How hard was it to put up a stupid crib? All the pieces are here, all the screws have been counted, nothing is missing and it's all the correct pieces then why couldn't I get past step one? If the instructions say that part A should slot into part B and then screw them together and I was trying to connect those two pieces, then why wasn't it working? I owned a business and couldn't put together a simple crib for my baby, this was ridiculous. My frustration was rising at the situation, my blood pressure rising, and I knew I needed to calm down, if not for myself then for the little guy kicking in my belly. Although I enjoyed the little kicks of reassurance for my little boy, I couldn't help but think of the first kicks and how the memory was tainted with anger and upset.

"Well Mr. Halen, we will get this contract scanned and sent over and your first order will be with you in a few weeks."

"It was lovely doing business with you, Carla and Peter, I best get going, have a good day."

It was a quick meeting at the Bistro, per request of the client but we hadn't stayed as long as I had thought, we had a few drinks each and he was off. Peter was amazing to work with and we had a nice flow to how we bounced off of each other, our work dynamic was great. Luckily, Nick had read the situation and not approached, in fact, he had kept his distance, not so much as looking over from what I could see. That kept the situation from rising and turning nasty, Peter didn't get riled up and Nick wasn't making any comments, I feel like it meant the future was going to stay calm too.

"Right, you, we can get back or you could order some food as I have seen you staring at the next table and their dessert most of the meeting."

He wasn't wrong.

"No… I was just… I don't know…"

"Carla, you are pregnant, you are allowed to be hungry and eat everything in sight if that is what my son wants."

"Don't spoil him already."

"You say that like you won't be spoiling him, come on, what do you want?"

When we left, I wasn't hungry, I didn't have any cravings before we got here and the couple next to us ordered dessert and then my body was overtaken. They had ordered a hot brownie with ice cream and something about watching the ice cream slowly melt and mix with the chocolate was too tempting for me to handle. I was growing my sweet tooth during this pregnancy and made a mental note to buy some hot chocolate and chocolate bars on my way home.

"I mean, I could get, a slice of chocolate cake?"

"Fine, my treat, I'm going to nip out for a smoke, order me some ice cream?"

He put his bank card out of the table and walked out the front doors, we had been in a good place since the scan, and I enjoyed our new dynamic. Here, I was, just sitting here smiling to myself, probably looking crazy but at least being in a happy mindset for once. Steph was bound to come back over at some point, there weren't too many customers, and it was her job as a waitress to have some weird skill at knowing when her customers wanted to order more food. Instead, I was sitting here, undisturbed and I was starting to get a little impatient, where was she?

My eyes were looking around the small restaurant trying to find her so that I could ease the cravings as my stomach was starting to feel funny, hungry almost. How much weight was I going to put on during this pregnancy if I was already feeling hungry with lunch having not long passed?

"Steph is on a break; did you want to order anything else because you are starting to look impatient."

Great.

It was Nick.

To be fair, it was his business. It had been a few weeks since we had spoken in the pub, deciding to call it quits and move on with life. That didn't mean that I wasn't completely over him, I was just putting another man as my main priority, my son. If I dawdled and didn't answer him or even questioned him or his motives, Peter could come in and be funny about us talking. They never had a great relationship, and I didn't want to test the waters now. I should just order and get him out of the way, hopefully, Steph will be back to serve it. Who takes a break in the middle of service?

"Yeah, can I get a slice of chocolate cake and Peter wants some ice cream, probably just on its own, vanilla knowing him."

"You are getting cravings?"

"You could say that."

Although my tone was light, he could probably tell that I was trying to get rid of him and no matter how rude he thought it was, I didn't want to start any drama. Also, I really wanted my cake as soon as possible which meant he needed to put my order in to the kitchen, which meant he needed to leave.

That was weird.

Oh.

Ok… that's not hunger then.

Oh.

"Oh ah. Oh."

"You ok Carla?"

Nick had only taken a few steps away but now he was back with his hand on my shoulder and his face full of worry. It just felt really weird.

"Yeah… he kicked."

My son had kicked, and boy did he have some power behind him, I couldn't help but be filled with excitement, this was amazing. I was over the moon that he was still happy and healthy, and I was looking after him so well that he was now kicking me. Suddenly this pregnancy and my baby felt so much more real, and I wanted everyone to share in my joy as I felt like crying, I was so happy.

