"I'm fed up" she states from the bathroom, Peter peers over his book "I can't get in the bath"
"What do you mean you can't get in the bath?" he questions with a slight laugh returning to his gaze on the book
"She's too big"
"Carla you've barely even grown in this last week" he points out and she just begins to cry causing him to groan and get up to hug her "What's going on?"
"I'm tired, hungry, sad, annoyed, achy, my skin itches, my boobs are too big and I want to cry" she blurts out, he just raises his eyebrows and sighs
"Right come on let's get you that bath then we can spend the day in bed again because thats all we seem to be doing"
After the process of elimination Carla had her bath with Peter helping her down into the bath then out of it and after he made up the sofa for her to snuggle up on all day so she could cuddle Misty as that really helped her with the way she was feeling. Today the furniture for the nursery was arriving so Peter was going to be working with Simon on setting up with Carla ordering them on where to put each item of furniture in the baby's room. Luckily Simon and Peter worked on painting the feature wall yesterday so it was dry and the furniture could be put in there as soon as possible. Carla was worried though because this ultimately meant that this situation was getting very real.
"Right," Peter says dragging the boxes into the room, she beams up at him and immediately gets off the sofa to look at them "This one's the cot so Si you can take that up"
"Whatever" he rolls his eyes moodily lifting it up with ease "It's actually really light"
"Well it would be because Carla's all fancy" Peter mutters, Carla pouts her lips "Right you can help me take this one up which is the changing table"
"Ooo" she beams as they head upstairs carrying it together and they both put it in the baby's room, Carla leaves to get her birthing ball and puts it in the room
"The delivery guys are just bringing in the rocking chair" Peter smiles showing them into the room and they place it in the corner "I'll show them out"
"There's so much stuff" Simon grimaces, Carla grins at him "What are you even doing on that thing?"
"Trying to get your sister to move away from my bladder so I don't pee myself when she kicks it"
"Gross"
"Hey!" she pouts her lips, Peter enters the room with a bag of snacks so Carla would be entertained "Oh thank you, baby!"
"No problem" he kisses her on the forehead causing her to giggle and tear a packet of crisps open "Anything you want us to start on first?"
"The cot" she nods with a grin grabbing the mattress she opens it and hums "When's all the stuff like the bed linen coming?"
"Love I think you have baby brain you never ordered any linen" he points out "We haven't even done the design aspects yet"
"I'll get the iPad to order some stuff then" Carla grins getting up and yelping, Peter frowns "You bloody bitch child!"
"Ew..." Simon trails off causing Carla to glare at him
"Did she just kick you in your bladder causing you to wet yourself?" Peter chuckles slightly, Carla groans in annoyance and nods "Soon we'll have to put you in nappies-"
"Shut it otherwise I will murder you" she snaps causing Peter to laugh and Simon to as well "I can't believe I just peed myself!"
"Go and get cleaned up" Peter laughs hysterically causing Carla to pout her lips and leave the room before returning in new leggings with the iPad "Thats so funny"
"I wasn't joking about murdering you, I knew she was going to do it as well" she points at him, Simon just laughs slightly "I'll tell you something I shall be doing 5 rounds of pelvic floor exercises each day when she's out"
"For god's sakes" Simon mutters holding up the back of the cot for Peter to put some screws in "I am here you know"
"Good you can share the burden of your sister" Carla points at him before squealing "This one!"
"Thats a bit boring" Peter observes, Carla glares at him "Ok, it's lovely, order it"
"Good" she smirks ordering the linen set, she sighs bouncing up and down on her ball "I love this cot so much!"
"Yeah it's really nice" Peter smiles kissing her on the forehead as she looks at more stuff "Maybe you could start ordering some clothes?"
"No I want to go out and do that" she confirms, Peter nods slowly "There's something special about going out and doing it"
"Well, we can go when you're ready and when you stop wetting yourself-"
"That wasn't my fault, that was hers" she pokes her bump, Peter laughs still finding it hilarious "She's taking the right mick now as she keeps moving around, look"
"Ew" Simon pulls a face looking at the protruding lump on Carla's belly, he pushes it down causing the baby to kick her
"Hey! No play fighting!" Carla pouts her lips, Simon laughs still poking the lump on her tummy "I think thats her foot, she's on the move I would say"
"Ok thats really gross," Peter says pushing the lump down and the baby kicks Carla again
"You're winding her up now" Carla rolls her eyes, Peter kisses her tummy causing her to smile "So much for needing to do kick counts, we need to probably do still counts because those times are rare"
"Well it's a good thing she's moving" Peter smiles kissing her on the forehead before returning to building the cot "One more side then we're done"
"Good, it looks really good!" she exclaims, Peter chuckles finishing it off, they move the cot against the feature wall "Perfect"
"Then we'll put it up to the correct height" Peter murmurs lifting the base of the cot up "Perfect"
"I love it" she beams picking up the mattress and placing it in the cot "Hmm"
"Happy?"
"Very" she confirms as Misty enters the room and jumps up at her "And how is my favourite girly?"
