It seemed to take ages for Tony to get back home, Carla waited and waited and the more she did the more she thought she was going to bail. Safer to think it was probably best telling Tony about her possible dirty little secret, there was no way she could keep something that huge from him especially if he was the father which was very much still a possibility. Her eyes were heavy though and the tiredness just washed over her nowadays no doubt due to the fact that she was growing a life inside of her, she shuddered at that thought in particular. Around five hours since she called him Tony entered the flat armed with his holdall and Carla immediately launched herself at him and he was immediately taken aback by her weird mood. Gingerly she clasped her hands around one of his, the coldness seeping into her body but she didn't flinch and the look of Tony's concerned expression was enough to make her want to back out, that was one thing she didn't want and that was pity and caring for, she wasn't dying, she was merely doing the opposite and creating a life.
"Are you ok?"
"Not really," she says and Tony places his holdall down on the side "You need to promise me not to freak out ok because I am still getting me head around the fact-"
"Carla, what's the matter?" Tony persists, she could tell he was somewhat narked at being called away from Edinburgh
"Please stay calm" Carla whispers and Tony sighs before running his hand over his face, he nods as they sit on the sofa together, he watches Carla reach into her pocket and pull out a white stick placing it in front of him "I don't know what to do, I just thought this wouldn't be a possibility for us, for me-"
"Carla" Tony sighs taking the pregnancy test and narrowing his eyes "How long have you known?"
"Since today, that's why I called you back, I didn't want to keep you in the dark" she chews her lip still kind of unsure of his reaction as he was being overly calm "Say something?"
"This is..."
"Crazy," she says and Tony looks at her "I don't want to be a mum, I don't have that desire and I made a mistake and now I don't know what I should do"
"Don't you understand how amazing this could be?" Tony says pointing to the word pregnant on her test, she frowns and chews her lip "This is our next step, maybe the world wanted us to go through this-"
"I don't know Tony I just..." Carla breathes out "I don't want to be a mum, I really don't"
"You're in shock Carla," Tony says quietly running his fingers through her hair "Give it time to sink in"
"I don't want to be a mum, Tony"
"And I don't desire to be a dad but sometimes these things happen and sometimes they can bring out the best in people"
"It just feels like it's too soon Tony, I just-"
"You need to let it sink in Carla," Tony says and kisses her on the side of the head "First we need to get you to a doctor and get you checked over"
"Are you listening to me?" she stands up and Tony sighs at the flicker of anger in her eyes "I don't want to be a mum, Tony"
"Carla I don't know what I want either-"
"But I know what I want and that's not to be a mother!" she cries and Tony pinches the bridge of his nose "I'm sorry, it's just...this is such a bad time and I don't mean to have a go at you-"
"Carla, this is a great time, you're just panicking," Tony says and Carla bites her lip "I just don't want you to make an unthought out decision in case you regret it"
"Regret it? This is happening Tony, I'm booking a termination, I can't do this and I won't do this" Carla snaps before storming into the bedroom, he sighs and narrows his eyes at her inability to hear him out...
They went to bed that night and didn't touch, didn't even acknowledge each other's presence whilst Carla cooled down. It was a night of broken sleep, a worried induced state that Carla was in constantly going through awkward scenarios in her head. What if this baby wasn't Tony's? What if it was Liam's? Could she tolerate the aggro from Michelle, Maria for that matter let alone deciding everything with Liam? The whole thing just reeked of awkwardness. As the sun rose Carla was in the kitchen making herself a cup of coffee whilst Tony was sat on the sofa reading yesterdays newspaper and not knowing what to say Carla just busied herself in the kitchen just so she didn't have to have the awkward apologies but unfortunately for her Tony knew what she was doing.
"I'm sorry"
"Ey?" she frowns and Tony sighs going into the kitchen "You don't have to apologise, it's my fault for being stupid and messing up-"
"It does take the two of us Carla" Tony smiles and Carla huffs before grabbing a glass of water "How are you feeling today?"
"Tired mainly" she shrugs and Tony smiles before bending down and kissing her softly on the lips "I am sorry"
"It's just one of those things" Tony assures her and Carla nods slowly "How do you feel now that you've slept on it?"
