The fresh air was a welcome comfort to the tightening of her chest, her anxiousness getting the best of her as they drove down the lanes nearer to Manchester. She fiddled with her hands, before placing one of them on the slight swell of her stomach, almost as if she was trying to protect it from the fear she was feeling.
It had been a month since they left weatherfield, and it was one of the best decisions they'd ever made. It was a time of reflection, a time to put things right. They'd worked on their relationship and now they truly believed they were stronger than ever, nothing was going to break them apart. It was easy to forget about the stress of home, and live in blissful ignorance instead. She noticed her morning sickness had began to subside too, probably due to the stress that was lifted off her shoulders now. So she took this opportunity to fully embrace pregnancy and the way her body began to change.
She always feared for the sixteen week mark, from when she lost her daughter. But she had just passed seventeen weeks and was feeling a lot calmer and more hopeful. Her bump had begun to take shape, although it was still small. And she also had a mature discussion with Peter about their future. They couldn't ignore the elephant in the room any longer; it would just cause more problems down the line. She needed to find out whether he was genuinely happy to bring up the baby, even if it's father was his nephew. A paternity test also floated around their mind, they knew they were going to have to speak to Adam about this and sort something out.
However, today was focussed on getting back home and keeping their stress levels to a minimum. She was scared to say the least, she felt as if their love bubble was getting popped and they were thrusted into the difficulties of life once again. But she reminded herself that they were stronger now, they could do this.
"Everything's okay, love." Peter reassured her, his eyes glued to the road but he still managed to squeeze her knee in a comforting way.
"I wish we could've stayed longer." She sighed.
"Me too," He nodded. "But we've got responsibilities in Weatherfield. We'll be okay."
"Yeah, you're right. I'm just being daft."
"It's understandable why you're nervous. I guess everyone is going to know now, right?" He gestured to her stomach.
"Exactly," Carla paused. "I'm not looking forward to everyone's reactions. Especially your family."
"And Sarah." Peter winced.
"Oh god." She groaned, leaning her head on her palm.
"It doesn't matter, baby. I'm not going to let anyone speak bad about you, okay? You made a mistake and we've moved on."
"I do love you, Peter Barlow." She whispered.
"I love you," He smiled, turning into the street. "Here we are."
Parking outside of his dads, Peter and Carla hauled themselves out of the car and knocked on the door, waiting in anticipation. He grabbed onto her hand, squeezing it.
"Peter! Carla!" Ken exclaimed, shock written in his expression.
"Surprise!" Peter grinned.
"Where the hell have you been? You left so suddenly." Ken shook his head.
"I'm sorry but it was a spur of the moment thing." Peters smile faded as Ken didn't seem too pleased. "Are you going to let us in or not? We've been on the roads for hours, I'm parched."
"Ken?" Carla narrowed her eyes in confusion as Ken just looked down and bit his lip.
"We were about to head to the hospital-..."
"Hospital? Who's in hospital?" Peter cut him off, his eyes widening.
"Oh," Daniel froze, appearing behind the older man. "We've been wondering where you two got off too."
"Can someone just tell us what the hell is going on?" Carla asked.
"It's Adam." Daniel announced, causing the pairs heart to drop.
"Adam?" Peter gulped, looking at Carla worryingly. "What's happened to him?"
"Oi!" A voice screeched from across the road.
"Sarah," Carla sighed, sympathetically. "We're so sorry about Adam, we've only just found out-..."
"How dare you!" Sarah screamed. "Which one of you did it, hey?"
"Did what? Sarah, what happened?" Peter asked, his eyes wide.
"Don't play dumb with me! You're brave coming back here, you know. Because the police are going to want a word with both of you."
"Calm down, Sarah." Daniel advised, before turning to Carla and Peter. "Adam was attached, the day you two left. You can see how it looks."
"Attacked?" Peter gasped.
"I know you did it! You had a motive, you ran away..." Sarah growled.
"We didn't do this," Carla intervened, raising her voice. "We had no idea!"
"Rubbish!"
"I suggest we all calm down, none of this will be helping Adam." Ken sighed.
"Nothing is helping Adam! Because he has been in a coma for a month, Ken." She sobbed, falling into Daniels arms.
"In a coma? Can we see him?" Peter asked.
"I think the police will want a word first." Ken said.
"Do you think we did it, dad? We have no reason to speak to the police." Peter exclaimed, angrily.
"You two are suspects."
"I haven't done anything wrong! We didn't even know about it." Peter shouted.
"Stop lying!" Sarah yelled, plunging forwards and trying to hit Peters chest.
"Hey, get off! Stop it, Sarah!" Carla stood in front of Peter, raising her voice.
She froze as Sarah's eyes moved downwards, widening as they landed on the bump that had accidentally revealed itself from her coat.
"Y-you're pregnant." Sarah stuttered.
"What?" Daniel and Ken gasped in unison.
"Is that Adams baby? Are you carrying his child?" she shouted, tears running down her face.
"Is this true? Are you pregnant?" Ken questioned.
Carla stayed silent, glancing at Peter.
"Yeah, she is." Peter sighed.
"I can't believe this." Sarah cried.
"Do you know who the dad is?" Daniel said.
"Does that matter?" Carla bit her lip.
"How about we go inside and talk?" Ken looked at them, pointedly.
"Ta, Ken." Carla smiled as Ken handed her a water, sitting down at the table.
"If you would prefer to be at the hospital then we understand, dad." Peter said.
"No, it's okay. Daniel is there and it'll just be the same old."
"So how is he?" Carla asked, carefully.
"Not good," He paused. "Someone hit him over the head, they said he could possibly have brain damage so he's been in an induced coma for the foreseeable."
"Oh, that's awful. If there's anything we can do, Ken."
"So do the police really think we did it?" Peter wondered, distantly.
"Not that you did it necessarily, but they do want to talk to you both. When did you last see him?"
"Erm, we were talking in the factory. But that was way before we went away," Carla sighed, before noticing how Peter remained silent. "Peter?"
"I, erm, I saw him before we left."
"What? You didn't tell me." Carla narrowed her eyes.
"I didn't think it needed telling? He was very much alive and kicking when I left him," Peter shrugged, looking at his fathers inquisitive gaze. "What? I didn't do anything."
"I'm not saying you did, son."
As silence fell over the trio, Ken glanced at Carla's stomach, where her hand rested there.
"So there'll be another Barlow in the family soon." He added.
"Yeah," Carla smiled, gently. "Not too long now."
"How far along are you?"
"Seventeen weeks, so almost half way." She replied, awkwardly, as she tried to gauge his thoughts about it.
"Well, congratulations. You two deserve your second chance." He smiled.
Tears filled Carla's eyes, as she nodded. She daren't speak, her hormones messing with her again. She'd been thinking about their first baby a lot since getting pregnant, and sometimes she panicked that it looked like she was replacing her. It was something no one ever dared to bring up but it wasn't a dirty secret. She felt touched that Ken mentioned her.
"Definitely," Peter smiled, snaking an arm around her shoulders and kissing her head. "We're so excited."
"I bet," He chuckled, wondering whether to bring up the elephant in the room. But before he could ask, the doorbell alerted them to someone else's presence. "Oh, I wonder who that'll be."
A few seconds later, a shifty Ken returned to the living room, followed by two detectives.
"Erm, the police want to speak to both of you."
"Oh," Carla's eyes darted to Peter. "Thats fine."
"Peter?"
"Yeah," He cleared his throat. "Let's do it."