.

"Look, I'll have a think or a look, but things have changed, Sally took over your dads' duties, but I'll have a closer look I promise."

"Thank you, Carla."

He pulled me into a hug and thanked me repeatedly as I heard rapid footsteps approach and my office door slammed open. Pulling back, I saw the out of breath Peter Barlow looking relieved at the sight of his son as he moved further away from me.

"There you are Si, you can't just run out of the house like that mate, what happened."

Simon looked awkward and was fidgeting, he wasn't my stepson anymore which meant that I could lie for him and not be setting a bad example.

"Sorry, that was my fault, I called and begged him to rush over, I thought I lost this really important file and needed him here now to try and help, I should probably just employ him."

It was a bad lie, but he bought it and pulled his son out of the building as he thanked me and left. Of course, that was the new talk of the street, Peter barging into the factory and somehow it became twisted that we were arguing, instead of fighting the rumours, I ignored them and got on with my day, my life was slowly beginning to feel like it was going back to normal, but things never went that smoothly for me.

As I left the factory, it was starting to get dark outside, and I could hear the loud voices of a conversation over by the Bistro between and man and woman. A glance told me it was Nick and Erica, so I quickened my pace and was aware of the sound of my heels against the cobbles as I worked faster. It was too late though.

"Carla, wait up."

"Nick?"

I tried to walk faster, to hopefully block out Nick and hope that he would listen to his girlfriend's annoying voice as she called out his name. I wasn't lucky though as he caught up and touched my elbow to gain my attention. As I turned to him, I had no option but to pretend to be shocked so that I could pretend that I hadn't heard him.

"Oh, hey Nick."

"Hey, did you not hear me calling your name?"

"No sorry, I was in my own world, what can I do for you."

Then like a kid with a new picture from school he drew showing his parents, he held up a bag and offered it for me to take. I took the bag and looked inside to see a takeaway box from his restaurant, instead of talking, I looked at him in confusion waiting for him to explain.

"I saw earlier that your eyes were slight of red, I could see you were upset and what I heard about you and Peter earlier, so I thought desert, everyone loves dessert."

"You've brought me dessert?"

"I was about to run it over, but I saw you leaving so I thought I need to run it over now, I could come back with you if you want, there should be enough to share."

He really had the puppy dog eyes down. How was I not supposed to fall in love with this man as he was here bringing me dessert when he had a suspicion that I was upset. I also realised that I needed to buy better concealer. A glance over my shoulder gave me the perfect excuse not to let him come back with me like I desperately wanted him to, Erica was fuming behind him. So, like a coward, I took the easy way out.

"I would love that Nick, but someone looks like they really need to talk to you right now."

He finally looked over at his girlfriend and sagged his shoulder as I put my hand on his shoulder and walked away wishing him a good night. When I got to the flat, I was content, I was in a better mood and it showed in the good night's sleep I got. No more tossing or turning or getting up in the middle of the night to pee or to randomly search something on the internet, no bad dreams or good dreams that made me wake up crying as I knew they would never come true. It was a good night's sleep, something I hadn't had in nearly two months, something I hadn't had in nearly a year. Things were finally looking up.

What put a damper on my mood was the next day I didn't have anything in the fridge to eat for breakfast and wasn't feeling like going to Roy's, so like a grown-up, I ate the cake from Nick for breakfast. I moved quicker as I noticed that my good night's sleep and enjoyment over the cake had put me behind schedule. I raced into the bathroom and started brushing my teeth as I shrugged on a dress from the closet, as I ran back into the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste, I kicked over my storage baskets and watched as the contents went flying over the floor.

Groaning, I bent down and started to pick up the items that were scattered all over the floor, it was only when I realised what was in my hands as I grabbed them that I paused, well froze. Tampons. Something I couldn't remember using anytime recently. It was a stupid thought to have but I couldn't help but panic about being pregnant, it was silly as I hadn't had sex since I was married and now, I was happily divorced from Peter. Peter. I slept with Peter and I don't remember if there was any protection used, how could I be so stupid. The time was passing quickly though so I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and raced to get ready to leave.

I couldn't ignore those thoughts clearly, so I picked my phone out of my bag on my walk to the factory and spoke quietly down the receiver. Michelle picked up still groggy from waking up recently and definitely wasn't ready to hear my new drama.

"Hey."

"Hey Chelle, so I need to ask you something."

"Ok…"

"It's gonna sound weird."

"Spit it out, Carla."

"When was your last period?"

There was silence, I did warn her that it was weird, it made sense though, we were so close that we had been synced for an awfully long time.

"I don't know about, a week or so ago, lemme check the app."

The app recorded her periods on an app to keep track , which was definitely more work and effort than I took about my own body and conditions. I waited impatiently as she pulled her phone away to look through her phone for the app and the information I needed.

"Yeah, it definitely ended last week, why? Has yours started again?"

"No."

She gasped in response as she realised what I was proposing as I hung up and carried on with my day in the factory. I didn't have another thought of the possible pregnancy or Michelle as I was too busy with contracts and meetings, it wasn't until I was back in my flat that I was reminded of my predicament. Michelle had left a package on my doorstep and when I opened it I saw the pregnancy test with a note saying.

'We both know you wouldn't buy one. You know where I am if you need me xx'.

She was right, I wouldn't have bought one on my own, but I didn't want to see it right now or even take one, before I could process the object in my hand, my front door knocked and forced me to shove the item in my bag. Opening the door, I saw a dishevelled Nick waiting for me as he looked distraught, my heart went out for him.

"Hey, do you want to come in?"

"Yes Please."

He moved past me and settled himself on the sofa, making himself at home without my instruction, so I did the compulsory British thing and made some tea. As I moved over to the sofa to join him, I saw him angrily put his phone away in his pocket and took the cup from me with a small smile. I waited next to him for him to open up as he did technically come to me, it didn't take a genius to notice that something was wrong. Finally, he opened up.

"It just feels like too much right now."

"What does?"

"Erica, the baby, my family, everything."

"Ok and – "

"And I miss you, I miss how we used to be, how we were going to be."

How we were going to be? That definitely wasn't a definite answer but the way I inferred it was that he wished we had taken that extra step, just like I had wanted to. I noticed my heart opening to him this time and wanted to put a stop to it, I needed to for my own sanity.

"You are with Erica; you wouldn't be dating her if you didn't like her."

"I do like her, she's great, she has everything going for her but there's just…"

"Just what?"

"There's this one thing."

"One thing? Well, I'm sure you can get over this one thing Nick, come on then, what is this one thing?"

"She's not you."

Then his lips were on me and it was the first kiss of ours that he had initiated, and although it hurt to admit, I enjoyed it, it was everything I hoped it would be. The object in my bag and now in my head reminding me of its existence had me pulling away from the kiss to stare at a confused Nick.

"What -?"

"You are with Erica and – "

"But – "

"I've been the other woman, I don't want that, you need to leave, ok? We'll still be friends yeah?"

Dejectedly, he was out the door and sending me sorrowful looks as he exited. I needed to make sure I hadn't sent him away for nothing, so I jumped up and grabbed the test from my bag, and made my way to the toilet. I did what I needed and peed on the stick; I knew it worked better with morning pee, but I needed to know now.

I spent the time waiting to overanalyse the instructions so that I wouldn't misunderstand the results and waited for my alarm to go off. Grabbing it I finally got the courage to look at the stick in my hand and read the results.

I was pregnant with Peter Barlow's baby, again.

Thank you for all the support, I'm having a lot of fun writing this new story.