Thank you to LadyFfion and madaboutcarla for leaving comments on the last chapter. I was just wondering if someone could tell me how far you are allowed to go in a story in regards to themes, language etc… I have another idea for a fiction but I'm not sure whether it would been to be rated M or not. If anyone would be nice enough to let me know could you private message me or leave a comment. :-) Hope you enjoy this next chapter. :-)

Part Eight.

Carla reached out and placed her hand against the back of the sofa to steady herself, she bit down on the inside of her mouth as her fingers curled around the cushion she had hold of, so tightly that her knuckles went white. When Frank spoke it oozed smugness and Carla wanted to knock his teeth out. "well well, this is quite a situation, isn't it?"
As much as Carla didn't want a single bit of help from him, she knew that refusing to speak to him or acknowledge what was going on could be bad for the baby so, she tried to swallow what she was feeling and concentrate on that thought as she spoke up. "Pass me my phone..." Frank raised his eyebrow a little and Carla spoke up nice again through gritted teeth. "Please..."
Frank smirked and shook his head "no"
"Well call an ambulance then, use your phone, I don't care."
"I could do anything I wanted right now and you wouldn't be able to stop me. I could just leave you here and not mention anything to anyone..."
Carla moved so that she was sitting down in the sofa, though doubled over to try and ease the pain somewhat, needless to say it didn't work. "Please don't..." she whispered breathlessly.
Frank stepped closer and Carla flinching wasn't missed by him, but before he got chance to say or do anything he heard a key in the front door of the flat and it caused him to take a step back and turn around. It was then that Peter walked through the door and was shocked at the scene in front of him. "What's going on?" he questioned, and quickly made his way over to Carla, sitting beside her on the sofa, running her hand over her back. "Carla..."
"It's the baby..."
Peter quickly got his phone from his pocket and called an ambulance, putting his phone down to one side as he tried to comfort Carla as best as he could, only being reminded that Frank was there when he spoke again. "I better go and let Michelle know what's going on, call me if you need anything."
"Yeah... Thanks." Peter nodded, though didn't take his attention away from Carla even as he spoke to Frank.

Carla and Peter had been taken into one of the labour rooms on arriving at the hospital and although she tried to hide it Carla was terrified. Peter put the bag he had brought for Carla to the side of the bed and sat down in one of the chairs once. Once Carla was laid on the bed, a young blonde midwife made her way over to Carla whose expression was one of pain. "Just keep breathing through it." she soothed, though she soon realized that there was no soothing Carla as she snapped back. "What do you think I'm doing? If I wasn't breathing I wouldn't be here, would I?" Peter offered the midwife a small, apologetic smile, to which the young blonde smiled in return and shook her head subtly, letting her know that he didn't need to be sorry. She knew that what was said by a woman in labour wasn't something that should be taken to heart. If she had taken personally all of the things that had been said to her by the people she had cared for she was fairly sure she would no longer be in the profession she was. The midwife reached around behind the bed and pulled a machine forward a little, she adjusted a couple of the settings before handing a plastic tube to Carla that was attached to it. "Try this; it might take the edge off..."
Carla nodded and took the tube, taking a deep breath in the gas and air, biting down on the tube with her teeth to keep it in her mouth without having to use the energy to hold it there.
Carla turned to the side as the midwife spoke again and if she had not been breathing what she had been told would help her, she would have told her to shut up. Though she knew that she needed to know what she was being told, in a way she didn't want to know, she was well aware of the risks to her baby with it coming early and saying it out loud only made it all the more real. "Once this contraction has gone, I need to examine you and find out what's going on, if we can we want you to have a normal birth but with you going into labour early though there is a higher risk of things like emergency caesareans so the sooner we can find out what's going on the sooner we will know where we need to go from here?"
Carla brought her hand up to push her hair back from her tacky forehead that was already covered in a thin layer of sweat. She swallowed hard and rolled her head to one side as she heard the midwife speak once more when she noticed her relax slightly. "Right Carla, do you want to get changed so that I can find out what is going on with the baby?"
"Can I use the bath; I wanted a water birth..."
"It isn't going to be possible, if the baby is over two weeks early then we advise people not to use it as there can be risks and we don't think it's worth it."
Carla nodded her head in agreement that it wasn't worth risking the baby's health, though she wished that the situation was different.