"She loves her mummy" Peter grins causing Carla to roll her eyes and rub Misty's ears playfully before chucking her ball down the hallway for her
"Now the changing table" Carla orders squatting back down onto the gym ball and bouncing, Simon groans "Oh shut up this is for your sister"
"Dad tell her to stop being annoying!" Simon glares at her, Carla giggles and bites her lip looking up at Peter who groans
"If you two stopped acting like you're five we might have had this done already" Peter points out, Carla bites her lip and cries "Why are you crying?"
"Why are you being mean to me?" she whimpers wiping her eyes and stuffing more crisps into her mouth, Simon raises his eyebrows at her comical look "I'm sad now"
"Oh baby" he chuckles slightly stroking her hair "I'm not mad at you but you do need to calm down sweetheart"
"It's not my fault though" she whimpers "I blame the baby and Simon-"
"Hey!" Simon defends himself causing Carla to cry even more and Peter to pull a face "You're annoying"
"No I'm not I'm carrying a baby, you tell him Peter" she snipes, Simon clenches his jaw causing Peter to look between them both
"Right enough of this" Peter says, Carla pouts her lip "Simon can you take Misty for a walk for us?"
"Gladly" he huffs storming out of the room, he looks at Carla who was eating crisps
"You need to calm down" Peter points out, she chucks a crisp at him "And thats the opposite of calming down. Stop winding Simon up"
"I was bored" she pouts her lips "I only have you and the baby to entertain me"
"But still don't wind Si up, he's been through enough"
"Why are you being mean?" she whines pouting her lips "I was bored, now I'm sad"
"Are we actually going back to therapy here?" he questions blankly, she frowns "Where you refused to talk to your psychiatrist during treatment so you were just saying emotions"
"I thought that helped you understand," she says sadly closing her eyes and humming slightly "Oh ok, thanks, baby girl..."
"Are you ok?" he questions watching her lean on the wall "Braxton hicks?"
"Yep" she nods scrunching her face up, he rubs her back "Ta"
"No problem" he chuckles as she squats back down onto the ball, he bends down in front of her and places his hand on her bump "So do we have a deal then?"
"What deal?"
"The deal is to stop winding Simon up?"
"Fine" she mutters folding her arms across her chest in a sulk "Whatever"
"Ok well stick to it please otherwise I will start to get annoyed"
"I like it when you're annoyed"
"What?" he questions confused putting together the drawers for the changing table "Why?"
"Because it makes you sexy" she purrs, he just raises his eyebrows at her "Do you want to have sex-"
"Carla!" he admonishes, she pouts her lips "Later"
"Whatever" she mutters picking up another packet of crisps "Can we go out?"
"For god's sakes, ok!" he huffs standing up "We'll go out, go and put a coat on then we can go for a walk-"
"Oh hold on!" she says as her phone goes off seeing it was Michelle "Hiya 'Chelle!"
"Have you been crying?" Michelle questions in concern, Carla giggles and bites her lip causing Peter to roll his eyes
"Yep Peter was annoying me and so was Simon so I threw a hissy fit-"
"We started calling it hormonal overload" Peter drones, Michelle laughs and Carla just glares
"I just thought I'd ring for a catch up; how are you?"
"Yeah good, I wet myself today because Peter's child kicked my bladder-"
"Excuse me she's a part of you as well, our child" he points out, Carla giggles as Michelle raises her eyebrows
"Lovely" Michelle pulls a face, Carla grins at her and smirks "Anyway I was thinking about coming home for Christmas, no pun intended"
"Really?" Carla questions, Michelle nods "It would be great to see you in person"
"And you, I kind of want to meet your sprog if I'm honest and as I have the whole of Christmas off I thought why not" Michelle shrugs, Carla nods slowly "Is that ok?"
"Yeah it's just that no one knows about the baby," Carla says, Michelle nods "We want to keep it that way until she's born"
"How many weeks to go?"
"Just under three months" she sighs, Michelle nods "We're sorting out the nursery today as we painted it yesterday just in case she decides to come early"
"It's good to be prepared" Michelle nods, Carla smiles "So what have you got so far?"
"Cot, changing table, rocking chair, we'll get a wardrobe at a later date because she's bound to have a lot of clothes"
"Just like her mother then" Michelle grins and Peter laughs with a grin "Well it's good you're prepared babe. Has anything else happened?"
"Uh Rob sent me a visiting order"
"What?" Michelle exclaims thinking how random it was "Did you go?"
"Yeah I did, I saw him" Carla confirms, Michelle looked worried all of a sudden "It was fine, well a bit weird as he apologised for everything but I know Rob and before you say that there are ulterior motives there aren't"
"Just be careful yeah? I bet it knocked you for six"
"It did at first, I guess I was just confused but I'm ok now. I didnt really know how to feel at first so Peter had to deal with the wrath of my moods and reluctance to do things. I took a couple of weeks off work I'm going back next week though"
"Don't work too hard?" Michelle says, Carla nods "Remember baby comes first Carla"
"I know that. She's my world already and the slightest little pain me and Peter evaluate and decide whether it's worth getting checked out and my midwife she's great as well, really supportive and the doctor who's monitoring her size. I'm on the waiting list for some counselling sessions as well just to reassure me a bit as its the thought of the unknown, I don't want to overthink too much and become overwhelmed"
"I'm glad you're being sensible and mature about the whole thing" Michelle smiles, Carla smirks and nods at Peter "What's going on?"