"Wow, really? What- "

Without thinking, because I never think, I grabbed Nick's hand and placed it on my belly so that he could share in my excitement, he could feel the joy I did by feeling a kick. That was my mistake.

"Wow, I can feel the kick."

My vision was then filled with Peter storming over the table, his face sour and furious, pushing past Nick as he looked down at me whilst I still sat down.

"Peter – "

"You are unbelievable Carla."

He was storming out of the Bistro, grabbing his jacket and card from the table and I was chasing after him, this had to be DeJa'Vu for at least one point in our relationship.

"Peter, slow down, what's wrong?"

He stopped then, turning to me, his face red in anger and I almost shrank back in fear, he was intimidating.

"What's wrong? You let someone else – no – you let that man feel my baby kick before me, how could you?"

Shit.

"I'm sorry Peter, I didn't think, he was just there, and I wanted to share the moment, I'm sorry."

"Just forget it."

It was a stupid mistake that he had me paying for at work afterward as he kept his grudge as strong as he could, there was nothing more I could do to apologise, he just wasn't accepting it. There wasn't anything else I could do but to let it go and let him fester, if he didn't want to accept that I made one stupid mistake then that was on him. We were supposed to be becoming parents, he already was, but he was still acting like a jealous boyfriend at school, it wasn't worth my time to fix his bad attitude.

Aha.

The pieces had finally gone together, I was getting somewhere with this stupid crib, now I was on step two…

Why is building cribs so hard? Surely there are other single moms out there that need to do this by themselves, how did they do it? My eyes couldn't help but glance at my phone and consider calling for backup, asking for reinforcements. Who would I even call though? Nick? That would be awkward and probably not the best idea to get out of Peter's bad books, but he only lived upstairs so it wouldn't be such a big demand. Peter? No. I saw him earlier, he wasn't at home, he was in the Rovers with Alya, I saw him walk with her into the pub and it made me feel queasy, she was young enough to be his daughter, I think, I don't know, it's just weird. I was alone and I sucked at putting stuff together, how was I going to raise my baby if I couldn't even build him somewhere to sleep?

Before I could spiral too far down the path of convincing myself I would be a terrible mother, my doorbell rang, and I was honestly wondering if I had actually called for backup. Getting up from the floor was beginning to become an effort and it annoyed me to no end how big this bum was getting from nowhere. By the time I reached the door, the bell rang again, and I was getting ready to yell at the guest for being so impatient.

"Oh, hi Si?"

"Hi Carla, sorry if you are busy… I just wanted to…"

His dad had told him shortly after the street found out about my pregnancy that he was going to have a sibling, but I hadn't really spoken to the boy. The conversation had taken place whilst I put myself in hiding and then we hadn't bumped into each other since. Peter had reassured me that Simon wasn't upset about the news when I wondered why I hadn't seen the boy but rather he didn't know what to say. Apparently, he was pleased that he was going to have a little brother rather than a little sister, but he was still nervous because he knew Peter and I were often at odds. That's why I was so shocked to open the door and see him standing there looking shy.

Instead of trying to prompt the rest of his sentence out of him, I ushered him in and tried to manoeuvre around the mess I had created on the floor. He joined me on the couch, both of us on either end as I waited for him to confess whatever triggered his visit. He fumbled around in his coat sleeves before digging in his pocket and pulling out a dairy milk bar and shoving it towards me.

"Dad said you really like chocolate right now; I didn't know what you liked so I got you the normal one."

It was a sweet gesture, that due to my hormones had me close to tears just at the simple gesture, but I tried with all my might to hold them back not to scare the young boy. I took the bar and put it on the coffee table in front of me, still waiting to find out the cause of his visit, he didn't visit just to drop me off a snack. It took a little while, but he finally started talking, and just like when he was little, when you got him started, he didn't stop.

"I'm sorry for not coming round before, my dad said that you were upset for a while, then I didn't know what to say or anything, it's hard. You having my dads' baby is just weird to me – "

"Me too."

That got him to smile, it was a simple joke, even if it technically wasn't even a joke, I was telling the truth.

