I'm pretty nervous about this as its *finally* the name reveal…

'Aye Chelle, I have your Christmas card.' She tells her best friend, letting her into the flat.

'Since when have you done them?'

'I always have.'

'No, you haven't. I may have had one off you, the whole time I've known you.'

'Slight exaggeration there Chelle. Oh, well here you go' she tells her, handing over the envelope.

'What's got you so excited?'

'Have a look.' She rolls her eyes, ripping the envelope.

'To Chelle,

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Lots of love

Carla, Peter and Beatrice.'

'Beatrice?'

'Do you like it?' She grins, 'Beatrice Hayley Valerie Barlow.'

'Valerie?'

'Peters mum, I said he could chose a name.'

'That was very big of you.' She deadpans, making the pair laugh.

'Bugger off.'

'Language. You have a baby.'

'Yes, mum.'

'When was this decided?'

'Two days ago, we trialled it yesterday and we love it.'

'Beatrice.' She muses, 'it's a nice name.'

'We'll probably shorten it at some point.'

'She looks like a Beatrice.' Michelle muses, 'it seems to fit.'

'They say baby's name themselves, or something.'

'She looks like a Beatrice.'

'Means happiness, Peter didn't want it, but I gave birth to her, so I have the majority rule. He wanted Gemma.' Michelle snorts a little, making her friend laugh.

'Gemma?'

'He calls her his little Gem and he didn't want her to have the initials BB, God knows why. We spent ages choosing it.'

'I think it's a lovely name.' She tells her friend, peering into the travel cot. 'Baby Beatrice.'

'How long are you here for?'

'Well I have about an hour free.' She teases, gaining a slap. 'I'm going back to Ireland just after your birthday.'

'Do you have to go?' Her friend asks, her eyes suddenly pooling with tears, 'I don't want you to go. Please stay, I know it's selfish, but I can't do this.' She knows she's being selfish, but she's too worried to care, she needs her best friend there.

'Carla, I have my life back there. A job, family.'

'I'm your family, Johnny will give you a job.'

'You know I can't stay.' She whispers, 'I'm sorry.'

'Best enjoy the time we have left' she grumbles, Michelle overcome with guilt. Even though her best friend doesn't look like she's given birth, she can see the vulnerability in her eyes. She's torn because she knows she needs to protect her, but she also has her own life to lead, and it is so hard seeing her best friend with a baby. She doesn't resent her, but it does hurt.

'Can I have a cuddle?'

'Sure, she's asleep, but she probably won't wake up, she's a quiet one.'

'For the moment.'

'Maybe, but it's nice.'

'Hello, you beautiful little girl, hmm. Beatrice, oh yes, you are cute.' She watches as she yawns, leaning back in the sofa.

'We're giving her a bath tonight; the umbilical thing has come off.'

'And how are you feeling? I know you were feeling all emotional, but that's normal.' She reassures her friends, before she can start making comments, worrying. The last thing Michelle wants to-do is add to the stress of her friend, she remembers how off the cuff comments, when she first had Ryan, made her fret. Whilst Carla was strong, she wasn't sure how her best friend would cope.

'No, I'm feeling better. I'm in pain, I'm still bleeding, my boobs are sore, but I'm feeling better in myself.'

'Well that's a good thing, I mean besides the pain, have you spoken to the doctor?'

'Yeah, they've given me some tips. I don't know, I thought having a name would make it more real. I know it's not a hallucination, but it's so strange.'

'I can imagine, you gave mummy quite a scare.'

'Understatement of the century there Chelle. Can you look after her while I shower? She's been fed and I just need a shower.'

'Didn't like to say anything, but you smell.' her friend teases, 'I'm joking, of course I can, we'll spend some time together, aye won't we Beatrice.'

'I'll be twenty minutes, tops.'

'Take as long as you want.'

-CS-

'Right, are you sure we can do this?' She frets, 'what if she slips?'

'That's why we hold her, look she'll be fine. It's a bit of a shock to her, but she'll be fine.' He reassures her, 'yes, you'll love that. Yes, yes, you will.'

'Peter, I don't know if I'm ready for this.' She whispers, looking down at the baby. 'Anything could happen.'

'And it won't.' He promises, getting it all ready, 'you just need to hold her, it's fine. Look, you get everything ready for when she comes out. She nods, letting him take the lead as she bounces her up and down.

