Just a quick, shorter uodate but more coming soon, with something big to look out for, thanks for the reviews as always

The littlest things that take me there, I know it sounds lame but it's so true. I know it's not right, but it seems unfair the things are reminding me of you. Sometimes I wish we could just pretend even if only for one weekend. So come on, tell me, is this the end?

Carla gripped Peter's hand tighter than she ever had as she lay in the hospital bed. Her bump was visible now, although not so much so that she couldn't hide it. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the screen and the nurse as they placed jelly on her and prepared her for her 12 week scan.

A long few weeks had passed and very little had changed. Peter had officially moved into Carla's flat and having him there every night and every day was perfect. No one knew about the baby yet, though Carla and Peter planned to tell a few people if all went well at this scan. The looks and comments had finally died down and everything was settling down. Everything except the Rob and Michelle situation. Carla didn't like to talk about it much and Peter tried to avoid the conversation. They rarely went to to pub nowadays to avoid seeing them and mostly spent their days inside, curled on together and planning their future. It wasn't that Carla hadn't wanted to sort things with her best friend but the cracks and wounds seem too big to heal.

She had tried to speak to her but Michelle seemed unwilling to talk. She barely looked at Carla when she approached her for a conversation and eventually Carla stopped trying. She stopped trying to get the answers to the hundreds of questions she had, she stopped trying to repair their friendship. She figured Michelle had done what everyone else in her life did. Given up on her.

Carla looked up as she heard Peter's gasp, his eyes brimming with tears and fixed firmly on the screen. His baby, a little piece of him and Carla. The heartbeat was loud and strong but it made his own heart weak. He couldn't fathom the love he felt already. As he looked down, he saw Carla crying too but her eyes alight with the same love he felt deep inside him.

She looked at him and squeezed his hand tighter, "We did that.." her eyes were back on the screen now and she didn't see his nod. He couldn't find the words to describe what he felt so he didn't say anything at all.

Moments passed and they simply watched in awed silence. Carla thought about how bittersweet the moment was. She looked at the baby and longed for the daughter she had lost. Longed for the last year to not have happened and for Peter to have been this attentive during her last pregnancy. However, the sound of the heartbeat of their tiny baby growing inside her made her almost forget all that pain and think of the overwhelming love she felt instead, for both the baby and it's father.

After leaving their scan, Carla couldn't bring herself to put the picture away and she held it on her lap as Peter drove them home, her finger stroking it softly. "Are you sure we're ready for this?"

Carla looked up at Peters question and nodded, "They need to know baby and so does Si'. Now we're past the worst its time.." Peter nodded back in response, "Aye youre right."

"Always am Barlow."

They made their way back to the street, preparing themselves to tell Peter's family about the baby. Mostly, they had been supportive of their reunion and had welcomed Carla back with open arms. All except Tracy, who bitterly resented Carla, even more so now Rob was free and showing nothing but hate for his ex partner. Peter was working hard at the newly refurbished Bookies now and this only made the tension worse. Carlas mind however, was on a different subject altogether.

Carla bit her lip as she climbed out and grabbed her bag, "You go in love, there's something I've got to do. I'll be five minutes." She gave Peter a quick kiss and with a copy of the scan in her hand. Carla walked into the Rovers with her head high and her eyes looking for Michelle. With a deflated sigh, she made her way to the bar and over to Steve.

Placing a scan on the bar she pushed it to her best friends boyfriend discretely, "Steve, just give this to our 'Chelle would ya, please. Keep it to yourself. And look just.. Well tell her she's got my number." Her tongue poked around her cheek nervously as Steve told her he would pass it on and offered his congratulations. He told her how quiet Michelle had been and how out of it she seemed. He unknowingly put it down to the argument they had shared although Carla was pretty sure she knew different. Michelle never could handle guilt.

Carla hated the impact this had had on her. She was sick almost everyday during this pregnancy so far and she was certain it was stress related. In general, she was happy. So very happy actually. But something was missing, a huge hole in her life. A Michelle sized hole and nothing seemed to fill it. It was like losing Paul and Liam all over again except she couldnt grieve because Michelle hadn't died. She was over the road, a stone throw away and yet achingly further. She hated her. She hated her so much and she hated her even more because she knew she'd forgive her in an instant if she would let her.

Michelle was a huge part of Carla's life and she'd forgive almost anything. She was a Barlow by name now but everyone knew she'd always be a little bit Connor at heart. And the Connors always did have a hold over Carla. She wasn't sure she'd change it even if she could.

Sadly, Carla left Steve and the Rovers and the thoughts of her best friend and headed back to her husband, ready to face the world all over again. She put thoughts of Michelle and Rob out of her mind, no idea what was going on only next door and the impact it was going to have.

Michelle sat in the bathroom of the Rovers and wiped her eyes. She was trying so hard to keep everything together but inside she felt like she was crumbling more with every second. Everything was out of her control, she couldn't stop it from crashing around her feet. The guilt she felt every time she looked at Steve was crushing her and she missed Carla desperately. She missed having someone to lean on that understood her completely and she felt as guilty for betraying her and she did Steve.

She felt like a different person. The last few weeks and dragged her down into somebody she wasn't and she hated that she couldn't fix it. She couldn't fix anything.

And now, she sat on the toilet with tears streaming down her face as she turned over the white stick. One poxy white stick that changed her entire life.

Pregnant.