A few days have passed and yet another dramatic decline with Carla and her pregnancy. She was just so sick and Peter was starting to get concerned that something bad was happening. He really felt as if he needed an ally right now as dealing with it themselves was not the way to go right now. Peter was stressed and in return that made Carla stressed so they were literally a massive heap of stress and there was one thing that Peter promised Carla in the last couple of days and that was that this pregnancy wasn't going to be stressful as the last time and somehow the world wanted him to break this promise to her. Carla was understanding though, she understood that it was most likely because circumstances within herself and her body were different now, she was older, had one functional kidney and had been through the mill with her mental health so in no way she wouldn't blame Peter for feeling the way he did.

"Hmm" she hums gently enjoying the feeling of Peter's fingers massaging her scalp, she lets out a yawn "Sarah's gonna click"

"You reckon?" he chuckles slightly glancing around their surroundings "I knew you shouldn't have gone in-"

"Don't say that you told me so" she mutters sticking her fingers in her ear, he kisses her on the back of the head

"I got here as fast as I could" he defends himself, she sighs and opens her eyes and leans over the toilet "Maybe we should get you to a doctor?"

"No" she shakes her head tiredly before throwing up, Peter rubs her back and she lets out a sigh "I can't believe this is happening here of all places"

"Yeah I mean at least they refurbished the bogs-"

"Not funny" she waves her finger at him, he just laughs again "They're all going to know"

"We'll just say it's your kidney then" he shrugs "Blessed with a transplant issue"

"Not a bad call," she says weakly wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper "Thank you for coming though"

"You know I'll always be there. I promised you I would be there every step of the way" he assures her "And I will keep that promise"

"I should go home"

"You should, yes" he confirms with a small smile, she gasps in response "What?"

"You're meant to be doing your shift-"

"Hush" he presses a finger to her lips, the tears fill her eyes feeling as if she was haltering his recovery "It's ok we have other days"

"Yeah," she says quietly "I guess"

"Are you ok to stand?" he asks, she nods allowing him to help her up, she secures her arm around his middle "Come on let's get you home, the less time you spend on the floor of the Underworld bogs you might just get sucked into the underworld itself"

"Oh cheers" she scoffs "A way to lighten the mood"

"You love me for it though"

"We'll see about that, don't ever change baby, ever..." she trails off kissing him, he grimaces at the taste of her lips "And that's your revenge for the comment you said"

"Funny"

He managed to get her home, it took a while to make their excuses but the kidney was a solid go-to cover story for them both. As they decided to walk to get some fresh air Carla felt a little bit better and being outside was definitely more tolerable than being inside. She still didnt feel right though and she was getting concerned about the whole thing and she didnt know how to express these concerns with Peter. At times like this she wished Michelle was here but then she remembered that they weren't telling anyone anyway so that put her in a position where she had to confide in Peter. That was a good thing though and she knew that because this meant that they could support each other and that's what she wanted. She wanted to share these moments with Peter throughout this pregnancy and that was what she was going to do no matter how awkward it made her feel and no matter how personal it was.

"Duvet day?" he questions as she secures her arms around his middle, he just holds her swaying her gently in his arms

"What if something's wrong?" she questions really trying her best to be strong but this time she just crumbles

"Oh baby" he whispers into her head as she sobs into his chest, he rubs her back gently trying to settle her nerves a bit "Do you think something's wrong?"

"Yes" she whimpers "It wasn't this bad last time"

"What do you want to do? You're in complete control here" Peter says quietly kissing her on the forehead, she just looks up at him and yawns

"Sleep. I'm so tired"

"We can sleep if you want to sleep," he says quietly, she nods sadly folding her arms across her chest and looking all insecure for a moment "Hug?"

"I can't do this," she says falling into his arms again and crying into his chest, he holds her once more "I'm too tired Peter, so, so tired"

"We have a scan in a week or so time so they might be able to give you something" he suggests, she nods sadly closing her eyes "I can go to the pharmacy and see if there's anything you can have?"

"Yes please," she says quietly breathing in the scent of his aftershave, he just holds her close and presses his face into the top of her head "I'm just really fed up"

"I know sweetheart," he says quietly as she just lets out a tired sigh "Let's get you upstairs and into bed yeah?"