'Peter.' She suddenly remembers. 'Peter.'

'What?'

'I haven't got you a Christmas present.'

'What?'

'I don't have a Christmas present for you. I was going out and then I gave birth.'

'Hey, she's the best present I'll get. Her and Simon.'

'I'm sorry.' She whispers, 'I'm so sorry.'

'Are you crying?'

'No.' The crack in her voice makes it obvious she isn't okay.

'Hey, the bath is going to be fine.'

'You sure.'

'Positive. Now get her ready.' She nods, picking up the infant and getting her ready for her first bath.

-CS-

'See, that wasn't too bad.'

'I was so worried, but you were right.' She whispers, looking down at the baby feeding, ready for bed. 'It's just such a scary thing.'

'I know it is. You'll be okay though. I know all this isn't part of the plan, but we're doing it okay.'

'Really?'

'Really. Just look at her, she's happy.' Carla closes her eyes, nodding.

'I'm just so tired.'

'Why don't you have an early night, put her to bed and just sleep. When she wakes up, you'll be there, but you'll have the extra few hours.'

'What about you?'

'I'm fine, but I don't get up at night, not like you. You finish feeding her and I'll do the rest.'

'Thank you.' She whispers, as the baby stops, gently standing up. 'Here you do.'

'Hello, my beautiful little Beatrice. Yes, I'm going to have to start calling you that, yes I am.' He grins, starting to rub her back. 'You go, I'll join you later.'

'Love you.'

'Love you more.'

-CS-

'So, you lost the argument then.' Tracy teases, looking at her brother. 'BB.'

'How'd you know that?'

'Adam.'

'Of course. Once she was set on it, there was no changing her mind. It will grow on me, I'm sure. It's not the worst name, I was not naming her Sunday. Or Aurora.'

'I think it's a lovely name.'

'It means happiness. You know, she'll bring us happiness, I guess it fits.' He tells the rest of the family, 'Carla would have come over but she's tired.'

'Are you coming over for Christmas?' Ken asks, as Peter shrugs.

'Maybe, can we let you know.'

'Yeah, that's fine. We'll make sure there is enough food. I remember those days, it's hard.'

'Remind me how many of us you had as a baby.'

'Touché.' Daniel grins, 'how is she?'

'Tiny. It's weird, having someone else in the flat. For someone so small she has so much stuff.'

'I bet it's taken over the place.' Daniel grins, 'even know, with Bertie.'

'It's certainly turned the place upside down. Especially as we haven't had the nine months to prepare.'

'It's a miracle.' He agrees, 'there was this moment, when she was born, that it was just silence. In the midst of it, I just thought that she was dead, I thought we'd lost her, but she was just quiet.'

'With Carla as her mother?'

'Oh, don't worry, she will be as loud as her. I'm certain of it.'

'You're going to go deaf.' The surrounding people laugh, as he sips the warm liquid. 'If Carla is anything to go by.'

'A new baby is a blessing.' Ken smiles, 'even if little Beatrice wasn't expected.'

'Beatrice and Bertie, your two youngest grandchild.'

'James, Chloe, Adam, Simon, Amy, Bertie and Beatrice.' Peter muses, 'seven grandchildren, aye dad.'

'Seven lovely grandchildren, well most of them are adults, or, near enough.'

'Well, some of them aren't as lovely as the others.' Tracy point out, 'James and Chloe aren't as nice.'

'I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said about my kids.' Peter grins. Kids. An alien word to him, but that was what he had now. He had kids, children, plural. He was a dad of two. And that was a scary though, two lives he could mess up.

-CS-

'Beatrice?' Johnny questions, handing the man a glass of orange juice. 'Well that's a turn up.' Peter had been doing the rounds, telling everyone that mattered the name of their baby. 'I thought she were going to call her Hayley, from what Michelle was saying.'

'It took a while; I know she wanted to choose a name to make it more real.'

'Whose choice was it?' Jenny interjects, 'not that I dislike it.'

'Hers, after a day of trying to figure a name, she told me that's the name she was having and made it very clear that I was just going to suck it up. It's growing on me.'

'I quite like it. Beatrice Barlow.'

'Beatrice Hayley Valerie. It's quite a long name. Will it fit on the certificate?'

