As Carla left The Rover's she wasn't surprised to hear that she had people following her. Nick, Michelle and Peter.
"Carla! Let me explain." Peter cried worriedly, hating how this was all turning out and wishing he had told Carla about Nick sooner. All his instincts had been telling himself to tell Carla earlier and now he was paying the price for it.
"Peter maybe you should go back inside eh?" Michelle said running so that she could get to Carla first.
"Yeah go back inside." Nick said gruffly
"You too Nick." Michelle said,
"No... I want to speak to Carla and explain myself." Nick began but Peter let out a sarcastic laugh and then said,
"Too little too late mate." Carla suddenly stopped and turned around. She looked hopelessly between the two men that she had been caught between for the past week and a half and said,
"Both of you… just leave me the hell alone!"
Michelle nodded at them and pointed at the pub, gesturing for them both to go back inside. Peter and Nick both looked at each other in disgust and both stood on the street foolishly until Carla and Michelle disappeared into her building.
Peter was utterly furious but even he knew better than to hang around Nick for too long especially on a day like today, so he went back into the pub quickly before Nick could wind him up even more.
Carla didn't even wait for Michelle as she stomped up the stairs to her flat. She felt ultimately humiliated and she couldn't believe that today of all days, she now had to deal with this. She stopped in front of her door and delved into her bag as Michelle eventually caught up with her.
"Carla…" She panted, still in shock about what had just happened. "What the hell is going on?"
"I'll tell you what's going on, Nick Tilsley is a cheating son of a bitch and that Peter Barlow is a downright liar!" Carla said, opening her door and going into her flat."Then again I don't know what I expected from the both of em, I mean Nick always ends up going back to Leanne and Peter... well he's never gonna win awards for his honesty is he?"
"Wait... Nick cheated on you with Leanne? Are you serious?" Michelle exclaimed, going to Carla's flat behind her and closing the door. Carla went straight to her kitchen and opened the fridge, she was not impressed when she realised that after last night, she had no wine in there what so ever.
"Great…" She said with a sigh, closing her fridge before looking at Michelle, who was waiting for Carla's response.
"Carla… did Nick really cheat on you?" She asked, amazed that Nick could have really done something like that because he really seemed like he was crazy about Carla and after everything she had been through, Michelle would have thought he was the last person who would have hurt her so.
"He sure did." Carla nodded, she wanted to cry but the tears simply wouldn't come out. She had cried so much today that it was almost as if she was all cried out.
"With Leanne?" Michelle said because she was still unable to believe it.
"Yes… I saw em on Monday, at the bistro…" Carla sighed, "And the worst part of it all was that Peter already knew about it and he just chose not to tell me."
"And… that's the worst part?" Michelle said with an eyebrow raised, "Not that you were cheated on but that Peter knew about it?"
"Yeah…" Carla said but she sighed again and went to sit down on her sofa. "I know it sounds ridiculous… I know I should be more upset about Nick but I'm not… Chelle, I ave spent practically everyday with that man... how could he ave kept this from me?" Michelle followed Carla to her living room and sat down on the sofa next to her, she knew there must have been more to the story, that surely after everything Peter wouldn't risk lying to her again.
"Well how long as he known about it?" Michelle asked, "N how long has Nick actually been cheating on you for?"
"I ave no idea… does it matter?" Carla sniffed, still feeling like bursting into tears but not being able to actually do it.
"It… kinda does." Michelle said, "I mean… how can you rationally judge this situation without aving all of the facts?" Carla shook her head blankly at Michelle, not knowing what she meant. "Carla… don't take this the wrong way n I'm not sticking up for Nick either… but if this whole Leanne thing is recent and I mean really recent like... something that has just happened over this past week… which I reckon it probably is, then it's probably more to do with you and Peter than anything else."
"Me and Peter?" Carla said, shaking her head.
"Yeah... you two ave been incredibly close since he's been back and Nick probably felt really threatened by that."
"Yeah well that's hardly an excuse Michelle." Carla scoffed, although the more Michelle said, the more she understood.