"Yeah" she whispers quietly allowing him to take her upstairs slowly, she climbs into bed and he closes the curtains, they recently got blackout ones as Carla was literally nocturnal at the moments and was sleeping for the majority of the time during the day and doing her work in the evenings when she felt a bit better

"Are you ok?" he asks bending down in front of her seeing the tears in her eyes "Hang on in there ok? I'll see if I can get you something"

"Thank you," she says quietly allowing him to kiss her and pull the duvet over her as she didn't have the energy to do that "I love you"

"I love you too"

Peter went out and managed to collect something for Carla that would hopefully help, he also did a bit of research on how to reduce the harshness of her sickness and he was ready to implement it into their lifestyle but whether Carla had the energy to deal with all of this would be another story. When he returned home Carla was still asleep which was no surprise really as she was just so drained physically and emotionally so he decided to help her out by working on her invoices for her. Eventually, he saw her appear from the stairs and he immediately brought her in for a hug, she sat on his lap and they just cuddled together, he was holding her and making sure she was safe in his arms.

"Why are you biting your nails hm?" he questions pulling her hand away from her mouth, she sighs and closes her eyes "Anxious?"

"I don't know how I feel any more" she says quietly "I just want to feel like me and I don't feel like that right now"

"You'll get there, once all this sickness is over you'll feel a little more human"

"I hope so," she says quietly closing her eyes "I just want to be able to live my life in the way I want, you know"

"I know sweetheart, all that control has gone and you feel so out of control right now"

"In a way it's like I'm letting the baby take control of my life and that's ok its just that it takes some getting used to and it will take a long time for me to adapt I just know it"

"I'll be here to help, you know that," he says softly and she nods letting out an exhausted yawn again "I managed to get you something for your sickness"

"Thanks," she says quietly with a small smile "How are you?"

"Oh that doesn't matter"

"Hey" she tilts his face up to meet hers before raising her left hand and tapping her wedding ring "Remember we had a deal"

"I just hate seeing you like this," he says quietly, she nods pecking him on the lips "I just hate seeing you so uncomfortable and at your lowest, it hurts me when you're in pain"

"I know and I'm sorry"

"You don't need to apologise either" he murmurs into her head, he places his hand across her abdomen and she bites her lip "We'll be alright, all of us"

"Oh god what if there's two in there" her eyes widen in shock, Peter laughs slightly "No that's not funny"

"We will know next week won't we" he chuckles, she shakes her head "It could be possible though I am a twin after all"

"That's not funny" she drones sliding off his lap and heading to the fridge to get herself some water, she returns to sitting on his lap with her glass of water "What happens if it is a multiple pregnancy?"

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself here, love. Even though multiple pregnancies are more common if twins run in the family and in older mums"

"You're going to get a slap in a minute" she glares at him, he just laughs once more "No but seriously..."

"Then we'll talk about it, we'll come to a decision. I would understand if you just wanted the one if it was twins or triplets I'll support you with whatever you want because this is your body and you would be carrying them"

"Ok, thank you," she says quietly pressing a hand to her head "It's all too much to think about"

"I know it is but I'll be here every step of the way"

"Good, I'm glad because I can't do this without you, Peter. I just can't do it alone"

"And you won't be doing this alone. I say I make a start on dinner then you can chill out on the sofa watching some telly yeah?"

"Sounds good" she nods sliding off his lap and taking the blanket and covering herself with it, he bends down and kisses her on the forehead "I love you"

"I love you too"

They ate dinner and Carla managed to keep the whole thing down before spending some time lounging on the grass in the garden. Carla seemed so relaxed and chilled when she was just soaking up the spring sun, Peter was happy that she was feeling a bit better and that all of her worries had fizzled away. He brought out a punnet of strawberries and some cream for them both and she smiled up at him and sat cross-legged on the blanket and took a strawberry into her hands and fed it to him, he did the same to her causing her to get cream all over her mouth and chin causing him to kiss her passionately to get it all off and that just caused Carla to laugh hysterically at the whole thing, she curled up onto her side and Peter held her brushing his hand against her tummy.

"I'm so happy," she says simply, he kisses her on the back of the head "Lying here with you, it's just making me feel so good baby"

"Yeah?" he questions, she nods opening her eyes to turn to look at him "I love you so much sweetheart, never forget that ok?"

"I won't" she responds with a small smile, she moves her hand over his and they link their fingers "When do you think I'll start showing?"

"I don't know," he says quietly, she sighs in response internally worried about the whole thing "Are you worried about looking pregnant?"

