OK, so chapter time! Thank you all for being so patient. Set around nineteen weeks into Carla's pregnancy. Simon moved in around a week ago, after Leanne moved in with Eva. I hope you guys like it!

Carla, Peter and Simon were sat on the sofa, watching typical evening television. They were watching a nature programme that Peter had seemed to become engrossed in, and Carla was willing to tolerate. It was a calming programme and after a stressful week or so, it was nice to just spend some time together as a family unit. They weren't yet used to it, but Carla and Peter both suspected it would soon become the norm. It wasn't very late at night, they hadn't had dinner yet, but it was late enough for Simon to feel the need to go to bed. For some reason, he had been acting out of character that day. It wasn't like he was acting badly or was making life difficult, but he seemed to be quieter than normal.
"Night Dad, night Carla." Simon called, as he got up from next to his father the sofa, deciding to go to his room to bed, without being prompted to do so. "You going to bed, son?" Peter asked, as Carla looked at her husband cautiously, with them both exchanging a glance that questioned the boy's reasons for wanting to go to bed. "Yeah." He replied quietly, already half way to his bedroom door. "Ok, well, see you in the morning." Carla told him softly, a worried expression taking over her face. With that, Simon had gone into his bedroom.
"Something's not right." Carla told her husband, as they watched the boy close the door. "You're right." Peter confirmed. "This really isn't like him." He added, as he turned to face Carla. "You don't reckon that he's being bullied again, do you?" She asked him. "I don't know, love." He replied, as he sighed. Carla moves closer to Peter, resting her head on his shoulder, as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"It could be moving here." Peter thought aloud. "Maybe he's just struggling without Leanne around. Maybe I'm not enough for him. I mean let's face it - I've hardly been a good role model, or a permanent fixture in his life, have I? I'm not good for him." Peter worried.
"Don't say that, of course you are. You're the best Dad in the world." She responded, in an attempt to reassure him. The last thing she wanted right now, was for Peter to feel inadequate as a father, especially with a new baby on the way, and the twenty week scan in less than a weeks' time.
"No I'm not Carla, let's not pretend that I am." He almost snapped, batting away her attempt to make him feel better about Simon's struggles.
"You are." She confirmed. "It could be anything that's made him unsettled, couldn't it." She reminded him. "The thought of moving schools, friends..." She listed. "Why don't you just go and talk to him. Try and work out what's going on in that head of his." Carla suggested, as Peter shuffled in his seat a little, before releasing his arm from around Carla. "I'll go and do that now." He announced, standing up as Carla flashed him a smile of reassurance.
Peter knocked on the boy's door softly before he entered. Simon was in bed, but definitely wasn't sleeping. He was reading his reading book, with the lamp on his desk providing just enough light that he could see without straining his eyes too much.
"Good book?" Peter asked him, as Simon looked up to his father, before shutting the plastic covered reading material and placing it next to him.
"Not really." He replied, as Peter turned the main light on and came to sit down on the end of Simon's bed.
"What's the matter, son?" Peter asked. He gave the lad a look of reassurance, letting him know that he could tell his father anything.
"I know you don't want me here forever." Simon revealed, not giving Peter any eye contact.