"I know but it's different than Nick and Leanne having an affair behind your back for weeks on end isn't it? Maybe Nick just had a lapse of judgement." Michelle said, "and I hate to say this but you and Peter haven't exactly been angels in this situation ave ya?" Michelle reminded, remembering all about Carla and Peter's hospital kiss.
"That's different Michelle, I went straight home n told Nick about kissing Peter and anyways this isn't about Nick or... Leanne… not really. I was on me way to break up with him before I saw them kissing."
"Really?" Michelle asked because she couldn't believe that Carla had actually gone and bitten the bullet to end things with Nick.
"Yes… then I saw them kissing... then everything changed. Once again I felt like I weren't good enough… once again I was cheated on and I couldn't stand it Michelle." Carla said sadly, looking utterly devastated.
"Oh Carla." Michelle said, putting her arm around her sympathetically and holding her close.
"Peter stayed ere last night…" Carla said after a while of silence, her head rested comfortably on Michelle's shoulder.
"Did he now?" Michelle said, her eyebrow was raised again and she could tell what Michelle was thinking by her tone.
"Yes he did and before you even say it... nothing happened… well, we kissed this morning but that was it." Carla said shaking her head. "He was ere all night and he didn't tell me Michelle, why didn't he tell me?"
"Well… and again I'm not making excuses but Carla, let's not forget that Peter has had other things on his mind lately."
"I suppose…" Carla said but she knew that Michelle had a point.
"You suppose... Carla the man buried his Stepmother today." Michelle said. Carla nodded and knew that Peter must have been going through agony over the past few days. She'd been there and witnessed it for god's sake. She suddenly felt really selfish for sitting there and just concentrating on the fact that he had lied to her rather than the fact that maybe Peter hadn't been thinking straight and with good reason.
"Ohhh god... I so don't know what to do ere Chelle… I mean part of me wants to hit Peter… and Nick… hard... but the other part of me wants to just say nothing to the pair of em because I'm scared to find out the truth... Chelle what if this is just my fault... what If I really am not good enough?"
"Don't be daft Carla." Michelle scoffed, "Those two men both adore you, thats why they were bickering like idiots because they both wanted to talk to you first. Knowing the pair of em they are probably knocking seven shades out of each other as we speak."
"They better not be!" Carla said, "It's Deirdre's day today... it shouldn't be tainted like this." Carla sighed heavily and then shook her head again. Michelle read her expression and decided that enough was enough.
"Y'know what I think you should do?" Michelle asked making Carla sit upright and look at her.
"I ave an idea…" Carla said with another hefty sigh.
"I know that you're upset and that you're angry but all you're going to do sat ere, is drive yourself crazy with questions so I reckon that you need to fix yourself up and go and get some proper answers from the pair of em."
Carla knew that she couldn't avoid Nick and Peter for ever, and she thought about what Deirdre would tell her to do during this situation.
"You're right… god I hate it when you're right." Carla said getting up off the sofa and straightening out her dress. She took a deep breath and decided that she needed to get her answers, she needed to get them now.
Peter had glumly returned to his seat in the pub and had sat there on his own, his Dad hadn't noticed the Carla situation as he had been chatting away to Audrey and Liz at the time. Peter was thankful that his Dad hadn't seen it though, he was glad to see his Dad reminiscing about Deirdre in a positive way with some of her friends and he tried his very best not to let what had happened with Carla show.
He ignored the fact that Nick had returned to the pub and sat back down with his mother. He ignored the looks he kept getting from and he ignored how much he wanted to get up and beat the crap out of him.
Why today? Why did Nick have to tell Carla that he knew today? Today was supposed to be about Deirdre, not about the fact that he had kept something so important from Carla.
Peter tried not to but he couldn't help but think about the future, he thought about what would happen now the funeral was over and now that the "hard part" had gone.
Carla probably wouldn't want to speak to him for days, weeks even. The only thing that had made the situation even a little bit bearable was the fact that he wouldn't have to watch her with Nick.
That was the only silver lining in this situation.
