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

Barlow baby number two, only this time I wasn't married to the man, I wasn't being cheated on by him and I wasn't even in love with the man. My heart was torn between moving on from Nick and wanting to wake up in his bed every day, the spanner in the works was now I was carrying a baby. I was carrying my ex-husbands baby who I had a nightstand with when I found out Nick had gotten someone pregnant. My butt slowly fell to the floor, grasping the test in my hands processing everything that had happened in only the past hour. Nick and I talked, spent time together, he kissed me after confessing that he wanted me, he liked me just like I liked him, and then I found out I was pregnant with my ex's baby. Nothing in my life ever went to plan as it felt like the world was out to get me, when something went my way, a speedway came my way to stop the niceties.

My phone rang from the counter of the bathroom and brought me out of my trance, and I reached further for the phone to see who was calling me. It was Michelle and I debated answering it, I wasn't ready to deal with this, it meant I wasn't ready to deal with Michelle processing it either. I finally decided to accept the phone call and tried to steady my voice.

"Hello?"

"Hiya, did you get the thing I left on your doorstep?"

"Yes"

"And?"

"And what Michelle? Could you have not wanted until the next time we saw each other, anyone could have seen it."

"Well, they didn't so have you taken it?"

"Next time you need to – "

"If you haven't taken it, I will be round any minute to help because you need to know and – "

"Chelle I've taken it, I'm not pregnant, I'm probably just late, I'll phone the doctors in the morning."

"Oh, ok, are you ok? You sound a little sad."

"I'm fine, just tired I should probably get to bed."

"You never did tell me who it was you slept with."

"I should go, I'll see you tomorrow."

I hung up not wanting to answer any more questions or interrogations from my best friend. The phone was on the floor next to me as I let the tears flow free as my emotions came over me as I processed the night's events. All I needed to know was a glass of wine and I would be having a typical Carla Connor meltdown, only I couldn't drink, I couldn't have alcohol now because I was pregnant. Oh God, I wouldn't be able to drink for the next nine months, minus however far gone I was, I needed to get referred from the GP. Tears were still flowing, and I only had the willpower to stop them as I heard the door knock loudly as it echoed through my flat. Dragging myself up I walked over to the door and peeked through the peephole to see the anxious face of Nick Tilsley.

I knew I looked dishevelled, my makeup smeared and tears still clinging onto my cheeks and my hair a disaster, I definitely didn't want him to see me like this. As if sensing me behind the door, he knocked again and started talking through the door to me to get my attention.

"Carla, I know you're in there, I need to talk to you."

I stayed quiet, holding my breath behind the door as I waited staring through the peephole looking at the man who had kissed me less than an hour ago. He was persistent though as he bounced from foot to foot waiting and anticipating an answer that I wasn't giving, he started again.

"Look, we need to talk, please. I have more to say to you."

Silence. What else could I do? I was hoping he would go away, find something better to do, listen to my rejection and leave. He didn't though.

"Carla, I can see your shadow, I'm not leaving you alone until I talk to you. If I need to, I will go and get Michelle to let me in and then you'll have both me and her on your case."

I barely wanted Nick to see me like this let alone Michelle, she would see me and know the real reason I was so upset, she had more information to work with. I had no choice but to let him in and he knew it as he was playing the big guns by bringing Michelle into this. So, I wiped m hands over my face to hopefully get rid of some of the tears and then over my hair to try and straighten it out, they were hopeful ideas, but I knew they wouldn't work.

As soon as I opened the door, he pulled me into a tight hug and rested his head on my shoulder, breathing in my hair.

"Oh, Carla."

That comfort was enough to have me sobbing again, this time more contained and less chaotic, more simplistic crying than having a breakdown on the bathroom floor. It felt safe and comforting in his arms, I felt at peace and warm, I finally felt like it wasn't the end of the world to be pregnant. After who knows how long, I got the courage to pull back from him, looking at his sorrowful face obviously feeling empathy towards me and was embracing my sadness and making it his own. How could I not find comfort in that?

"Coffee? Tea?"

"Coffee please."

He moved over to the couch, but his eyes were constantly on me, watching me like a hawk with every step I took and every move I made. I tried to focus on the task at hand, filling the kettle and watching it boil before filling both cups mixed with coffee granules. On second thought, should I be drinking coffee? I debated for a moment of tipping it down the sink and having a tea instead, but I didn't want his confusion and I didn't want to make another cup, so I topped them with milk and walked them over to my coffee table. I sat on the other end of the sofa letting there be an empty seat between us as I waited for him to say whatever he needed to.