"Sorry" Carla responds looking rather flustered "Peter's just taken his top off and I'd quite easily ravish him right here if I'm honest-"
"Too much information" Michelle grimaces pulling a face, Carla giggles "I pity you Peter with all those hormones going around her body, she probably can't get enough of you. Mind you even when she's not up the stick she can never get enough of you so I doubt it's any different"
"Oi" Carla groans "You make me sound addicted"
"You basically are" Michelle states sticking her tongue out, Carla does the same "Anyway I must dash because I only called for a quick check-in with you because I care about you and all that"
"Well thats very sweet of you Michelle" Carla grins, Peter chuckles
"You look after her Peter make sure you get her all her cravings so she isnt a moody cow" Michelle grins, Carla rolls her eyes
"If I could slap you I would"
"You love me for it, anyway I must go, see ya" Michelle smiles, Carla grins
"See ya" she smirks ending the call and getting up to stretch her back "She's moved back into that horrible position again"
"Oh love" Peter sighs walking behind her and putting pressure on her back "You want a break don't you?"
"Yeah" she nods sadly "But the show must go on and all that, no time for tears"
"Well, I'm always here if you need to cry alright?"
"Thanks, baby, I can always count on you to make me feel better" she pecks him on the lips "Now I'm going to pop to the loo then sit out in the garden in front of the chimenea because I want to be outside"
"Alright then, I'll join you later after I finish this off" he smiles, she nods and heads downstairs allowing him to continue
Peter did eventually join Carla and smiled at her sitting in front of the fire with her favourite comfort blanket. Misty was sharing the sunlounger with her but she was starting to get a little big for cuddles on the sun lounger causing Carla to get rather sad about it but she still calmed her nonetheless. Allowing Peter to hold her was something she loved, she loved the way they both interacted with the baby and watch her move under Carla's skin and laughing every time a protruding limb made a mark on her tummy. Carla also loved it when Peter rubbed her stretchmark oil into her tummy as well because it helped settle the baby and as she was being so active today she decided to do it sooner rather than later.
"Here" she chucks the bottle at him, he raises his eyebrows "Anything to calm her down and to stop her from using me as a punchbag"
"Alright" he squeezes some out onto her tummy and begins to rub her belly which makes Carla sigh in content "Good?"
"Mhm," she nods closing her eyes and then opening them slowly "Why has this pregnancy made me so naturistic?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well I just love being outside and breathing in the fresh air, I never would have had the urge to do that before I was pregnant"
"Sometimes the mind does crazy things when put in a different scenario" he suggests, she nods "Maybe you should look at it as a good thing, you're getting plenty of vitamin D aren't you?"
"Yeah I am" she confirms "And it is a good thing, I guess I just find it confusing how much I've changed and all that"
"You're happy though?"
"Very happy, more than happy," she says "If thats even possible"
"I'd say so" he nods, she grins up at him "And I would say it's important to hang onto that isnt it? The good times. This is the best bit isnt it? Watching our child grow and then they'll be here in our arms and you will be the best mother"
"I hope so" she shrugs "It's just a process isnt it? It's the same as my recovery in the way?"
"How?"
"Well, they all said that recovery is a process didnt they? So is pregnancy, every day you watch yourself change and grow a little bit more where the world slowly prepares you for meeting your child and then when they're here you start another process of nurturing them and looking after them"
"Yeah I see now" he nods "I'm glad you're in high spirits though, I hate seeing you sad"
"And I hate being sad, you know how my mind works sometimes and thats just another thing we have to deal with"
"Yeah but it'll be ok, you have loads of support and even after the birth you might have Michelle's support as well"
"I don't want her at the birth though"
"No?" he frowns convinced she would want her best friend there
"Nope" she shakes her head "I just want you there holding my hands telling me I'm doing well and helping me through my breathing and supporting me"
"Well if thats what you want that's what you'll have" he confirms, she grins and nods "Is there anything else you want?"
"Even if I push you away I do want you there, I want intimacy Peter, I want to show our strength and I want to use that strength to guide us through the process of labour"
"Thats perfect" he confirms, she nods "You seem to be feeling rather holistic about it"
"Yeah this will probably be our only chance so...I want to make it count and make it something magical"
"I'll be your man for that" he nods, she giggles and smiles up at him "I say we make a start on dinner, what do you say?"
"I say feed me up" she nods allowing him to get up and head indoors "And Peter?"
"Yeah?"
"Could I have a second dinner as well, a kebab?"
"I was thinking you would say something along the lines of I love you but sure" he shrugs, she laughs slightly
"I do love you though"
"Good because I love you too"