Tracy however, had seen what happened earlier, she had left Todd and sat down next to Peter, She waited for him to speak first but when he continued to stare down at his hands miserably, she nudged him and said,
"So what on earth was all that about?"
"What?" Peter asked,
"Y'know what, Carla storming out of ere like that?" Tracy tutted.
"She found out that I didn't tell her something about Nick and now… now I guess she hates me." Peter said with a sigh, "It's me own fault I suppose… I should ave let me lesson really, lying to Carla like that."
"Peter..." Tracy said quietly, feeling sorry for her brother because she knew he still desperately loved Carla.
"Tracy... it's fine. I'll be fine." Peter said although he knew he really wasn't going to be fine if Carla didn't give him a chance to explain.
"She'll come around, I'm sure of it." Tracy said, looking at Peter and trying to nod assuringly at him.
"You think?" Peter asked hopefully.
"Yeah… this is Carla… no matter how much she denies it… She blatantly still loves you." Tracy replied, Peter looked unconvinced of this and was about to speak when the pub door opened and there stood Carla and Michelle.
Carla walked into the pub and looked straight ahead of her as she walked right through it. She didn't even look at Peter or Nick as she went behind the bar and out back. Michelle wasn't far behind her but as she walked past Nick, she pointed at him and said,
"You… come with me." Nick staggered up of his chair and followed Michelle as Peter watched and felt his heart sink. He hadn't expected to see Carla so soon but she had obviously chosen to talk to Nick first over him.
"That means nothing..." Tracy said, with a shake off her head. "She just has to talk to him first because he is her boyfriend after all."
Tracy was right, Carla had chosen to talk to Nick because before she figured out what to do with Peter... she needed to figure out what to do with Nick first.
Nick nervously walked into the back room of the Rover's and sat down at the table where Carla was also sat, Michelle then closed the door and left them to it.
"Carla I am so so sorry." Nick began, he was ready to apologise and apologise but Carla just put her hand up and said,
"Stop. Stop apologising and tell me the truth about what happened between you and Leanne."
"How did you find out?" Nick asked, Carla tutted at him and then said,
"I saw you both… on Monday night, In your office… now tell me why you did it."
"Please... know that I didn't set out to hurt you… I still love you and I still want to be with you." Nick said, Carla sighed and shook her head at him in disappointment, she couldn't believe that he was saying he still loved her and that he still wanted to be with her, she didn't want to hear any of it and just wanted answers.
"Nick please… just tell me why…"
"Peter… that's why." Nick eventually said. Carla raised an eyebrow at him and was about to speak when Nick shook his head at her. "Look… I'll be honest with you… I have felt threatened by Peter the moment that I saw that he was back… It's nothing that you did, it's not your fault. Even if you hadn't been truthful about your kiss with him, I would have felt like this. I knew deep down that you would end up falling for him again… I knew it because how could you not? this is Peter Barlow we're talking about… he's the love of your life right?"
"As… interesting as this all is Nick…" Carla said, ignoring the love of her life comment. "You still haven't go to the Leanne part." she said trying her hardest not to fell sorry for Nick, even though he looked totally gutted.
"The first time it happened was when Simon went missing… she was upset… I was upset… it's no excuse but it just happened… and then Peter walked in on us." Nick explained.
"So he's known for a good few days then." Carla said, shaking her head wishing that he hadn't known for so long and that there was a slightly better explanation.
"Yes he has… and when he saw us he was angry… really angry in fact." Nick said, "Me and Leanne begged him not to tell you."
"So what about when I saw you n Leanne on Monday… or did it just happen then too?" Carla said dryly, ignoring the Peter part of this story for now.
"Yes." Nick said admitted, "As stupid and as pathetic as it sounds it just did, I knew I was loosing you to him… I knew it… even if you didn't." Nick said and Carla kept quiet for a moment.
She thought about everything Nick had just said and she knew that he was sort of right.
Peter was the love of her life and she had fallen for him all over again. She thought about how she would have felt if she knew that Nick was in love with someone else, how it would feel to see them together, to know that they were spending so much time together… she knew that it probably would have drove her to do some pretty crazy things too. She was beginning to understand Nick a little and shuffled in her seat as he then said,
"So... that chat you wanted to have with me… I guess it was to say that me n you are over." Carla nodded at him slowly and then said,
"Yes it was… and it wasn't because I saw you with Leanne. I was actually on my way to end things when I saw you both."
