With Tony keeping his promise Carla had become much calmer and a few weeks on everything was going well, she was relaxed and she was back at work spending the average nine to five days there apart from Friday where she took the afternoon off to spend some time with Tony or just relax. He was treating her like a queen again and she was very happy with how he was being. Liam had been sniffing around in the factory more so than Carla would have thought considering Maria was back at home and their baby was still in hospital in the neonatal unit. She genuinely thought he would be glued to that incubator just like his wife but he wasn't, he was spending more time in Underworld so much so Carla felt very uncomfortable with his presence as he was around her all the time. The more she thought about it the more he was around her made it less likely she would let slip about her baby's paternity and that is something she didn't want.

"Ugh!" Liam shouts and Carla raises her eyebrows at his outburst "I can't find Tony's bloody file"

"Is it this one?" Carla hums pulling it out of her desk tidy, Liam swipes it off of her and rolls his eyes slamming it down on the desk "Not even a thank you?"

"Thank you" he responds sarcastically and she just turns to her papers "Where is your delightful husband anyway?"

"In town somewhere, I don't track his every move Liam"

"He'd quite happily track yours though" he quips and Carla just scrunches some paper up to throw it at him "Oi!"

"It's deserved" she retorts and he just groans before taking his phone out as it goes off, he sighs "Maria by a chance?"

"Yep, she's narked at me"

"I would be too"

"Gee thanks" he rolls his eyes "I've tried explaining to her but she doesn't get it"

"That's because she's wrapped up in all things baby-"

"You will be soon" he retorts and she just raises an eyebrow at him before shaking her head "It's all babies, baby this, baby that, she's obsessed even more so now he's here"

"How is he?"

"How am I meant to know that?" Liam drones and Carla sighs slightly placing her pen down "Go on say what you want to say..."

"Just be with her Liam, I just don't get it either. Your son is lying in an incubator at Weathy General and you're here fretting over stuff I could deal with"

"I thought you would at least be a bit more supportive towards my feelings Carla especially after everything-"

"After everything?" she deadpans and groans in annoyance "I just...I don't know Liam, this situation is a mess"

"Is Tony treating you ok?"

"He's fine" she comments not entirely liking the change of subject "You don't need to look out for me now, I'm ok, we're all ok"

"And the baby?"

"We went for a scan a few days ago, the baby is still small, it hasn't grown much at all so they're looking at an early delivery"

"I'm sorry" he responds apologetically and Carla sighs in annoyance, she hated how everyone was so sorry for her

"Please don't do that"

"Do what?"

"Apologise for something that can't be changed, we're dealing with it together instead of dealing with it separately"

"I'm glad he's looking after you now though and not controlling you. You deserve it" Liam confirms and Carla groans slightly "What?"

"I'd kill for one of Roy's chocolate brownies" she hums and Liam sighs getting up and grabbing his jacket "Thank you, Liam"

"Seriously, I'm going to get Tony to add more onto my wages considering this is the third time this week I've run around after you and your cravings"

"Thank you Liam" she grins saying it once more but extra sarcastically causing him to roll his eyes and head out on his quest to find her one of Roy's chocolate brownies...


He was gone for almost an hour and Carla had wondered where he had got to. In that time Tony popped into the factory to give her some lunch and then, of course, Liam appeared with her brownie causing her to thank him for his work and tell him to bugger off to lunch which he did. Carla and Tony spoke things through, mainly about the baby and Carla inwardly shivered at the fact Tony was so in love with this kid that wasn't his, hearing him talk about the nursery and how they would need to clear out the spare bedroom within the next month in case Carla ended up needing to have the baby delivered early. Somehow the thought of that frightened her and make her fill with dread. Her main thought was how she wasn't maternal, how she couldn't even think about the fact she would have to have someone depend on her, a child for that matter, it was a scary thought. Thinking that she wouldn't be alone if she went back to Tony was stupid because, with every realisation and every day towards her due date and the possiblity of the baby coming early, she felt ever so alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Liam questions and Carla snaps out of her thoughts, she hadn't even realised she had been crying "Hey what's up?"

"It's stupid" she mutters wiping her eyes, she snatches her pocket mirror from the side to check her make-up, she knew Liam wasn't going to leave it

"What's up?"

"Please, I don't want to get into this" she states and Liam narrows his eyes "Please?"

"Look I know we're not...we're not what we were" he falters and she raises an eyebrow "I do still care"

"I know you do...ah!" she gasps, her hand flying to her bump and Liam bends down in front of her "What the..."