"Well, hopefully you won't be living with us when you're forty!" Peter joked, although he noticed that his son wasn't finding the conversation funny.
"When the baby comes, you're going to have no room." Simon told him. "I heard Carla say that this morning." He added, as the child started to fiddle with his hands, in an attempt to distract his mind from the thought of bursting into tears.
"Well, we aren't." Peter responded, as Simons face completely dropped. "But what has that got to do with anything?" Peter asked.
"That means I'll have to go and live with Leanne." Simon told him. "You and Carla will want my room to keep the baby in, and I won't see you anymore." Simon added tearfully.
"Oh son, that won't happen." Peter told his son, his voice full of soft reassurance. "Listen, you are not going anywhere." He added. "Me and Carla have been talking about getting a new place for a while now, big enough for all four of us." He reassured his son. "It'll take a bit of time to find one that is just right for us, but we will move before the baby comes, even if it kills me." He explained, his final remark making Simon smile, just for a second. Moving was something that the couple had talked about frequently, especially when Carla couldn't sleep, or they had a quiet five minutes at the factory. It was something that they wanted to happen, and that needed to happen – even before Simon came to live with them. Carla had told Peter how she wanted nothing more than to raise the baby in a large house, with a big enough garden to play football in, and whenever she spoke about the future living arrangements, Simon was always a firm part of it. Times really had changed.
"Why don't we order some Pizza?" Peter suggested, his voice a little more upbeat having assumed that the serious conversation was over with. Simon shook his head softly.
"I'm not hungry." He replied.
"Oh, come on!" Peter jokingly remarked, nudging Si' slightly. "I don't think I've ever seen you refuse Pizza in your life!" He added, before a few seconds of silence fell over the room. Sensing that his son needed some more reassurance, Peter placed his hand on his boy's knee, before speaking. "Just because you'll have a new baby brother, or sister, it doesn't mean that I'll love you any less." Peter said warmly.
"You don't know what will happen, you'll have the baby and we won't spend any time together anymore. It'll just be all about the baby." Simon mumbled, folding his arms. "You won't want me around anymore." He added, as Peter was running out of ways to reassure his son that the new baby wouldn't be replacing him.
"Listen son, you don't know what'll happen either." Peter reminded him, as Carla poked her head around the door. "The baby isn't going to replace you, it could never do that. And, yes, I'll want to spend some time with the baby, but it doesn't mean I won't still want to spend time with you." He added, as Carla smiled watching as Simon reached out and hugged Peter tightly. She left them to it and decided to go into her and Peter's room, seeing that Peter definitely didn't need any backup.
"I'll tell you what, why don't we just sit and talk, that way you might feel a little more included in things?" Peter suggested, as Simon sat up, returning to his original position on the bed.
"Over Pizza?" Simon suggested in return as Peter chuckled.
"Definitely over Pizza!" Peter confirmed, glad that his son seemed to be a little bit happier. Peter stood up, as Simon followed suit, and they both went into the living area.
Peter went into the kitchen and fetched the pizza menu from the draw next to the sink. "You chose what you want to have, and I'll go see what Carla's having." Peter told his boy, before going to find his wife.