"Because of Peter?" Nick asked, hating that Peter was once again the reason he was losing another girlfriend.
"No." Carla began, "Well yes... but not because I wanted him back but because I still wasn't sure about how I felt about him... and I didn't think it was fair on you… you're a decent guy Nicky Tilsey."
"You mean I used to be a decent guy." Nick sighed heavily, really and truly hating himself for totally ruining things with Carla.
"You still are… you... just made a mistake… like we all do." Carla said leaning forward and taking his hand, her anger for Nick had definitely decreased over the day and after trying to put herself in Nick's shoes she didn't completely blame him. "Look… I were in a really bad place when we got together… you put up with me when no one else would… I'm really really grateful for that Nick… I really want you to understand that." Nick nodded at her and gave her a sad smile as she continued, "Me n you were something special, we really were and I honestly think that if you didn't ave a baby on the way and if Peter hadn't come back… we could have made it… but he did come back… he came back and maybe all of this was something that just had to happen."
"I know…"Nick said hoarsely, "I told you… I always knew you'd end up falling for him again… I guess I just did everything I could do to try and keep you for as long as possible… turns out that I probably just pushed you even closer into his arms eh?" Nick said, getting up off his chair and admitting defeat. Carla nodded at him for a second and then she shook her head,
"Look I'm not about to go n get back together with the man… he hurt me… a hell of a lot and I really don't know how I feel about all of this." She said, Nick hesitated and then he sat back down again, Carla watched him as he cleared his throat and said,
"When he caught me n Leanne… when we begged him not to tell you about it… he said he wouldn't and the only reason that he said he wouldn't was because he didn't want to hurt you… he told me to tell you… in fact he damn near insisted that I told you and I should have. Carla I should have been honest with you and I hate the fact that I wasn't…" Nick paused as Carla wiped a tear away from her cheek. "I just wanted you to know that Peter only kept it to himself to protect you." Nick said and then he got up and went to leave the room.
"Wait!" Carla cried, getting up too and throwing her arms around him. "Thank you… for telling me that… you really didn't ave to."
"Yes I did." Nick said with another sad smile, and as Carla let go of him and as another tear ran down her cheek, they both said farewell to their relationship.
Once Nick had left the room, Michelle had come to see if Carla was okay. She watched as Carla sniffed and said,
"Okay Chelle… send the other one idiot in."
Peter watched Nick leave the pub. He had watched him as much as he could but he just couldn't read Nick enough to tell what had just happened.
He didn't have too much time to dwell on Nick though because Michelle soon appeared in front of him and said,
"Peter… Carla wants to talk to you."
He made his own way to the back room of the pub as Michelle stayed in the bar and he found Carla sat at the table, the very same table that they had sat at when Peter had first come back. The very same table that they had sat and talked at after he had been released from prison.
He thought it was stupid that a plain table could hold so many depressing memories.
"Sit down…" Carla said plainly, so plainly that he couldn't tell what she was thinking. He couldn't quite tell if she was angry, upset or both. She looked rather angry so he decided the just go for it and spill his heart out. What else did he have to lose?
"Carla I am so sorry… I should ave told you about Nick I really should ave but being the one to tell you about it just reminded me of aving to tell you about Tina and I just couldn't do it to you again... I didn't think I was strong enough to do it… to put you through all of that pain was something that I was really trying to avoid."
"Peter…" Carla began but he kept talking anyway.
"I knew I had to tell you eventually, I really did and I nearly did but then I knew how angry you would ave been, I knew how it would make you feel to find out I lied and what with today being Deirdre's funeral I needed you to be okay with me… I needed you to stick around and help me through this day because I know I couldn't ave done it without you." Peter stopped to take a breath as tears began pouring down his cheeks and it had been getting hard for him to breathe. Then before Carla could start talking he started again, "I couldn't ave done today without you and if I'm honest I couldn't do any day without you… I need you so much Carla and I know it's selfish but"
"Shut up." Carla said, pressing a finger up to his lips because she knew if she let him, he would waffle on for ages. "Just listen to me, okay?" Peter nodded at her and swallowed as she removed her finger from his mouth.