"Partly," she says "Well it's not a worry it's just going to be hard watching my body change, it already feels so different already"

"In what way?" he questions gently, she sighs "I don't care how gross it is"

"It's just, my skin doesn't feel like mine, almost like it's being shared across three people, you, me and the baby will be sharing it, stretching it, changing it and that's hard to come to terms with considering I take a lot of pride in the way I look, you will be touching it as well when the baby moves. I just don't want my body to look different to you and for it to change so much that you don't fancy me anymore or to the extent I don't like it myself"

"Oh, baby" his heart breaks for her knowing she had probably been thinking about this quite a bit since finding out she was pregnant "I love you for you ok? Not because of your body I love your personality, I love this head of yours I don't care if your body changes because I love all of those qualities about you. I love all of you, every single bit of ya. When you're all pregnant you will just make me love you more because you're giving me a baby sweetheart and that's enough to make me love you to the moon and back. If you don't want me to touch your belly then I won't all you have to do is say and I will respect your boundaries"

"You're not just saying all of this?" she questions feeling really insecure all of a sudden now her fears have been exposed into the open

"No, I'm not" he shakes his head "I love you so much Carla, I love you, all of you, I don't care if you look different or your body changed because in my eyes you're beautiful, funny, attractive, sexy, even more so that if I continue to list them we will be here forever but I will tell you that every day if you want"

"I just feel so different already. Each day when I wake up I don't know how I feel and that's really tricky for me to understand those emotions right now"

"And it probably doesn't help as you're so tired all the time and being sick?"

"Yeah that doesn't help, I can't just take time out and think about it because I'm either working, got my head down the bog or snacking to keep my energy up and feed the sprog"

"How nice of you to put it like that" he laughs slightly, she playfully whacks him on the chest "Can I do anything to help you understand all these emotions that are going on in here?" he taps her on the head, she sighs and shrugs

"I don't know"

"Have a think yeah because like I said I want to help you but you need to give me some idea on where to start"

"I just don't know where to start myself," she says longingly looking up at the sky and sighing "I just want to feel like me"

Her words really struck him hard, it was the way how she kept it from him but he understood why she did it but he was determined to make it better for her. Carla went up to bed a couple of hours later as she was still very tired which left Peter to think long and hard about something he could do for her to make her feel a little bit better about everything. He just hated the way she was feeling so insecure all of a sudden, he wondered if she felt the same during her last pregnancy but he wasn't sure because he still blamed himself for not being there for her all of the time so she was left to deal with it on her own. Over the years she had been worn down since then and Peter understood that she was mostly a bit weaker and tired of putting up that front that she had done for years on end but he was determined to do the right thing for her to make her feel better about herself as she really did need it now more than ever so he got researching.

"What are you doing?" she appears from the stairs filling up her glass of water watching as he slams the lid of the laptop down

"Uh nothing" he coughs slightly, she raises her eyebrows "Well it's not nothing, it's a surprise for you"

"You know I hate surprises" she sighs in response rolling her eyes and biting her lip "What is it?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now would it?" he quips with a cheeky grin, she groans in annoyance and pouts her lips along with fluttering her eyelashes

"Please?" she questions, he shakes his head and brings her in for a hug "Why?"

"Because I want to surprise you. You're not getting any more information out of me here love" he says quietly, she shakes her head "Go on go back up to bed I'll be up in a minute"

"Fine" she mutters before smirking at the laptop

"And I will clear the search history as well," he says, she groans tilting her head back in exasperation "You'll find out soon enough"

"Hmm I'll let you off this time" she rolls her eyes before heading up the stairs, he laughs slightly going back to the laptop knowing his surprise would definitely make her feel better...

The next morning Peter left Carla a note saying he was going out, she woke to read the note and rolled her eyes knowing he was probably off to plan his surprise for her. Surprisingly she didnt really feel sick that morning and Peter's ways of helping her out with her sickness seemed to be working so she felt a lot happier so she got on and did some work before he came back just before mid-day. She was told to close her eyes and she was sceptical but did it anyway as it sounded like Peter had gone to a lot of effort for her. He came back and guided her outside where the sun was once again beaming down on the lawn and she smirked at him seeing a number of blankets lying out on the patio area they had. It wasn't long before she clocked the foot spa there and the massage oils, she smirked at him before he disappeared leaving her standing there, he returned with her bikini top and she rolled her eyes sitting down on the blankets.