Nick began to stall in the obvious way of picking up his mug, taking a little sip, realising it was too hot, and putting it back down before moving it around so that the handle was in a different place. Instead of pressuring him to talk, I stared at him now, waiting for him to make his next move. After what must have been at least five minutes, with awkward smiles at one another and more moving of the cup on its coaster, Nick finally found the courage to speak to me, to tell me what he was so determined to say.

"I meant what I said earlier."

"So did I."

"She's not you Carla and I want to be with you."

"Nick…"

What was I supposed to say to that? Did I even have the energy to reject him and kick him out again when it was all I had been wanting for such a long time? If I told him the truth, that I was pregnant with Peter's baby and I was actually happy that I was pregnant – wait – I was happy that I was pregnant? I was carrying a baby of a man that I no longer loved, and I was actually happy that I was getting a chance to be a mom again, maybe it wasn't the worst thing that could happen. I knew Peter, he may not have been a great husband or even a good one, but he was a good dad, he may not have always been, but he was trying now, he wasn't the worst choice for a dad for the baby. I was so ready to be a mom over a year ago and now I couldn't give up this one, I couldn't care about the little thing in my uterus.

"Carla?"

His voice broke me out of my never-ending thoughts as I came back to the room and I saw his worried face. How long had I been thinking about Peter and this baby?

"Sorry, I was off in my own world. What did you say?"

He smiled at my response, glad it wasn't anything to worry about, his hand stretched out to me and took my hand in his, shuffling along the sofa to talk again.

"I don't want to be with Erica, every time I with her, I can't get you out of my head, every time I hold her hand, I feel yours in mine. Whenever she comes to the Bistro, my heart stops wishing and hoping it was you. We haven't been the same since I told you about Erica being pregnant and I know it was probably you giving me space, I couldn't let you go through. I needed to see you, I needed to be around you and I thought it would stop but it didn't, I can't get you out of my head."

"Nick, you are dating Erica, you shouldn't be saying this to me, you shouldn't even be here sitting here with me."

My voice was breaking, dripping with emotion of sadness and despair, the rejection was shallow at most and the smile on his face told me that he knew that. It was a weak response, one that I didn't want to give as I couldn't help my heart fluttering at what he had said, blushing at the thoughts he was sharing with me. Everything I wanted to hear was being said by him right now and I couldn't help but love and hate those words at the same time.

"Maybe I shouldn't have gotten with Erica, I was just scared, you were distancing yourself from me and she was getting closer, it felt like the right thing to do, like this, this feels like the right thing to do sitting here and telling you this."

"Nick, you know how I feel about you, the whole flaming street probably knows how I feel about you but this isn't right, she is carrying your baby – "

"Parents don't have to stay together, mine didn't, yours didn't."

"I didn't know my dad."

"Exactly, you turned out fine, better than fine, amazing really."

"Not sure everyone would agree with you there."

"But you are, you run an amazing business having built it up from the ground numerous times, going through hell and picking yourself back up again, never falling or letting it get the better of you if you could do all that without a dad then my baby with separated parents will be fine."

He had a point, my dad was never a figure in my life, and I never needed him when I went through the bad times, sure, I may have wanted my dad, but I didn't need him. I didn't plan on getting back with Peter just because I was carrying his baby why did I expect the same from Nick? His grip on my hand tightened as he rubbed his thumb over the back of my hand giving me comfort and smiling a little brighter, knowing he was winning the argument. The truth was though, he was already with Erica, there was nothing for me to do, if he wanted me then he should have waited for me or not started dating his baby mother.

"Nick, you are still dating Erica, you can say whatever you like, it doesn't change that you are in a relationship with her."

Finally, his grip weakened as if finally accepting what I was saying, just because I liked Nick and he liked me, I couldn't hurt a pregnant woman because I wanted her boyfriend. I used to take whoever I wanted when my heart fell for them but not anymore, not since Tina did the same to me, not since I grew up. Erica didn't deserve to be cheated on because I thought I deserved her boyfriend more, that wasn't fair, and I didn't want to do it. Today had been long though, an emotional rollercoaster and a disaster all in one, my fight was fading, especially when I looked in his eyes and felt my heart stop beating.