"When I first… heard about the fact that you knew about Nick n Leanne… it really really threw me." Carla began, "Mainly because I felt like you had betrayed me all over again." The word betrayed had another tear run down Peter's cheek, Carla saw this and decided she better continue speaking before Peter got carried away again. "I didn't think properly about this… I didn't think about your motives for keeping such a huge secret from me... all I thought about was the fact that you were sat with me all night last night and you never mentioned that you knew… not even once."
"Carla… I."
"Shhh Peter!" Carla cried, sighing and shaking her head. "For goodness sake I aint finished."
"Sorry." Peter said miserably, hating how all of this was going.
He could see Carla telling him that she couldn't get past this. He could see his future now, a sorry existence, him back in Portsmouth, without Carla and alone and he hated the image of it so much, that he put his head down in his hands.
"Don't apologize… just listen." Carla said, "I've been the selfish one." This made Peter sit up, he sat up and shook his head at her but she knew better than to let him speak so she then said, "Let me explain… I spent all this time thinking about how I felt and I forgot about what you've had to deal with. You and your family have lost Deirdre and that should have been your main priority… you shouldn't have had to put up with my drama's with Nick and I am sorry for that." Carla's face then softened for the first time and she moved her chair closer to his. "I also know that you kept what you saw to your self... to protect me… you didn't want me to be hurting and that… well that was really sweet of you Peter." Carla now had tears in her eyes as well as Peter and as she reached out and took his hand he felt as if there may just be a tiny little glimmer of hope.
"You ave no idea how much time I spent contemplating about telling you Carla… I nearly did so many times but..."
"Peter you don't need to explain anymore… I understand and I…" Carla paused and took a deep breath. "I forgive you… and... not just for not telling me about Nick."
Peter swallowed. He wasn't sure he heard right so he kept quiet. He barley even moved until Carla spoke again.
"I've never told anyone this… ever but sometimes I used to think that me n you didn't give it a good enough go." Carla said, sniffing and looking down at her and Peter's hands. "I used to think that we didn't fight hard enough for us… that I didn't try hard enough to put our relationship back together… Peter just because I let you walk away from me it doesn't mean that I wanted you to… that day you left ere was one of the worst days of me life n you ave no idea how much I wanted to run after that cab you were in and stop you from giving up on us."
"Then why didn't ya?" Peter cried,
"I thought it were for the best… you broke my heart Peter and I wasn't sure that it could ever be put back together again." Carla said, "Now I know that it can... Peter I honestly don't think that my heart will ever let me love anyone else... you're the only person who can truly put it back together and as devastating at this week n a half has been… spending time with you… spending time with your family has made me feel part of something again… it's made me feel whole again."
"Me too... When I think about life in Portsmouth now... I can't believe how I ever fooled myself into believing I was doing okay... Carla I was lost without you, without Si without me Dad and Tracy... I wasn't expecting any of this when I got back ere but I've realised what this place means to me... It means I'm home."
Peter and Carla now both had tears running freely down their cheeks and were almost too chocked up too talk. Carla reached up with her free hand and wiped her eyes before saying,
"I think that it's time that me n you fight Peter. I think we need to try… we need to try our bloody hardest to get us back because despite all the bad times… me n you were amazing Peter… we really were." Carla said, taking a deep breath and looking a Peter deep in the eyes. "I want to fight… please say that we'll fight Peter…" Carla sobbed, "Please…" she begged.
She begged as if Peter would have really done anything other than nod at her.
Of course he nodded, there was no way he would do anything else in this situation.
Of course he wanted Carla back, he was still madly in love with her and here she was, giving him another chance… he'd be mad… insane, if he didn't take her in his arms and hold her close.
So that's what he did, he reach out and pulled her towards him, she wrapped her arms around him as he said,
"Yes we'll fight Carla… of course we will fight."
