Thank you to madaboutcarla & WithoutAWord for the replies, I really appreciate them. WithoutAWord, your comment made me laugh, I thought about the whole good minds saying too, lol. I hope you all are still enjoying this and that these chapters aren't coming too quickly. Please leave a comment if you have time. :-) Enjoy. :-)
Part Fourteen.
The following morning, Carla had got up early and got into the shower, thinking as the warm water washed over her. She knew she had to do what Frank had told her that day regardless of desperately not wanting to. There was so much at stake and the one thing she didn't want to do was to lose over what had happened, was Peter. She had tried to ignore the situation and to a point was still trying to do so even at that moment in time, every time a thought of Frank had popped into her mind she tried to push it away as fast as she could.
Carla stepped out of the shower with a sigh and after changing into a pair of black leggings and a loose white t-shirt, she dried her hair. Carla was about to start putting her make-up on when Bailey began to cry. She moved over to where he was laid and picked him up quickly to prevent waking Peter. Carla held him close to her chest as she walked out into the kitchen to get him a bottle and let a small smile pass her lips as Bailey fell quiet on being in her arms.
As Carla made up a bottle for him she knew that what Hayley had said the previous night was true. Bailey might be Frank's biologically but nothing more and she intended to do what she could to make sure that he had nothing to do with her son's life. She tested the milk on the back of her hand before she began feeding Bailey and moved to lean against the kitchen top as she did so, letting a quiet sigh pass her lips. When Simon descended the stairs sleepily, Carla stepped out from where she had been. "Morning..."
"Hi Carla, where's my dad?"
"He's still in bed love, do you want some breakfast?"
Simon nodded "yes please."
"Toast?"
"With Nutella and banana's?"
Carla gave a small smile and nodded as Simon ran over and jumped onto her couch. He had been fiddling with the buttons on the remote for the TV for a couple of moments when he turned around no spoke in her direction. "Can you put this on for me please?"
"Course, what do you want on, the cartoons?"
He nodded his response.
Carla put Bailey's bottle on the side when he'd had enough before sitting down beside Simon, taking the remote with her spare hand to turn the TV over, as Simon leaned over to speak to Bailey, causing Carla to smile. When she got the beginning of the channels she showed him how to change them. "Here, just press this to go up and down and you can decide what you have on, alright?"
"Thanks Carla."
"You're welcome."
Carla stood up to go back into the kitchen when Peter walked out of the bedroom, running his hand over his hair as he yawned. "Morning gorgeous." he smiled over at Carla before kissing her.
"Morning sleepy."
"How are my boys."
"One's fed, one's still hungry." she told him, while putting two slices of bread into the toaster.
"Here, give Bailey while you do that."
Carla carefully passed Bailey to him and her heart melted at how gentle Peter was with him, he held him like he was the most precious thing in the world and it only made the situation that she was in all the more difficult. However, she was pulled from her thoughts when Peter spoke up once more. "Y'alright Si?"
Simon turned from where he had been sitting and nodded "yeah, Carla's making me toast."
"You're ready early." Peter frowned, turning to Carla as she made Simon breakfast.
"I know I'm going into work."
"Really?"
Carla nodded "yeah, I think I need to. I need to sort out some things. Can you have him this morning after you've taken Simon to school and I will try and meet you at dinner time?"
Peter nodded "alright, don't work too hard..."
Carla smiled and kissed him once more before leaning over to pass Simon his breakfast. After doing so she left Peter sat with Simon and Bailey as she went back into the bedroom to finish of getting ready. Carla put on a loose cream cardigan after finishing off her make-up and finished off the outfit with black boots before stepping into the living room to put on her scarf and pick up her bag. "Text me a little later on." Carla kissed Peter on the cheek after speaking and then kissed Bailey on the forehead before ruffling Simon's hair. Once she had done so, she left the house to calls of Peter and Simon shouting bye to her.
On getting outside, Carla leaned against the wall a little and bit down on the inside of her mouth as she took a shaky breath. She knew that despite wanting to lock herself away in her flat with Peter she had to at least try and get on with things and keep her life as normal as possible, despite it being far from how she felt. Carla drove to the factory and pulled to a stop outside it, after getting out of the car and locking it she walked to the factory doors. After getting the keys from her bag she opened the doors as she heard a car door close and then Frank's voice, which made her blood run cold. "Oh, decided to come in today, have you?" it was said in a friendly manner but she knew that underneath he was gloating that she had done what he'd told her to. Carla decided against responding to what he had said and instead walked through the factory and into the office, dropping her bag down before going to make a coffee. When Hayley entered the factory Carla put her arm out to stop her from walking past and instead got her to stand beside her. "You cleaned up last night... Thank you..."
