'Do you need to be home by a certain time or do you have some time to do some shopping with me for an hour or so?' Kate asks softly as she watches Carla place Freya into the pram.

'Mmm... Luca and Isla will be loving having Nick all to themselves. Lately he's been at work a lot because I'm obviously on maternity leave so I think they're missing that time with him. Plus I do love a bit of shopping.' Carla replies smiling. Leaning into the pram, Carla adjusts the blanket around the little girl's body and pops the dummy into her mouth before turning her attention back to her sister who slowly slides something across the table.

'What's this?' Carla asks watching as Kate takes a deep breath.

'Call it an early Christmas present from me.' Kate replies shrugging her shoulders. She watches as Carla reaches down and lifts the envelope into her hand. The few minutes that pass feel like hours to Kate as Carla opens the envelope and slides the pictures out of it.

'Oh... Kate, what is- Are you? Oh my goodness, are you pregnant?' Carla asks, glancing between the ultrasound picture in her hand and her little sister who is sitting opposite her with tears in her eyes.

'No one else knows yet. I plan on telling everyone else on Christmas Day but I just- I wanted to tell you first.' Kate admits and Carla immediately moves to hug her sister.

'Oh congratulations. How far along are you?' Carla asks.

'Fifteen weeks, I'll be sixteen weeks on Christmas Day.' Kate replies.

'Oh wow... Do you hear that Freya? You'll going to be a big cousin.' Carla says causing Kate to smile.

'I was hoping that maybe, if you don't mind, you could help me out with what baby bits I might need? There's a massive Mamas and Papas in here.' Kate admits biting her bottom lip.

'Then lets get baby shopping.' Carla replies grinning.


'Who knew there were so many different kind of prams... How do you even know what one to pick? What ones have you had?' Kate asks as they stand in the pram area of the large baby store causing Carla to smile.

'With Luca and Isla we had a Silver Cross which I absolutely loved. The only reason we went for the Bugaboo this time round was because I wanted a side by side for when Isla is too tired to walk.' Carla replies.

'If you had Isla and Freya further apart, would you have gone for the Silver Cross again?' Kate asks.

'Most likely. We still have the Silver Cross from when Lucas was a baby. I use it if I'm just taking Freya out to a hospital appointment or if I'm putting Freya in the wrap I take the Silver Cross in case Isla gets tired.' Carla replies.

'I think what you need to think about is what you would be using the pram for though. Devon is very different from Weatherfield so you need to take that into consideration when picking one... It needs to fit you.' Carla explains.

'So how do I know if the pram fits me?' Kate asks.

'You need to do your research. Come into shops a few times and just try different prams out to see which one you like the best.' Carla replies.

'When did you start buying things when you were pregnant?' Kate asks.

'With Luca I think I was around fifteen, sixteen weeks because I was so sure something was going to go wrong. With Isla I bought my first thing around, oh I'd say nearer halfway but only because I was working and running around after Luca.' Carla replies.

'And with Freya?' Kate asks.

'With Freya I started shopping as soon as I got into the second trimester.' Carla replies.

'It's crazy to think that next year I'll be preparing for his or her first Christmas.' Kate says quietly.


'Mumma!' Isla squeals as she runs towards Carla and wraps her arms around her legs.

'Oh hi, my sweet girl. Have you miss me?' Carla asks placing Freya's carseat and her bags on the floor and lifting Isla into her arms.

'Someone looks like they had fun with Auntie Kate.' Nick says smiling as he helps Luca down off the counter where he was helping Nick prepare dinner.

'I only got a few bits.' Carla replies bending down and wrapping her free arm around Luca.

'Did you two have a good day with daddy? What did you get up to?' Carla asks.

'We made cookies and went to the shop for treats.' Luca replies.

'Oh treats.. Did you keep me any of your treats?' Carla asks.

'Well actually I was thinking maybe tonight after dinner we could all go out a drive to see the local Christmas lights and take the treats with us.' Nick suggests and Carla smiles.

'Oh that would be lovely.' Carla replies.


'I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve already.' Carla says shaking her head as she glances at Nick in the drivers seat.

'This year has just flown by, hasn't it? Are you glad we came here for Christmas?' Nick asks as the kids all sleep in the backseat.

'I really am. I think it's great that the kids are getting to spend time with our families. Plus I am loving seeing everyone.' Carla admits.

'Would you consider moving back?' He asks watching as she sighs and shrugs her shoulders.

'I don't know. As much as I'd love to be nearer our families, I'd love the kids to be able to see them all the time but I love where we are. I love the life we can give the kids in Devon. I love going for walks along the beach and I don't know if I'm ready to give all that up yet.' She replies.

'We do have a pretty great life, don't we? I guess it's just times like this that makes you miss having family around all the time.' He says.

'Maybe in the future we could move back. Maybe it's something we could look into when we get back home, talk properly about it.' She suggests and he nods his head.

'We can work something out.' He says.