-

Carla had changed into a white sloppy vest that was loose over her form, she was now laid back in the bed and after being examined she had been given steroids for the baby's lungs that were under developed and they had fastened her up to a machine so that they could have regular checks on the baby's heartbeat. Carla had been told that she was 2cm dilated and that they wanted to find out how she went before they decided whether they were going to take her to theatre or not. As the midwife left the room, Carla turned to Peter and sighed, a single tear rolling down her cheek as she felt his hand run over her hair gently.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"What if something happens...?"
"Something is going to happen; you're going to have a baby..."
"No I mean what if something goes wrong..."
Peter sighed "I know what you meant; you getting worked up isn't going to help the baby though is it? Just try and stay calm, yeah?"
Carla nodded and Peter leaned closer to kiss her gently and she gave his hand a squeeze.
"What would you do if I asked for a go of your gas and air?"
"Tell you to shove it."
Peter bit back a smile and nodded "fair enough..."
"Why we're you going to?"
Peter shook his head and Carla smirked, nodding in a sarcastic manner. "Of course not."
"When you're having a baby, you can."
Peter laughed while Carla moved to lie on her side, holding the tube to her mouth as she breathed in the gas and air that she was sure was doing nothing other than making her feel really sick.
"What does it taste like?"
"Nothing, it just makes you feel sick."
"I thought it was supposed to send you loopy?"
Carla laughed a little and shook her head "it makes you feel like you're tripping a little bit but it doesn't have as much effect as I'd like..."
"Do you want me to ask them for something stronger?"
Carla held her hand out and she bitdown in her bottom lip as Peter took her hand and she squeezed his. "Stroke my back..." Peter moved the chair slightly closer and ran his hand over the bottom of Carla's back until her contraction passed. "One more down..."
"It's agony, surely something that is supposed to be natural isn't meant to hurt this much..."
"I know, but just think after all this we will have a beautiful little baby. You're doing amazing Carla..."
"How long do you think it will be? Imagine if we're here for hours and hours..."
"I don't think we'll be that long sweetheart…"
"how do you know?"
"Well, I'm no doctor but you're already two centimetres they said, and you've only been in here about 40 minutes…"
"I'm sure I heard somewhere that someone was in labour for 72 hours…"
"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, I'm not a doctor am I?" Carla snapped but shifted a little closer to him on the bed and he pulled his chair forward a little more.

"Careful, you'll roll off if you're not careful."

"Is that a dig at how fat I am?"

"You're not fat Carla… I just meant that if you move any closer to this side there won't be any bed for you to lie on…"

"I'm going to have no dignity left when I leave this room... you better not tell anyone anything about what happens in here."
"So what happens in the delivery room stays in the delivery room…" Peter laughed quietly and pushed Carla's hair back for her before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. He knew that without a doubt if he could he would have taken the pain from her and dealt with it himself, but as it was impossible he knew he would just have to be there for her if and when he could.

-

Darren arrived onto Coronation Street and as the taxi pulled away he gave a slight nod in approval to what he had arrived to. The gesture was more to himself than anything else. He noted that there was a pub not far from where he was heading and that was always a bonus in his opinion. Darren carried a large bag in his hand over one shoulder and he walked around the corner in the direction of a flat. He had rented out a flat unbeknown to Carla and decided that he would turn up and let it be a surprise for his sister, he was more than glad they had got back in touch and grateful she had offered him a job. He just hoped that the surprise went down with her as well as it was meant.

Darren knew that he had Carla had drifted apart since he had been inside and though he wished the situation was different he knew he couldn't have expected anything else. They had always been close when they were younger even though they had had their fair share of fights; he guessed that it was just a part of growing up. They could say what they liked about one another but if they heard anyone else saying it then there was trouble. He smirked at the thought. Carla ahead always been a little pocket rocket and he doubted it had changed in the slightest, if anything he would say she had gotten worse. Carla's fiery temper had always been one of her trademark qualities and regardless of what he or anyone else said, Darren knew she wouldn't be the same without it.

The flat was small but neat and tidy, the furniture in there was nice and there was plenty of space to out his belongings down and make the place his own. It was like a palace compared to the dive that he had been staying in since getting out of prison, so in his opinion it was money well spent. The money he had used to put down the deposit of two months' rent was money he had borrowed from a friend and he was hoping to find Carla and begin working as soon as he could so that he could pay that money back sooner rather than later. Darren dropped his bag onto the sofa before he walked through into the bathroom, deciding to tidy himself up and then go in search of his sister.