"You're welcome. How are you feeling?" she questioned, subtly placing her hand over her's to give it a gentle squeeze.
"I don't think I could say. I feel like a mess..."
"How were you last night?"
"Not good. But what you said about Bailey, it's true."
Hayley gave a small smile and began making a cup of coffee for both herself and Carla. "I've got something I think you would be better off having..."
Carla frowned "what is it?"
Before Hayley could answer, Frank walked over to the small kitchen area that was in the factory, where the girls and Sean usually spent their coffee breaks. "Make me a coffee would you Hayley?" he smiled, though he was met with just a simple nod from the older woman, a far cry for the the chirpy reply he would usually have received.
Carla picked up her drink before walking into the factory office, wanting to be as far away from Frank as possible, which was easier said than done with them both working together. She put it down on her desk and turned on the computer to catch up on work that she had missed since being off. It was mere moments before Frank walked back through into the office with a cup of coffee and spoke to her the moment the door had closed. "You and me need to talk."
"No we don't."
"Don't start Carla. I think I was more than fair giving you last night to get used to things. I want access to my son."
"You're having nothing to do with him."
"I think you'll find I have everything to do with him."
"No you don't. I don't care what that paper says, Peter is his dad." Carla snapped, her voice getting louder as she to the end of her sentence.
Frank stepped towards her desk but didn't get chance to say anything as Sean knocked on the door and opened it. "Mrs Connor, my machine's playing up; can you come and sort it out for me?"
Carla nodded and got up, but before she stepped past him to walk out of the door he held her arm tightly. "This conversation isn't over."
"I think you'll find it is." she pulled her arm from his grip roughly and walked out onto the factory floor over to where Sean's machine was. "What's wrong with it?"
"It's alright, Julie has sorted it out, there was just something stuck."
"Oh right."
Sean carried on with his work and Carla turned around when she heard Hayley speak. "Can I have a word, Mrs Connor?"
"Yeah, course..." she moved over to one side with her and frowned at the piece of paper that she was handed. "What's this?"
"The paternity test... It was on the floor last night."
"Oh... Thanks." she gave a small smile before folding it, putting it into her pocket. "Will you make sure that order is checked before it gets sent off?" Hayley nodded and Carla smiled in thanks once again before going back into the office as Frank walked out.
"What did she want?" Beth questioned when Carla walked away.
"Just checking things were on track."
"I'm surprised she's even back."
"Why'd you say that?"
"I thought she'd have been milking her time off for all she could get."
"I must admit, I didn't think she would be back this soon." Fiz added, and Hayley sighed. "Well its Mrs Connor's business isn't it, now come on, let's get this offer finished." she encouraged, hoping the subject would be dropped sooner rather than later.
When Carla got back into the office she waited until the door had closed before going over to the shredder. She put piece of paper that Hayley had given her into it and let it be cut into a thousand pieces. She sighed when the noise stopped, indicating that it had been destroyed and she wished that it would be as easy as that to get rid of the consequences from her life that that little bit of paper had caused.
-
It was later that evening and Carla and Peter had just arrived at Ken and Deidre's. Peter had texted her earlier in the day to let her know that he had accepted the invite to go around for their tea and to spend some time together. It wasn't something that Carla had wanted to do but she found herself with little choice, she had no real reason to decline so had found herself agreeing to go, for him. Peter had driven to his dad's and after getting out of the car he wrapped his arm around Carla who had hold of the car seat that Bailey was in. "We won't stay late love."
"Good, I'm quite tired after going back to work."
"You're not going back to full time yet are you?" Peter questioned, before raising his arm to knock at the door.
Carla shook her head "no, we're just busy." she lied. "I don't really want to go back for another couple of months yet and even then we'll have to talk about hours and stuff so there's someone for Bailey."
"We're not short of babysitter's though, Car."
She laughed quietly and nodded "I know. But, I don't think it'd be very responsible of me to leave him with Julie and Sean, do you?"
"Well maybe not those two." Peter chuckled.
Ken opened the door and offered a smile to both Carla and Peter "hello Peter, Carla." he nodded in acknowledgement before stepping to one side. "Come in." Carla stepped past him with Peter following behind her and walked into the living room. She was taken aback to find that Michelle and Frank were there, as well as Leanne and Simon. She swallowed hard and forced a small smile as she put the car seat with Bailey in down on the couch while taking her coat off. "Are Tracy and Amy not here?" Carla questioned in Deidre's direction, knowing that they usually would be.
"No love, Amy's with Steve and Tracy went to town this afternoon and hasn't been back since."
Carla laughed a little and nodded "oh right."