"Well I didn't really sleep" she comments with a raised eyebrow and Tony sighs "I still stand by everything that I said yesterday though"
"I understand, after a long hard think Carla this is your choice, you'd be the one who would have to nurture that baby inside you so whatever you want I will be right there to support you"
"Thank you" she smiles before leaning up to kiss him, she hooks her arms around his neck "I suppose I best get booking that termination"
"I'm coming with you-"
"You don't have to" she bites her lip and Tony frowns slightly "I mean...it won't be very nice-"
"Carla this is my baby, I'm coming with you" he assures her and she gulps before nodding knowing damn well that she could be carrying her ex-brother-in-laws baby
"I'll see when we have free time" she whispers and Tony nods "I'll see you at work, I'm going to head in early and get some things done"
"Alright, I'll see you there," Tony says and Carla nods grabbing her bag before leaving, he sighs slightly and rubs his hand over his face confused at her behaviour...
Work didn't amount to much, when she arrived she clocked Maria and Liam from across the street, hand in hand and that in itself made her want to vomit into her designer handbag. Her eyes caught Liam's and he stared at her and she stared back at him longing for him to acknowledge her in some way, shape or form but nothing just like it had always been since she told him she was going to marry Tony. At least he was true to his word. Carla didn't know what to do, she walked into the office and Rosie was filing stuff away so she couldn't exactly book a termination there and then, instead, she flicked aimlessly through the diary and hummed thoughtfully, a somewhat cunning plan getting into her head so she asked Rosie to nip to the dry cleaners for her to pick up a dress she left there the other day that she hadn't got around to doing. Gingerly she picked up her phone double-checking the times that Tony was out next week and rang the clinic in an attempt to book a slot where he wouldn't be able to attend, she just couldn't have him thinking she aborted his baby when there was a possibility it could be Liam's.
"Yeah...next Tuesday would be great...I can do any time really...yeah that's great thank you...Carla Gordon...ok that's great so next Tuesday at three o'clock, I'll be there...thank you, bye" she sighs before going to write it in her diary, Tony enters the office and she jumps
"God, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry" he flashes her a smile as he places his portfolio down on his desk, he walks behind her and then massages her shoulders for her which she smiles at "Busy?"
"I phoned a clinic to book a termination, the only slot available was next week on Tuesday at three," she lies and Tony frowns at her
"I have a meeting then, plus I've already sorted all that out for you-"
"W-What?" she utters nervously, Tony smiles pulling out a printed email "Oh..."
"Next Thursday at that fancy private clinic in town, already paid for it and all" Tony says and Carla bites her lip "Neither of us have anything going on then so I thought it was for the best so I can be there to support you"
"Oh right, thank you I suppose" Carla internally panics and Tony smiles at her "I'll ring back later, explain that we had crossed wires or something"
"Alright," he smiles and then kisses her on the top of the head "Do you need anything?"
"Nope I'm ok, thanks for asking," she says softly and Tony nods "I was thinking about getting Leanne a gift or something for being such a good friend and helping me out yesterday"
"That would be nice, we could invite her for Christmas?"
"She's already got plans with Janice and don't get me wrong I love Leanne but if we invite her then she'll bring her whole family with her and sitting around the table at Christmas with Janice Battersby is the last thing I desire to have and Liam would not be happy either"
"Fair point" he laughs and Carla grins at him before sighing and rubbing her forehead "Why don't you take the rest of the week off-"
"I've barely been here"
"You obviously don't feel well Carla" Tony puts to her and she sighs slightly and nods "At least take the rest of the week off, if not then until next Thursday"
"What will I even do?" she chuckles and Tony narrows his eyes "I'd be so bored"
"Rest," he says and she sighs "Prepare yourself for what you're about to go through"
"I guess..." she trails off and collects her bag and turns her computer off before frowning "We are ok arent we?"
"Of course" Tony smiles standing up, he places his hands on either side of her arms before leaning in to kiss her softly "We're fine Carla, I'm here for you, never forget that ok?"
