I'm so sorry for how long I've left this but I've been really busy recently. I'm not sure if I can promise weekly updates from now on but I'll try my best. I hope you enjoy this chapter though!
"Morning babe, did you have a nice sleep?" Nick asks me as we sit down at the kitchen table of our flat.
"Yeah thanks sweetheart," I lie, slightly shaken after the nightmares that plagued my dreams, ones that hadn't occured in months.
"What are you getting up to today then?" He asks me sweetly as I cradle holly on my lap.
"Just an ordinary boring day of work in the factory, nowt special. What about you?" I ask him.
"Pretty much the same as you. Just need to sort out some stuff at the bistro but first I need to drop Hol off at nursery for the day." He says leaning forward as he lovingly strokes our daughter's cheek, bringing a smile to my face.
"Anyways, I'd better get off. I'll see you later Nick, love you. Love you Holly, bye bye baby." I say as I kiss them both on the cheek before leaving the apartment.
"Morning everyone." I say slightly chirpier, than I was earlier in the morning as I walk up the factory stairs to unlock Underworld.
"Morning Mrs Connor," everyone replies, sounding in a much worst mood than me, presumably due to the fact it's 8:30 in the morning on a Monday morning and they've got a whole day of work.
"Morning Mrs Connor," Sally says on the way by, in an extremely different tone of voice to the one shared by most of my staff.
"Ooh Sally, hang on." I quickly tap her on the shoulder before moving to the side, allowing the rest of the staff to pass through us.
"Yes, Mrs Connor?" She asks with a smile, clearly feeling special that I've pulled her to the side.
"I just remembered that I need to pop over to the Rover's and see how Michelle's doing so can you watch that lot for me whilst I'm out? I won't be long." I explain, but before I can even finish she's smiling and nodding, wildly.
"Of course I will. I won't let you down." She tells me, excitedly.
"I'm counting on it." I nod as I turn around and walk towards the Rovers.
"Hey, how are you both doing?" I ask in a hushed voice as I walk in to see Michelle cradling her two month old sleeping daughter in her arms.
"We're good. Come and sit down." She gestures as I join her on the sofa.
"Does Auntie Carla want a hold?" She turns to me as I smile to her.
"Aww, so have you picked this little angel a name yet?" I ask her, as she places her daughter in my arms who thankfully doesn't wake up due to the movement.
"Yes we have," she tells me.
"Well it's about time." I laugh. "Come on then, what is it? The suspense is killing me." I mock.
"Okay. Well, this little angel is called Juliette McDonald." She says, softly stroking the top of her baby's head as she sleeps.
As we continue to sit and talk, by the time Juliette has woken up, I look at the clock to see I've stayed for much longer than I intended to originally.
"Oh god Chelle, I have to go. I left Sally in charge and I told her I wouldn't be long but I'll come and see you soon, okay?"
"Oh god sorry-" I quickly apologise as I look up at the man I'd just walked into to come yet again face to face with my ex husband.
"Don't worry Carla, it's fine." Peter says awkwardly although I can tell he wants to say more.
"Err, I'd better go." I tell him as he looks like he's about to say something but hesitates before nodding,
"Yeah, I'll see you later." He says as I continue to walk back towards the factory.
"Hey darling, how was work?" I ask Nick as I walk into our flat to see him holding Holly as he feeds her a small bottle of milk.
"Yeah it was okay," he replies slightly vaguely. "How about you?"
"Yeah it was pretty good thanks." I walk over to them as I sit down next to him on the sofa.
"Just an ordinary day at work then?" He asks, slightly suspiciously as I give him a confused look.
"Umm yeah. What do you mean?" I look up at him.
"Nothing," he quickly replies, looking away from me.
"Right. So, I think we have most of the things ready that we need for this little ones 1st birthday party on Saturday." I tell him, smiling as I tickle Holly's feet now she's finished drinking her milk.
"Yeah." He replies, still quite vacantly.
"We just need to get the cake and blow up the balloons which we can do on Friday. But besides that and the rest of the decorating of this place, I think we're all prepared." I explain to him, although I can see from the look in his eye that he's not paying full attention.
"Yeah, sounds great." He replies to me, clearly unenthusiastically. "I think Holly wants a nap, I'll go put her down."
Before I can even get a word in, he's quickly left the room to put her down in her cot, leaving me more confused than ever by his sudden mood change.
Please leave a review if you have the time to let me know what you think and what you think might be up with Nick.
Coming up:
- Holly's 1st birthday party
- The pressure gets to Nick until he snaps
- Peter's suspicions over Robert grow
- Carla starts to crack under the pressure of keeping what happened to her from the people she loves