"You pick what you want to do," he says quietly, she sighs and shakes her head thinking about how lovely this gesture was

"You didn't have to do this, yesterday I was just having a moment-"

"Hey a moment which is obviously bothering your mind baby and I said I wanted to help so here I am. All your feelings are valid ok and you shouldn't feel that they're not"

"Well thank you" she chokes up slightly and Peter chuckles bringing her in for a hug

"Hormones" he whispers into her head, she just laughs slightly wiping her eyes

"Just because you're being lovely doesn't mean you can't have a smack," she says pulling away, he laughs knowing she was only joking, he grabs the cushion and places it on the blanket

"Back massage first?" he suggests, she nods in response lying on her front and allowing Peter to squirt some massage oil onto her back, he works on her muscles

"Hmm that's perfect," she says quietly moaning ever so slightly as Peter plants kisses down her back before returning to massage it, he works on her shoulders

"Were you sick after I left?"

"No" she shakes her head before humming in content at the massage Peter was still giving her "That stuff you got from the pharmacy seems to help, I still feel a bit queasy though and I feel like being around food would set it off but it's much more bearable"

"That's good" he whispers pressing the palm of his hand into her back and massaging her skin "Harder or lighter?"

"That's perfect" she responds with a small smile, he moves her hair out of the way so he could massage her neck "I should have tied it up"

"It's ok I'll try not to get any of the oil in it" he kisses her on the back of the neck, she smiles and points to her lips causing Peter to peck her on them, "Love you"

"I love you too," she says letting out a yawn "When are you going to do your Streetcars shift?"

"Oh that doesn't matter now, I'm more worried about you"

"Peter" she sighs quietly "You need to get on with your life too baby. You can't be my full-time carer even though I do love spending every living moment with you"

"I know" he mumbles slightly, she hums sensing there was something else going on with him "I just...oh I don't know Carla"

"Hey" she forces herself up watching him wipe his hands on the towel he had, she climbs onto his lap "What is it?"

"It's going to sound stupid"

"No it's not," she says softly pecking him on the lips "Speak to me, speak to us" she places his hand across her tummy causing him to laugh

"It just I don't want to be that person anymore"

"Right," she says slightly unsure of what he meant

"It just reminds me of my recovery you know and I want to create new memories with you, us, this little one when they're here and I just don't want to be reminded of a bad time in my life that's all. I'm just craving difference I think"

"And is that why you like to help me with my invoices?"

"Yeah partly" he shrugs, she just sighs "I just want to do something worthwhile"

"I have an idea," she says jumping up and putting her top back on, he frowns "Stay here"

"I'm not done here yet" he protests, she just smirks walking into the house and grabbing her bag "Carla!"

"Trust me it will be worth the wait" she smirks before leaving the house, he rolls his eyes before letting out a laugh...

Peter decided to just sit outside reading a book whilst he waited for Carla to return. He sighed in response wondering where she had got to but he was intrigued nonetheless. It was a long time and Peter was starting to get worried but Carla eventually came home empty-handed causing him to raise his eyebrows at her. She just hummed in response and went back outside dragging him with her and then she ordered him to continue with her massage and pamper session so he did knowing he wouldn't hear the end of it. Carla was sitting on the sunlounger and had her feet in the foot spa and Peter was sat opposite to her reading to her as she liked him to so that when she wasn't really feeling herself but he was still intrigued about where she went.

"Where did you go then?"

"None of your business, you'll find out tomorrow"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah it's a good thing" she nods with a small smile "Promise"

"Hmm, I guess we'll see" he hums slightly before letting out a sigh "Do you want to do something?"

"Like what?"

"Go for a walk?" he suggests, she shakes her head biting her lip "We could go out for a meal and just be us not have any baby talk just flirt, have a date, just talk about things that aren't to do with the baby?"

"Hmm," she hums thinking about it "I just want to stay in if that's ok?"

"You're turning down a meal?"

"Yeah sorry," she says quietly opening her eyes "I just want to be here with you I just don't feel like going out that's all"

"It was just a suggestion" he smiles at her, she hums slightly and goes to sit on his lap "Was today good enough for you?"

"Yeah it was just what I needed, thank you"

"Good" he whispers pecking her on the forehead "What do you want for dinner?"