Their lips found their own way towards each other's and even though they both knew that there was a long and very emotional road to recovery, they both knew that it would be worth it in the end.
They knew that people would talk, that they would judge and think that they were making a huge mistake but they didn't care.
They knew that sometimes two people had to have everything around them fall apart so that they could fall back together.
They knew that sometimes it takes a dreadful and painful situation to make people change their ways.
They knew that it wasn't going to be easy… it was going to take time, patience and a lot of hard work but if they stuck it out… if they made sure they gave it their all… Peter and Carla knew that they would make it... and that's how in the very same back room where their relationship had come to an end, at the very same table that they had sat at a mere week and a half ago... that's how Carla and Peter decided that they had to give things another go...
Two years later
Exactly two years to the day of Deirdre's funeral, Carla and Peter were still going strong.
They were happy… actually happy would be an understatement, they were completely and utterly besotted with each other.
It took them a while to get to this place… it took a lot of strength on both their parts to try and move on from having all those months apart from each other but they did it in the end.
It wasn't easy… actually wasn't easy is an understatement too.
They argued a lot at first… in fact they argued more than most and many said that they wouldn't last but all that mattered was that after each argument they were both able to kiss each other stupid and let each other know that they were still willing to fight on.
Carla and Peter's road to happiness had quite few twists and turns on the way but they travelled it together and then a year or so down the line, came one more surprise… it was a rather huge surprise, one that they couldn't even have dreamed of and that surprise came in the form of Olivia.
Olivia May Barlow was nine days old today. She was wrapped up snugly in a blanket and held ever so closely to Carla's chest as she and Peter walked slowly through the cemetery.
Peter had a rather large bunch of flowers in one arm and had the other one around Carla. He smiled down at their daughter with pride and kissed Carla on the cheek as they walked across the grass and in the direction of where Deirdre had been buried.
The sun was hidden behind grey clouds and as they finally reached Deirdre's grave, Carla bent her head down to the sleeping infant and said,
"Ere we are Liv… it's time to say ello to your Grandma."
They had stopped walking now as they had reached Deirdre's resting place and they both took a moment of silence to remember her.
"D'ya think this is stupid?" Carla said, turning to Peter anxiously. She'd suggested this idea but now that they were there she wasn't too sure if what they were doing was slightly weird. She had never really believed in heaven and hell, she had never properly sat and thought about whether there was an after life but she knew that if there was one… she definitely wanted Deirdre to see Olivia.
"Course not." He said, bending down and placing the huge bunch of white lilies that he and Carla had just bought, onto Deirdre's grave amongst the other flowers that had obviously been placed there on the actual anniversary of Deirdre's death. "Alright Deirdre… we would ave been ere sooner but we've kind of had our hands full." Peter explained half smiling.
Carla had actually gone into labour two on the second anniversary of Deirdre's death. She was in labour for eight hours and there were many complications, complications that meant Carla had lost a lot of blood and that she had come dangerously close to needing a C section but like always, she fought her hardest and with Peter by her side, she safely gave birth to baby Olivia who weighed six pounds exactly.
She was tiny and the very first time Carla held Olivia in her arms, she couldn't get over how small and precious she was.
After watching her give birth, Peter was even more in love with Carla than ever and the moment he saw his little girl he fell in love with her too.
Simon was thrilled at the arrival of his little sister and took to being a big brother like a duck takes to water and as for Ken, he doted on his granddaughter from the moment he met her.
Nine busy days and sleepless nights later, Carla and Peter had finally found some spare time to go and visit Deirdre's grave, they had meant to get there sooner but as they were both adjusting to their new life with a baby, they were almost always late for everything and had made it just before the cemetery was due to close. Carla felt Olivia move in her arms and when she gazed down at her she saw that Olivia's eyes were now open.
"Peter look…" Carla whispered, "She's awake." She smiled proudly and then looked at Peter lovingly.