"Is he awake?" Deirdre questioned, nodding in gesture towards Bailey.
Carla nodded "just, yeah."
"Can I have a cuddle with him?"
Carla nodded with a small smile and took him from the seat before carefully passing him over to Deirdre. "Can I just go warm a bottle up for him?"
"Of course you can love." she smiled and Carla walked over to the sofa, putting Bailey's chair to one side on the floor before getting a bottle from his bag to go and warm up in the kitchen. As she was stood waiting for it to warm up she heard Peter say hello to everyone and noted the underlying tone in Leanne's voice that let her know she was uncomfortable to be there. Things between Carla and Leanne weren't much better than they had been initially after her and Peter had split and with Frank being there it was bad enough, let alone with her being there too. Carla knew that both Ken and Deirdre thought Leanne was still the best thing since sliced bread, and she did think things only felt better between them now due to her having Bailey. However, she was just relieved things had improved.
After warming the bottle she tested it on the back of her hand to check that it wasn't too warm before walking into the living room where everyone seemed to be in conversation, it being what Ken said that caught her attention first. "Do you want to stay for something to eat Leanne?"
"Yeah, stay mum." Simon grinned "can we please?"
Leanne shook her head "I've got to go to work love, but you can stay for an hour or so if you want to?"
Simon nodded before hugging her tightly "thank you" he bounded over to Ken. "Can we play Guess Who granddad?"
Ken laughed and nodded "yeah, go and get it then."
Deirdre turned to Carla as she reached the table "here, I'll give him that. You sit and have a break."
Carla handed the bottle over to her and ran her hand over Bailey's head gently before going to sit down between Peter and Michelle as Ken showed Leanne out. "Where were you today?" Carla questioned, turning in Michelle's direction, trying to ignore Frank talking to Peter at the side of her.
"What do you mean?"
"Work?"
"I was out shopping for my wedding." she raised her eyebrow a little "don't tell me you're back already?"
Carla shook her head "not full time, no, but I was in today."
"Well next time you're coming shopping with me."
"Bailey is only a month old; I don't think he could cope with one of your marathon shopping trips just yet."
"You can talk, I learnt it from you."
Carla laughed "oh yeah blame me why don't you."
Michelle shrugged "why not."
Carla nudged her playfully with a smile and shook her head a little.
-
After eating a meal that Deirdre had cooked, Carla was sitting on the couch with Bailey in her arms and Michelle next to her talking to him. Ken was talking to Frank and Peter, and Deirdre had begun playing Guess Who with Simon, a game that seemed to keep him entertained for hours on end. Carla leaned back against the couch and yawned at the same time as Bailey did, causing Michelle to laugh. "You're in sync already."
Carla laughed, shaking her head a little "I don't know what he's so tired for, he just gets cuddled all day."
"He's gorgeous; he's just asking to be cuddled."
"That's true."
"How are things between you and Peter?"
Carla nodded "yeah good I think, we're quite tired, getting him into a routine and everything but I suppose that was just to be expected."
Michelle nodded "yeah, course it is. Remember when I had Ryan and all the trouble we had getting him into a routine?"
Carla laughed and nodded "yeah, he was a night baby."
"He is still like it now, stays up all night and stays in bed all day."
"I remember Paul and Liam used to get up like bears with a sore head and whine about him keeping them up."
"I seem to remember you whining too."
"Only when I had a hangover or something, I wasn't as bad as those two."
"I think that is a matter of opinion."
Carla raised her eyebrow "how?"
"You threatened to put something into his bottle."
"No I did not. That was Paul, he said he'd give him some calpol and you're mum just decided to blame me."
"Yeah yeah."
"I'm telling you, it was."
Carla turned to Michelle with a smirk and Michelle mirrored it before they both laughed and Carla shook her head. "Let's just agree to disagree on that one."
Michelle nodded and answered with a laugh "yeah."
Carla was about to speak again when Frank's phone rang and she turned around on instinct, though turned her back on him almost as quickly. The noise in the room haven fallen considerably as Frank answered. "Hi mum." Michelle chuckled and though Carla tried, she found it impossible to ignore him. There was a small pause before he got up and walked into the hall to finish the conversation, causing almost everyone in the room to frown at his haste. Carla sighed quietly and ran her hand over Bailey's back in a soothing manner, it being only moments before Frank returned. "Is everything alright, Frank?" Ken questioned, concern etched all over his features and Carla couldn't help but feel he didn't deserve it, despite not knowing what had happened.
Frank shook his head as he sat back down in the chair he'd only got up from moments before. "no, no it isn't."
"What's happened? Is everything alright with your mum?"
"It's my dad; he has to go into hospital. I need to go out there."