"I really want something greasy," she says blankly, he laughs slightly knowing it was so unlike her "Something really fatty and greasy, like dripping with grease"

"Lovely" he comments sarcastically "Greasy kebab from Dev's?"

"That sounds so good, no chilli sauce though" she shakes her head sliding off his lap "Off you go then"

"You want it now?" he questions in disbelief, she nods with a small smile "Fine whatever the baby wants it gets"

"It'll thank me in the long run" she grins up at him and he chuckles "Actually I might come with you, I feel energised all of a sudden"

"We'll take the walk then you can devour your kebab on the way back" he says lifting her up into his arms, she rolls her eyes

"Put me down Peter you're not meant to be carrying anything heavy"

"Nope" he shakes his head, she sighs in response knowing that wouldnt do him any favours as he places her down on the sofa

"Actually I want to stay here"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah" she shrugs with a small smile "Actually..."

"Ok make up your mind," he says, she pouts her lips in response as she was feeling rather indecisive today "Staying or going?"

"Staying" she nods with a grin "Make sure you bring me back the biggest kebab you can"

"On it" he rolls his eyes collecting his wallet and making his way out of the house, she giggles and decides to watch the TV...

Peter returned with Carla's kebab and she devoured it practically instantly. They curled up on the sofa afterwards poking lazily at a tub of ice cream together, she immediately snuggled up with him and yawned draping her leg over his body whilst he held her close to him not wanting to let her go. He watched as she fell asleep on him, she was ever so content and happy right now and she seemed brighter compared to her admissions yesterday and he was glad he was able to help. Peter knew that it would take a lot of time for her to come to terms with everything and he was ready to be so patient with her because he knew how hard it was going to be for her and he just wanted to offer his entire support.

"Woah," he says noticing her jump out of her sleep, she looks around rather fearful as she pats her body down "It's me"

"What?" she questions rubbing her eyes "I-"

"It's ok" he soothes her as she huddles against his side "Bad dream?"

"Yeah something like that"

"What was it about?" he questions, she just sighs and allows him to run his fingers through her hair before stroking it "Baby?"

"It was just" she starts before letting out a few tears, he pouts his lips knowing that whatever she was thinking about really had got to her "Sorry"

"Oh love" he whispers into her head, she lets out a sigh as she wipes her eyes "Hey what was it about?"

"I just thought I was losing the baby, it was so real, there was...it was just...I can't describe it. I don't want to lose this baby Peter"

"I know you don't, come here," he says quietly lifting her up onto his lap and practically holding her like a baby as she cries into his chest "It was just a dream"

"It felt so real"

"I know it did" he responds softly kissing her on the top of the head before placing a hand on her tummy "But it's ok, we're still pregnant baby, it's going to be ok"

"I hope so" she whispers into his neck, he holds her close and kisses her on the lips "I just don't want to let you down"

"You will never let me down because I love you so much" he assures her, she just sighs and nods, "I say we run you a nice relaxing bath before bed yeah?"

"Yeah" she nods with a small smile "Ok" she whispers closing her eyes and getting off his lap, she pulls him up "Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"If the worse happens please don't hate me"

"Carla," he says bringing her in for a hug knowing her dream was playing on her mind a lot "You will never let me down, never and whatever happens we'll deal with it as a team, together. It'll be ok I promise you"

"I just want to have something at the end of all this upset and pain I'm about to put myself through"

"And you will," he says quietly "Either way you look at it you will"

"If I lost it then I have nothing apart from you and I don't just want you I want our baby as well"

"Oh baby," he says quietly as she sobs into her hands, he hugs her as she sobs into his chest now "Even if you lose it you'll still have memories of carrying it sweetheart, memories are powerful things aren't they?"

"I think about her every day, more so now than before"

"I know" he chokes up and cries into her head before realising how different this situation was to before, he was here comforting her and being her tower of strength and just allowing her to cry and let all of her emotions out instead of her being the strong one this time around "I know you do, I think about her as well but soon baby we'll have another little person to think about won't we?"

"Yeah we will" she nods wiping her eyes "I just hope that we will"

"It's been a turbulent couple of days for you hasn't it?"

"Yeah" she whispers rubbing her eyes "Tomorrow I just want to lie in bed all day and just relax"

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan" he smiles down at her "Let's get you that bath yeah?"

"Yeah and Peter?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for everything, I would be lost without you"

"You don't need to thank me, I'm doing this because I love you more than the world and I love our baby, Carla"

"And I love you"