"I shouldn't have started dating Erica, I shouldn't hurt her like this, but I can't help wanting you. I'm hurting her by being with her as she can never be you and that's all I want. I will talk to her, explain, start fresh. I will make things right so that for one I can have what I really want, I can date you."

He never stopped, but I imagine my actions were telling him that I didn't want him to stop, maybe I was giving him small smiles, looking disheartened when I rejected him, I couldn't help but want him.

"You should talk to her then and then maybe – "

Before I could finish my sentence, his lips were on mine and I didn't have the energy or willpower to reject him, to push him away. The truth was I wanted this as much as he did and it wasn't fair that I was in this position with him, everything had led me to right now and it wasn't fair. His lips were on mine and it felt amazing, it was everything I had wanted and more, this was what we were both leading towards for months. His hands were on me and it was everything, it felt amazing but as soon as his hands moved down and touched my stomach, I couldn't help but jerk back as my thoughts came crashing into my head.

"What –?"

"I'm sorry Nick, I just…"

"What? what is it?"

There was that caring again, holding my hand, and looking concerned, not feeling my rejection but rather wanting to understand. I had no choice but to be honest, actually, I did have a choice, I just wanted to tell him, I wanted him to understand and know the bigger picture before he started changing his life.

"Nick… I'm pregnant."

That's the one thing I hated about words, they couldn't be taken back, once they were said, they lived forever in people's minds and they never left, they just lingered. He was shocked at my words; he almost dropped my hand not knowing what to do or even control his bodily reactions. There was nothing for me to do but wait, wait for him to process everything I said and to try to understand everything, it was a lot of information I had just dropped on him and it wasn't fair to him.

"You're pregnant?"

"Yes."

He was in shock and it felt weird to say it out loud for the first time, he was still holding my hand which I didn't know how to read right now. Nick shuffled even closer to me so that our knees were touching, he grabbed my other free hand and grasped them both in an effort to comfort me.

"How – when – who's the dad?"

Slightly inappropriate but in the situation, we were in, who cared?

"It's – it er… - it doesn't matter. I took the pregnancy test when you left, and you need to know before you start changing your life for me."

"But – I just don't – I'm – Carla, I still…"

He couldn't bring him to say whatever he was going to and I didn't want to make him either, this was a massive bombshell to drop on someone, he needed time. Instead, I took my hands out of his and brushed his cheek in a weak attempt at comfort and kissed him on said cheek before giving him a reason to leave and process everything.

"Nick, it's been a long day, why don't you head back to your flat and we'll catch up tomorrow ok? I should probably get to bed as well."

He nodded and got up to walk to the door in a confused state and left with one final goodbye.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Just like that, I was alone, well not alone anymore, I wasn't going to be alone for a while now that I had a baby probably the size of a bean right now resting in me.

As I woke up, the sun streaming into the room, I knew what I had to do, there was one person that needed to be spoken to. I completed my morning in what felt like record time as I was weirdly organised and motivated, nothing took too much effort this morning and I wish every morning were like this. It was still early as I walked down the street hearing the loud echoes of my heels as I made my way to the Rovers, just as I was about to call Michelle and have her meet me, I changed my mind and walked to number one, knocking the door, hesitantly.

Ken came to the door and was confused by my appearance yet was quick to mask it as he questioned me.

"Carla, hi, what can I do for you?"

"Hi Ken, is Peter in."

"Yeah sure, let me get him."

He moved to the backroom as I fidgeted with my hands, nervousness coming out of nowhere. It wasn't long before Peter made an appearance, and I could hear the loud noises of Amy and Tracey in the back, and I knew I needed to talk to him somewhere else.

"Hi, Carla…"

"Hi, we need to talk."

"Ok…"

"Just come with me."

I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me around the corner of the Rovers giving us some terrible privacy.

"Carla, wait, I haven't got any shoes on."

I wanted to carry on walking, give us some better privacy but he finally put up a fight, probably unwilling to hurt his feet any longer. His stop stopped me which meant I just had to say it where we were, or I may never say it.

"Peter, I'm pregnant and it's yours."

I'm so glad all of you are enjoying this story so much, I am much better at writing sad a depressing so this is a nice challenge and I'm having a lot of fun.