"Let me feel," he says and she allows him to run his hand over her bump, it was something that filled her with warmth and love not that she would ever admit that

"Ah!" she squeals, her body squirming slightly and Liam rolls his eyes at how dramatic she was being

"It's moving" he grins at her and she raises an eyebrow "They can move, you do realise that don't you-"

"Yes" she cuts in and he raises an eyebrow "I didn't think it would feel like that though...oh my god, it's like swooshing around in there"

"It will do" he smirks and she smiles at him before placing her hand over his, their hands resting on her bump and their fingers linking around each other's as they both smile down at her bump before laughing "You can't really feel it on the surface but for you..."

"I didn't think..." she shakes her head at the thoughts circulating her head causing Liam to smile softly at her "I just didn't think that...I would ever feel it move, I've been preparing for the worse to happen, I still am preparing for that but..."

"Hey it's ok" Liam assures her "The baby's fine, it moving... it's a good sign," he says and she nods with a small smile "Why don't you tell Tony? I'm sure he would like to know"

"You think?" she asks, she didn't really feel it was necessary as he wasn't the father of her baby

"Yeah, he's like to know, he is the father after all" Liam smiles softly and Carla nods slowly with a small smile "If I was in his position I would like to know as well"

"I suppose" she whispers, that guilt flowing once more at her lies, she reaches to pick up the phone to call Tony...


Of course that came with a lot of things Carla hated such as unwanted attention from her husband, she didn't think it was necessary for him to travel across town to see her all because her unborn child moved around inside of her. A sense of disappointment came over Tony as when he got there the baby wouldn't move and Carla wondered if it only moved because Liam was touching her tummy, he was the baby's dad and that in itself worried Carla for when that eventually came out. After deciding enough was enough Tony left both her and Liam to it, she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose at how awkward this whole situation was, oh what she would give to just blurt out her treacherous secret, unfortunately, there was just too much at stake now.

"You should go and see him" Carla states, she had been rather thoughtful that afternoon "I know you want to"

"See who?"

"Your son, you know the one who's in hospital" she states with a roll of her eyes "I'll come with you if you want?"

"And what would Tony have to say about that?"

"Tony doesn't control me, remember?" she raises an eyebrow and Liam laughs slightly "Come on, let's go and see him"

"I should go with Maria" he laments and Carla raises an eyebrow at him knowing he's had opportunity after opportunity to go with her

"And yet you won't go with her" Carla counters and Liam just sighs "Come on, this is the only opportunity you're going to get and I know you will find it much easier to show how you feel with me there"

"You're not my shrink"

"I know, I'm just trying to help. Take it or leave it" she states and Liam grabs his car keys

"Are you coming then?"

"Finally, he sees sense" she teases and grabs her bag, slinging it onto her shoulder as she walks over to him "It'll be ok you know"

"I know" he smiles softly down at her, they hold their gazes and she drops hers knowing that pull was still there between them and the last thing she wanted was the commotion on the shop floor at the tension between her worker's bosses...


Somehow she felt oddly comforted by how Liam's hand was sitting on her thigh, usually, she would shove it off but she couldn't this time, she just needed that contact more than she actually thought she did. It was gently, she didn't feel cold when he touched her like she did with Tony and more importantly, it kept them both calm and they were able to be themselves. As soon as they got to the hospital Liam showed her the way and they navigated through the busy hospital walls to his son's incubator, Carla couldn't help but gulp, both at how small the baby was and how Liam was tearing himself up over everything.

"I can't believe how small he is" Liam whispers in disbelief not even shrugging Carla's hand off that was rested on his shoulder "He's just so innocent"

"He is small" Carla gulps slightly at the likelihood she could be in the same position as both Maria and Liam in the coming months "But you heard the nurse, he's doing really well"

"It's just...crazy" he blurts his words out to the point where Carla was confused at how he wasn't making any sense as the emotion overwhelmed him

"Well, he looks pretty alive to me" Carla smirks as the baby moves his legs "Have you thought of a name?"

"No" he shakes his head and Carla nods slowly "Maria wanted it to be meaningful"

"Knowing you and that secret arrogant streak in you, you'll name him Liam"

"It's not a bad shout" Liam teases and Carla smirks at him before looking at the baby "Are you ok?"

"Yeah just... it's hard" she admits and Liam nods knowing this would be particularly difficult for her considering the predicament she was in "I can't believe in a matter of months I could be in the same position as you both watching my baby fight for survival"

"Tony will be a great support though" Liam says quietly and Carla closes her eyes as the tears fill them "Hey why are you crying?"

"I'm scared," she says and Liam brings her in for a hug, she wraps her arms around his body "I'm so scared Liam"

"It's ok" he runs his hand up and down her back gently as she sobs into his shoulder "Does Tony know you feel like this?"

"No, trust me, it's best he doesn't, he'll only worry" she admits and Liam rolls his eyes and shakes his head "I just want everything to be ok"

"And it will Carla, mark my word. Not just for you but for all of us, everything will fall into place"