"That's because she wants to see her Grandma Deirdre init." Peter smiled, putting his arm around Carla and gently pushing her forwards. Carla giggled at Peter and then looked down at Deirdre's two-year-old grave with a sad sigh. "You always said you wanted me to ave a little girl didn't you Deirdre." Peter said, "Well ere she is... and she's a right stunner... just like her old Dad eh?"
"Oi" Carla chuckled as Peter gently brushed a finger against Olivia's cheek.
"Alright Alright, I'll level with ya Deirdre... She's the spit of her mother... a total beauty in fact." Peter corrected with a smirk. It was true, Olivia may have had Peter's hair and eyes but everything else about her was Carla's.
"Her name's Olivia… although we've kinda taken to calling her Liv avent we?." Carla said quietly, turning her body slightly so that Olivia was now opposite Deirdre's headstone.
"Dad loves her to pieces." Peter nodded, "I know she's only nine days old and he'd never admit it but I reckon she's his favourite Grandkid."
"Oh stop it Peter." Carla said with a smirk, nudging Peter with her free arm and shaking her head. "You're Dad loves all his Grandkids the same."
"Hmmm if you say so…" Peter teased, as Carla smiled down at their baby and said,
"I really wish you two could ave met properly Deirdre... It's a shame that she's gonna miss out on all your words of wisdom... not to mention your cooking" She smiled.
"Don't worry though, we've got plenty of stories and pictures to show our Liv and she will always know that her Grandma Deirdre was a Queen." Peter said as Carla sniffed hard.
"She wouldn't be ere right now if it weren't for you Deirdre… you brought me n Peter together again and we've come to say thank you. You said that you wanted to see us together again one day… I hope that if you are out there… I hope that you can see us… I really can. I hope your proud of us." Tears ran down Carla's cheek as she spoke. Peter leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, then he leant forward and kissed Olivia on the forehead too. When he raised his head Carla saw that he had tears in his eyes.
"Look at us Deirdre… we're a right pair eh?" he said with a sniff.
"Well I've just had a baby… me emotions are all over the place, what's your excuse eh?" Carla said giving Peter another nudge.
"Thank you Deirdre…" He said wrapping his arms around Carla's middle, "I don't know if you meant to... but you've given me two angels and I couldn't be happier. It wasn't easy… in fact sometimes it were downright awful but you told me never to give up on Carla… I haven't… and I never will."
"Good." Carla smiled, kissing Peter as Olivia stirred. She stretched out her tiny little arms and then she started to whimper as the cemetery's clock began to chime stating that it was time to close.
"Uh oh… I think the little one is getting hungry again." Peter said, Carla nodded at him and then sniffed hard, she took one more look at Deirdre's grave and then said,
"Looks like it's closing time anyway... we get going... but we'll come again soon."
"N we'll bring Si this time too… he sends his love." Peter said taking his arms away from around Carla and wiping his eyes as Olivia stirred again.
"Bye Bye Grandma…" Carla said, gently taking one of Olivia's little hands and waving it in a sweet fashion and as her and Peter began to walk away, the clouds suddenly cleared and the sun began to shine ever so brightly. Carla and Peter both looked up and smiled, just like they had done at Deirdre's funeral and once again they were sure that she was smiling back at them.
The end.
Okay… so first I want to say Thank you all so much to all those who have faved, reviewed and read this, I know I say it a lot but I heart every single review and I cherish all your thoughts.
This started as something I had written as a one shot and it now has twenty six chapters which is pretty amazing considering I was sure no one was going to like it.
I know a few of you really didn't want this to end but once I decided to continue with it, I knew that it was always going to end here. I really really hope you liked this last chapter.
I went and had a look back at the first chapter and I had written how wrong I though Nick and Carla were ha ha... I have to say they have definitely grown on me over the past few months and when writing this I tried as hard as I could to not make Nick a real bad guy, so I hope that came across.
Who knows maybe one day I'll cross over to the dark side and write a Narla fic *chuckles* I'm just waiting for inspiration to strike.
For now thought, I'm going to leave it here and I shall obviously be updating my other fics, Don't Let Go tomorrow for sure and maybe someday... Everything Has Changed might have a sequel.
Thanks again and don't forget to leave one last review.