"Yeah, I know," she says softly and Tony kisses her on the forehead "You're right though, I need to take some time out, process all of this"
"Good then hopefully towards the end of next week things will fall into place again" he whispers and she nods before smiling "I'll be back home later"
Carla didn't go home though, she did the opposite. Instead, she decided to play a few games to keep her entertained whilst she was off 'sick' from work. Having forgotten about Lad Rags for the majority of her holiday and post married life, she realised how she could use this to her advantage and set up a meeting with Tom and Liam in town using a demanding tone over the phone wanting to know about her stake in the business and feeling immediately threatened Tom agreed easily but Liam was sceptical so Carla whipped out the blackmail saying that if he didn't show up then she would tell Maria that she was a part of the business and with that Liam met up with her and Tom in town. As they got talking about figures Carla wanted more, she had a lot to think about at the moment so it was time to bring out the bargaining power; she wanted more of a stake in this company. Ultimately she was scared of her own decisions, next week couldn't come soon enough but she was afraid that Tony would fall in love with this baby, they had no clue how far along she was and she just had a gut feeling they would do a scan to find out having read all the stories online from those horrible bitchy mother and baby forums. Just in case, and it really was a just in case scenario, she ended up keeping this baby she wanted them to have something worthwhile when they got to the age of eighteen, she wanted them to have something she never had and that was a sustainable business.
"Before you go I have a proposition" Carla states and Liam narrows his eyes at her "I want to buy one of you out"
"What, no, what the hell Carla!" Liam stumbles over his words and she laughs hysterically and it clicked with Liam who sighed in annoyance "You're so annoying"
"No but seriously, the amount of work I'm doing for this company I want a bit more in return"
"Such as?" Tom inquires and Carla smiles at him before looking at Liam who was glaring at him "What? At least hear what she has to say, Liam"
"I want to tell Tony," she says and Liam shakes his head, Tom just leans back against his chair and narrows his eyes
"You can't" Liam states, his eyes boring into Carla's eyes "I'm sorry Carla but you can't, Maria can't know you're involved"
"You've never actually specified why Liam" Tom states with an exasperated sigh, Liam just groans "Surely it's not all that bad-"
"Tom you don't know what you're talking about" Liam states and Tom just huffs in annoyance "Actually I need to have a private conversation with Carla about this"
"Be my guest" Tom thrusts his arms forward "It's not like any of this affects me anyway"
"Exactly" Liam states as he watches Tom leave the restaurant they were in "Right what are you playing at?"
"What do you mean by that?" Carla asks, she was ever so intrigued about what was going on inside his head and he just sighs in annoyance
"You, calling this meeting, having the audacity to blackmail me-"
"Would you have come?" she asks and Liam clenches his jaw, not saying a word "Thought not"
"Why would you want to tell Tony now? Has something happened?"
"No" she lies and Liam narrows his eyes "You're so gullible, really, it's astounding. Here's me thinking that you've finally realised how my brain works"
"You" he seethes and Carla smirks to herself "What do you want then?"
"Majority shareholder of Lad Rags" she states and Liam shakes his head "Why on earth not Liam?"
"Because you didn't create the brand, me and Tom did"
"I'm sure Tom wouldn't mind an overly sexy boss now would he now?" Carla smirks and Liam just groans in anger before glaring at her "I mean you know exactly what that's like, don't you?"
"Stop this Carla, you made your choice, don't mess with my head. I'm happy with Maria, more than happy"
"Yet you were the one who wanted to run away with me" she tuts with a disapproving expression "I guess you want to know the offer I'm proposing?"
"You're going to tell me anyway and it's not going to happen" he states and Carla just giggles slightly thoroughly enjoying this
"I want ten per cent of your shares and Tom's, now I don't think it's going to be hard getting Tom's shares, all I have to do is flutter my eyelashes and he will be putty in my hands, a whiff of hard cash and I'll have them"
"You're not getting ten per cent of my shares" Liam scoffs and Carla just raises her eyebrows which sparked fear in Liam's stomach
"Ok then, let me rephrase this Liam just so that you understand" Carla starts and Liam sighs gently "You will give me ten per cent of your shares and you will sign them over to me by the time the year's out and then I will be the majority shareholder of Lad Rags"
"And if I don't comply?"
"Then I become your worst nightmare, your choice"