"One minute you are dating Nick, which is weird, then you are having my dads' baby, then I get nervous thinking of what to say to you because I don't want to make you worry. My mom told me what happened before, with your other baby – dad said it was ok – I just don't want to make you ill."

He was so sweet. The change from who he used to be and how he used to treat me was so different that it sometimes made me wonder if he had been swapped with another child at one point. Before I could jump in and tell him not to worry, he was off on another tangent.

"When my dad told me, I didn't know if I wanted a sibling, but it feels kind of nice knowing that I'm going to have a little brother, I can teach him how to play football and play my PlayStation, give him my hand me downs, be a proper big brother. So, I wanted to come and see him, I know he's not here yet, but you know."

He wanted to make sure that he was still fine, Simon wanted to make sure that we were both ok and by the looks of things he had worked himself up in worry about visiting. Instead of embarrassing him by reminding him off what he had just confessed, I decided to lighten the mood and hopefully lighten his mood.

"Football? Yes. PlayStation? Maybe. But hand me downs? Come on Si, I'm his mom."

It looked like some of the weight he was carrying on his shoulders had gone and he even looked a little lighter when he moved on the conversation to talk about something else, probably relieved that I hadn't questioned him further on his worries.

"What are you even making over there?"

"A crib, I'm trying to build his crib, I got a little excited and told myself that I will order one thing, for now, this had good reviews, next thing I know it's out of the box and I am trying to put it together."

"Oh, how is it going."

"I'm on step two… I opened the box about an hour ago…"

He was laughing and I was glad to see him act like a normal kid instead of being burdened by my decisions in life, that wasn't fair.

"You should have asked my dad, he's well good at stuff like this."

"I think he's bus tonight; I don't want to disturb him."

He was with Alya, and I don't know if they are dating or not, their relationship in the office and the way they communicate with each other make me believe that they are together.

"So, I told my dad, 'You need to get with the times'".

That wasn't funny, how was that funny? It made Peter laugh and it infuriated me, why did he find that so funny? Was it just because Alya was saying it?

I was billy no mates again, feeling rejected and pathetic in my own office as those two chatted like I wasn't here, it was getting on my nerves. The more I ignored it, the more they did it like they thought I was letting them flirt and slack off, so they could keep doing it. I liked Alya, she was a smart girl and there was something about her that made me like her, but if I heard that high-pitched giggle again today, I was convinced I was going to stab her with my pen.

One glance up, I could see the look in Peter's eyes, and it made me feel protective over the girl, she didn't know what she was getting into with Peter, and I wanted to protect her as no one had for me. She didn't know what he was genuinely like, and it was a big scary world that he lived in - we both did – that she didn't need to be a part of.

"Right, I best get going on the cake run before they go on a strike."

Peter laughed yet again, and I couldn't see where the joke was in that sentence, it was scarily true. Their bad flirting and cringey looks were driving me insane, I don't care if it sounded like I was having a tantrum, it was my factory and my company, I don't want to see it.

Alya was gone all of two minutes, and we were in blissful silence until Peter ruined it, by his tone, obviously not really wanting to talk to me but wanted something from me.

"How did Nick woo you?"

"What?"

"You and Nick. How did he make you date him?"

Why the hell would he ask that? What was he trying to do? Hurt me?

Then it clicked, it wasn't about me at all, he was trying to figure out how Nick had won me over so that he could do the same to Alya and it made me sick at the idea.

"He didn't make me do anything, we were friends and I guess we both just wanted to be more at the time. We were good at being friends and I guess we thought we would be even better in a relationship."

His scowl told me that he wasn't happy with my answer, and I didn't know what else to tell him, so I chose to stay mute and let him figure it out himself how to woo his co-worker without the advice of his ex-wife and baby mama.

It wasn't my place to tell Simon that his dad was off on a date with another girl, it wasn't for me to get involved. Instead of letting that hang over us, I decided to try and use it to my own advantage and bond with Simon again, he was going to be a part of my life for good now I was going to have his brother.

"It must run in the blood then, what time have you got to be home."

"Not for at least another hour or so, mom won't mind."

"Then let's put this crib together then."

Thank you for all your reviews, I honestly do love hearing if you liked it, your thoughts and ideas, I think it makes me a better writer. I tried out a different format for this chapter, probably just this once in this story but I enjoyed it, I could get a bit more drama in.