He soon found Carla, sitting on the edge of the couple's queen-size bed. She had her right hand placed on her bump, her left hand holding a soft white bear that the couple had bought just a few days after the first scan. They had later vowed to buy nothing else until Carla was further in her pregnancy, as a precaution, with the couple both being cautious, even if unwilling to admit it.
As Carla looked down at the teddy, she wondered whether having a baby was a good decision. It wasn't that she didn't want the baby she was carrying; she wanted the baby more than anything, but at a time that seemed so uncertain, and with the couple being so unorganised, the baby so unplanned, she wondered why – if everything happens for a reason – it had happened now?

"You ok, love?" Peter asked, as he reached out and grabbed the bear from his wife, before placing his other hand in its place.
"Is Si' OK?" She asked him, as she got up from the bed, and enveloped him in a hug, enjoying the closeness and warmth after being so deep in thought.
"I think he's just feeling a little pushed out of place." Peter revealed, with Carla slowly and reluctantly pulling away from her husband, sighing slightly, thoughts swirling around her head. Little worries and niggles she wanted nothing more than to share with her husband, but at the forefront of all of those, the way Simon would respond in a few months time, if he was feeling so upset and unsettled about family life now.
"The baby isn't even here yet. How's he going to feel when it's born?" She asked, stressing slightly that her step-son and new baby wouldn't bond. What if he found living with her and Peter too hard when the baby is born? That would crush Peter, knock him flying off his feet. She couldn't have that if she had a new born to deal with too, she felt she wouldn't, couldn't manage if that happened.
"I think he'll be fine. He'll love being a big brother, I just think living with us full time is going to take him a little getting used to. I do reckon it's not being with Leanne has thrown him, though." Peter sighed. "I told him that we'd have a long conversation over food, just talk about everything." He added, as Carla nodded in agreement with the idea. Peter was probably right, and she was probably worrying over nothing. She had been worrying a lot more over things recently, wondering if it was to do with the changing level of hormones. It was something that she had been meaning to talk to Michelle about. In her seemingly endless amount of knowledge surrounding pregnancy and family life, surely she would know something about why she was feeling the way she was.
"What are we having tonight?" She asked him.
"Pizza." He replied as Carla chuckled.
"What?" He asked, as Carla smiled, shaking her head slightly.
"We need to start eating properly, cooking, I mean, all we seem to be doing at the moment is ordering takeaways or eating out." She explained, as he nodded and raised his eyebrows slightly in agreement.
"We'll start tomorrow." He told her, earning another laugh from his wife.
"We better, I'm not too sure I should be growing a baby on nothing more than pizza and fish and chips." She warned jokingly, as the conversation between the couple seemed to come to a natural end. "Right, I better get my phone. I'm pretty sure I can almost remember the Pizza place's number off by heart." She added, with Peter chuckling softly before planting a soft and loving kiss on her lips.
"You never answered my question." Peter reminded her, just as Carla reached the door. She turned back to face him, smiling softly.
"What question was that?" She asked him.
"Are you ok?" He asked her.
"Of course." She replied, smiling at his concern. "I was just having a moment." She revealed. "I was thinking about how much our lives are going to change; how unplanned it all was." She added, as Peter walked the few steps to where she was stood, realising it might not just be his son who needs a little reassurance.
"Seems like tonight is a good night for a big talk about the future then." He smiled, as she leaned into him.
"I love you." She told him, as Peter wrapped his arms around her.
"I love you too." He reminded her. The couple stayed there for a few moments, before Carla slowly stood up straight.
"Let's go order that Pizza!" She exclaimed, going to join Simon in the other room.

-CS-

With two family size pizzas on the table, Peter, Simon and Carla were ready to start a conversation that would hopefully put an end to all the uncertainty in the air.
"So, the move?" Peter prompted Carla, as she got up from where she was sitting, to her bag. She retrieved a very detailed, glossy advert for a five bedroom house about fifteen minutes away from where they currently were. She handed it over to her step-son, as he scanned the images, whilst tucking into his slice of pizza.
"What do you think?" Peter asked, as Carla sat back down.
"It looks nice." Simon replied, with a mouth almost full of food, gaining a laugh from his Dad.
"Looks like we're off to the estate agents tomorrow then." Carla told Peter, raising her eyebrows slightly, with a wide smile on her face.
"You'll be able to teach the baby football in the garden, when it's old enough." Peter told Simon, pointing to a picture in the corner of the large and very green-looking garden.
"What if the baby's a girl?" He asked his father, earning a slight chuckle from his Dad, as Carla didn't give Peter a chance to answer.
"Girls can play football too." She reasoned.
"Well, you certainly can't, not in those heels, love." Peter remarked, with Carla kicking him playfully under the table.
"When do you find out what the baby is?" Simon asked. "Mum said you can find out at a scan before it's born." He added.
"That's only if they can see the baby properly." Carla told him.
"I thought they could see the baby anyway, that's why they do a scan, to see the baby." He replied, with Peter and Carla sharing a quick glance at each other, glad that Simon was taking an interest in being a big brother, which filled them both with a new sense of reassurance.
"The baby needs to be in a certain position to be able to tell whether it's a boy or a girl. When they're this small, they can move around a lot." She told him.
"That's a point though love, when is the next scan?" Peter asked her.
"Next week, Tuesday." She replied, watching Peter's face subtly light up at the thought of being able to see his baby again.
"Do you want to come, Si?" She asked him, as he seemed confused as to why she was asking him to come too.
"Yeah, come and see your little brother or sister." Peter encouraged.
"I've got school." He informed them.
"I'm sure we can take you out for the afternoon." Peter suggested.
"We won't need to. It's at quarter past four." Carla informed him, as Peter slumped back in his seat.
"Well then, that's plenty of time." He added, looking at his son with a wide smile on his face.
"That's if you want to go?" Carla asked Simon, searching for a definite answer from the boy.
"Are you sure? Don't you two want to go on your own?" He asked in response.
"You're more than welcome to come if you want to." Carla smiled, as he smiled back at her. She was making a real effort to make sure that he felt included and part of the family, and to her credit, she had been doing ever since she found out she was pregnant.