'Well Carla kept reminding me that she was the one suffering, so what she says goes.'

'How is she, I want to go around, but she keeps putting me off.'

'It's just the adjustment period' Peter promises, although he knows it's not quite like that. He knows Carla is feeling some resentment towards Johnny at the moment. He doesn't know why she's feeling like this, but she's not giving him any explanation and he knows not to press anything. She seems okay with his family, but it's Johnny. Something about him.

'Well, give her my love.'

-CS-

'Hi dad.'

'Oh Si, you're here.' He smiles, 'when'd you get here.'

'A while back, Carla's refusing to tell me her name. She says she 'as one.'

'She does. Can I tell him.'

'Now you're here.'

'Go on then, put me out of my misery.'

'Beatrice.' He tells her, 'it means happiness.' She bites his lip, looking down at the baby in his arms. He'd been over every day, some days after school, or after visiting Ollie. There was something about him, about the way he was with the baby, treating her like a doll. Not in a bad way, but he was bonding with her.

'Beatrice' he muses, 'baby B.'

'Baby B?'

'Well she's a baby and Beatrice begins with B. Hence, baby B.'

'She won't be a baby forever.'

'Dad don't kill my vibe. She's a baby now, yes you are.' He coos, 'my little sister, hmm. My real sister.'

'Ollie is your brother.' Carla tries to point out, 'he's part of your family too.'

'He's not really though, mum still said she'd have no one left.'

'Si, you know she didn't mean it like that.' Peter tries, knowing that these words won't ever be taken back, you can't take them back, they're out in the ether, they'll be there forever. After everything they'd been through, the custody battle, Suzie and just not being there. He'll always know that the woman he thought of as his mum, at some point, she didn't think of him like that.

'Either way, this one here, little Beatrice, she's my sister. My closest relative, besides you.'

'You know, he's offered to babysit.' Carla grins, 'when she's a bit bigger. I said I'd hold him to that.'

'You've perked up.'

'Well, I had Chelle around and now Simons come around, it's nice to have a chat. Did you go around and tell everyone?'

'I spoke to my lot and your lot, the rest we can tell on Facebook.'

'Can you be anymore old?' Simon smirks, 'Facebook. That's for old people.'

'Well the question is what picture do we use?' Peter questions, sitting next to his son of the sofa. 'What about the one where we left hospital?'

'Uh, yeah. And the one of you lot, all the grandkids.'

'Not all of them.' Peter tells her, 'you're missing James and Chloe.'

'You know what, I'd forgotten about them.'

'Good riddance.' Peter shrugs, 'we're better off out of them.' The baby starts making the yowling noise that babies make when they want something, the smell making it evident as to what she needs.

'My cue to go.' Simon suggest, handing her over to their dad. 'Bye.'

'You're going to-do this one day.'

'Unlikely.'

'Bye Si.' He shouts, shutting the door.

'Your turn.'

'Mine?'

'Ys.'

'Why?'

'I've done them all day and I have a Facebook post to write.' She laughs, picking up her phone, as she watches her partner take the little girl.

'Right, how do I phrase this.'

'Uh, this is our daughter Beatrice.' She shakes her head, biting her lip.

It takes her twenty minutes to find the words, it's not something most people announce at her age. She's nearly 46, it's not something you can just announce, but finding the words were hard.

'How does this sound?'

'What?'

'This' she takes a deep breath, as if she's nervous about announcing it. Although, she is. She's shitting herself, not that she should care, but for some reason, she does. 'On the 6th December 2020 Beatrice Barlow was welcomed into our family, she was a shock, but we couldn't be happier.'

'Perfect.' He grins, picking up the baby and kissing her. 'Yes, yes you are.' She nods, posting it. She is happy, you can't not be when a baby is born, but it is hard. The pictures convey them being happy, but that's the easy part. Pretending to be happy, she's had a lot of practice at that. She feels selfish for not being over the moon, she loves her but she's struggling.

A/N thoughts? It's taken ten chapters, but you've finally got the name. I don't think anyone guessed correctly from the last chapter, it took me ages to decide on the name, I even wrote the first half of this using a different name. I did actually change her middle names after a couple of comments about Peter having an input, because I thought that was a good idea… Anyway, I hope you aren't too disappointed with the name, I think it's pretty unexpected name.