After a shower Darren changed into the only decent pair of jeans he owned teamed with a white t-shirt and after doing his hair into its usual messy style, he turned around and placed his wallet into his back pocket before leaving the flat. He decided the first place he would go was the pub, if Carla wasn't in there he hoped that someone was who could tell him where she was or where she might be.

As Darren pushed open the doors to the pub he sauntered over to the bar, he wasn't sure what he was waiting for but after a moment he turned to the side when the door opened and frowned slightly as a woman and a man made their way to the bar. The woman stood to the side of him and he was sure he recognized her; it was after a moment he knew who he recognized her as and immediately spoke. "Michelle?" there was an underlying tone of questioning in his voice, though he was fairly sure of whom the woman was.
Michelle turned around and frowned slightly before nodding "Yeah? Should I know you?"
Just before Darren got the chance to answer, the man that was standing to the other side of her spoke and immediately got Darren's back up with his comment and the tone in which he said it. "Do you mind, we're trying to have a conversation."
"I could say the same to you." Darren shot back before speaking to Michelle once more. "Yeah, well no..." she paused "sort of. I'm Carla's brother; I was just wondering if you knew where she was?"
"Does she know you're here?"
"It was supposed to be a surprise but I can't find her." he laughed a little and then fell quiet when he realized Michelle seemed worried, though he was unsure as to the reason why. "What's wrong?"
Michelle vaguely remembered Darren from when they had been younger but she had only met him a handful of times before he had been sent to prison. She swallowed hard at the question and was a little unsure of how she was supposed to tell him what had happened with Carla, having only just found out from Frank herself. "She's at the hospital, in labour…"
"What? She can't be its way too early..."
"She is, we were going to go up but Peter's there, Frank called the ambulance and it wasn't a false alarm." she admitted quietly, the worry for her friend plain. Before Michelle had even had the sentence out fully, Darren was out of the pub and heading towards the taxi office to get up to the hospital to try and find out what was going on and more importantly, if Carla and the baby were alright.

-

At the hospital, Carla and Peter had taken down to theatre when the baby's heartbeat had begun to drop. Carla had been laid on the bed and as the doctors and midwives rushed around her, she let her head roll to one side in the bed gently as Peter took her hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. He could feel it shaking as he did and he wasn't sure whether it was due to the drugs she had been given or due to how she was feeling, though he thought it was probably a combination of both.

Peter ran his hand over her hair gently and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead gently. "Try not to panic sweetheart..."
"I can't help it..." she whispered.
"I know I know, but just think in 20 minutes or half an hour we should have a beautiful brand new baby."
Carla gave a small nod "yeah..." she whispered on a shaky breath.
"I love you, I'm so proud of you." Peter whispered.

Carla was then told by the midwife that the anaesthetic they had given her should have worked and that she may feel pushing on her stomach, though shouldn't feel any pain. She assured her that if anything it should just be uncomfortable. Carla had nodded though she felt like her head could explode with everything that she was being told. It was scary enough that she had been rushed down to have an emergency C-section, but, on top of that she knew that the baby was early and that even if everything went well it would be likely that as soon as she had the baby home, there would be another issue to deal with.

As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that there was a fifty per cent chance that Frank was the father to her baby and the thought made her sick. Peter ran his hand over her hair gently as she laid on the bed and the doctors delivered the baby, she was struggling more and more as each day passed to keep what had happened to her a secret and go on like nothing had happened. She knew that she needed to be careful with how she dealt with things, Peter knew her well enough to know when something was wrong and the last thing that she wanted to do was raise his suspicions.

Carla was pulled from her thoughts when the midwife spoke to both herself and Peter "Congratulations, you have a baby boy..."
Carla turned to Peter with a tearful smile and he kissed her forehead before whispering "well done mummy..."
Carla laughed quietly, though it faded when it dawned on her that she hadn't heard her baby cry. She swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the midwife "why isn't he crying?"
"they're going to take him straight down to the Intensive Care Unit, that would happen with all babies, and as your baby is so early it is important we get him down there as soon as we can."
"Don't I get to hold him?"
"Not just yet, the doctor needs to check you over and make sure you're alright, we'll let you go and get a bath and by then you should be able to go down there."
Peter nodded at the midwife while Carla took in all she had been told "thanks, we just want him to be alright."
The midwife nodded politely and answered him in the hope of reassuring both Peter and Carla. "He's in the best hands. Do you have a name for him?"
"Bailey... Bailey-George Barlow."