Over the rest of their tea, the three of them spoke at length about what they each thought the future would hold. No definite promises, just plans and ideas. It seemed enough for now. It had been enough to make Simon feel more comfortable and it also gave him the time and opportunity he needed to open up more about how he was feeling.
By the time it was actually time for him to go to bed, he certainly seemed a lot happier than he had been only a few hours previously.

-CS-

"You know, I think Si is really on board with having a little brother or sister." Peter mused, as he was sitting up in bed, waiting for his wife to join him. Carla was by the wardrobe, putting away some of her clothes.
"I don't think he ever disliked the idea. Do you remember his reaction?" She asked in return smiling at the memory of her stepsons joy and excitement at the idea of having a sibling. "I think it's just all this stuff with Leanne, it seems so unclear, almost as if Simon doesn't know where he stands any more." She told him. "Correct me if you think I'm wrong?" She asked, as he shook his head before letting his wife continue. "Maybe we should have a word with Leanne." Carla suggested, closing the wardrobe and turning to face Peter.
"And say what?" Peter questioned, almost defensively, making it obvious that he didn't think it to be a good idea. "She'll just think we're not coping." He expanded, as Carla sighed.
"She won't think that." She tried to assure him, using a soft tone of voice. "I mean just talk to her about regular visits and stuff. To reassure Si, you know." She explained, as she ran her hand through her hair effortlessly and without thought. After a few seconds of silence, Peter decided to break the rooms sudden change in atmosphere.
"You look beautiful." He complimented, changing the subject completely, as she internally blushed.
"Oh Peter, stop it." She told him, turning away his compliment, as she finally joined him in bed.
"You do." He confirmed, reassuring her softly. "Even more so now than the day I met you." He added, as he took in her beauty. Her fresh face, her hair let loose, her demeanour certainly more relaxed than most people would ever see. He meant every word he said to her, even if she didn't want to believe it.
"I'm serious Peter." She mockingly warned, his compliments cheesy, not that she completely disliked them. Normally, she'd smiled smile, gratefully accept his compliments, making sure that he received thanks in the form of a soft kiss. Today however, she felt a little uneasy about the way she looked, the way she felt. The pregnancy was changing her body, not that she minded all too much. She knew that it'd all be worth it in the end, but she couldn't help but feeling a little uneasy about how she looked. Peter sensed this, before giving her his response.
"Me too." Peter smiled back, as she smiled back at him. "I love you so much." He reminded her. "You're going to be the best mum to this little one." He told her, as he wrapped his arm around her waist, his hand settling on her slightly rounded stomach. "In fact, you already are." He confirmed, before she enveloped into his side. He placed a soft kiss into her hair.
After a few minutes of staying cuddled, sat up on the bed, the pair eventually decided to settle down under the duvet and fall asleep - with Carla still in Peter's reassuring and comforting embrace. He had hoped that the way she was feeling wouldn't continue for much longer. He had noted a slight change in her demeanour over the last few days and he couldn't stand it. It hurt him a little to see her like this, and he'd wished that she could see herself through his eyes. There had to be a way of making her feel better about herself at this point during her pregnancy. Maybe seeing the baby next week would make all the difference?

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all your love, support, and the really kind messages you left for me on the last chapter. They each meant a lot to me and I appreciate every single one of you. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. X