Chapter 6: The Future

Carla was sitting in the hotel room tapping her nails against the ceramic mug, she sighed at the ultimatum she gave Peter mere moments ago and shook her head at the thought. She loved Peter, that was true and it probably would be until the day she died but she did have to question whether this was worth it. Intrigued was what she was, whether Peter would come back and say that he was leaving with her or whether she would be leaving alone. It made her intrigued understandably.

There was a knock at the door and she immediately answered and of course, Peter was standing there holding Isabella, she smiled slightly and beckoned them both in. Isabella was tired, she was already dressed in her sleepsuit ready for bed so Peter sandwiched her in with the pillows from the bed so she could get some sleep. He brought Carla in for a hug and she loosely wrapped her arms around his body and let out a content sigh whilst Peter ran his hands over her back, over the lower half of her body until they began to kiss. She blindly made work of undoing the buttons on his shirt and he made work of removing her leather jacket and skimming his hands up her back to feel the softness of her skin.

"We shouldn't," she says gesturing to Isabella who was asleep "We need to talk"

"Yeah" he nods slowly biting his lip "I'm coming with you, we both are"

"Peter are you sure?"

"Do you not want me to?" he questions, she sighs watching him go into the bag and pull out some tickets causing her to raise her eyebrows "Portugal"

"Right" she nods biting her lip "Do your family know you're leaving?"

"No, I thought it was best, for all of us. The last thing I want is anyone giving us any grief. You were right about Isabella, if we were to do this then we need to go away as its not fair on her to be denied of the opportunities other kids will have"

"You've really thought about this" she softens slightly even though she did feel rather on edge "Ok then"

"I brought the car, I'll drive to the airport whilst you deal with the bike" he confirms, she nods slowly biting her lip "We should rest first though its been a long day"

"What about Isabella?" she questions, Peter smile slightly watching his daughter sleep "Where will she sleep?"

"There's only one person on the desk downstairs so we'll have to bed share as they cant leave the reception unattended"

"Right" she nods slowly as Peter smiles at her rummaging through her bag and pulling out a tank top and some shorts "Ok"

"Are you ok?" he questions, she sighs and nods slowly "Speak to me"

"I just want to make sure you're doing the right thing, Peter, not just for you but for your child, both of your children"

"Simon's old enough to be his own person now Carla me taking care of Isabella is more important and he understands that" he confirms, she sighs and nods slowly as she undresses, he smiles at her as she gets into bed watching Isabella sleep "It's precious isnt it? Calming...watching a child sleep"

"Yeah," she says softly looking down at the baby until she wakes, she looks up at Carla who smiles at her

"Come here little monkey" he smiles lifting Isabella onto his lap, she giggles and bites her lip causing Carla to smile however Peter sensed something wasn't quite right "Hold her"

"No, she wants you," Carla says, Peter shakes his head and passes Isabella to Carla anyway so she holds her "Hi sweetheart"

"Things sometimes have a habit of popping up when you least expect them, I know Isabella did and I know you're feeling very much the same about her right now"

"What would I be to her though?"

"Whatever you want, there's no pressure," he says, Carla nods "We'll just go with the flow and maybe see what she wants to call you and if you dont feel comfortable with that then we'll change it and teach her"

"Right" she confirms smiling at the baby who was falling asleep against her body, Peter brushes the back of his finger over his daughter's cheek before kissing Carla softly on her lips "We should sleep"

"Yeah" he nods watching Isabella fall off to sleep "I know"

"Hm?" she questions watching him get off the bed and getting more pillows from the wardrobe, he places them on the bed and then places Isabella in between them "Goodnight Peter"

"Night Carla"

The next morning was interesting, Carla ordered in room service and because Isabella was on solids it was easy enough for Peter to feed her without needing to create her a bottle or anything. Carla was getting ready with putting her make-up on and Peter was getting Isabella washed and changed ready for the drive to the airport that day. Carla was looking through the mirror at Peter interacting with his daughter and it panged a sadness in her heart at how she couldnt provide that for them all those years ago, it would always hurt and she knew that. The sad thing was she never wanted to get pregnant again but she always wanted to be a mother ever since she found out she was pregnant before which led her to sigh at how perfect this situation was. Maybe she could be a mum to Isabella and maybe one day Isabella would appreciate her efforts, she knew Peter would. He was the love of her life and she was the love of his which made her feel so much happier about things. Carla loved Peter and Peter loved Carla but for Carla herself, she would have to learn to love the foreign entity of his daughter if they were to do this and she knew that would be the greatest challenge of them all.

"What were you thinking about?" he questions rubbing her shoulders, Carla looks up at him and sighs slightly

"About the future really"

"The future?" he muses kissing her on top of the head which made her smile "You intrigue me, Carla Connor"

"In a good way?" she smirks, he nods enthusiastically "All I know this is going to be the rest of our lives now, we can do this, we can be happy as we deserve it so much"

"We do" he confirms with a smirk "We more than deserve it"

"Indeed" she smiles up at him before looking at Isabella who was playing with some toys on the bed "We'll be fine, all of us"