I went downstairs after spending the morning working from my bedroom. The pub was quiet. Michelle was in the bar with Liz, while Mum and Peter were both out at work and the kids were all at school or with the childminder. No one was in the back room, so I put my mug and plate from breakfast in the dishwasher and then left out of the back door, without saying a word to Michelle.

I popped into the bakery and said hello to the girls. They knew that I wasn't going to be in today and they had everything under control. I went into the office and dropped off a few files which I didn't need at home anyone and also picked up my laptop charger.

"Right, I'll see you two tomorrow. I'll open up in the morning." I told them.

"Ok, have a nice afternoon, are you doing anything nice?" Faye asked.

"No, no, just a bit of market research, visiting a few potential new premises." I lied, before leaving the bakery and walking across the road to my car. I got in and threw my laptop charger in the back amidst the kids rubbish that cluttered it. I thought every time I got in the car about cleaning it up, but I never got around to it. I put my handbag on the passenger seat and started the car. Mum was coming out of the factory when I drove past and I hoped she hadn't seen me, but I couldn't be entirely sure.

I drove away from Weatherfield and towards town, stopping at the little church just off Salford High Street. I parked the car beside the churchyard and got out, taking only my coat with me. There was a bench not far from Hayley's gravestone. I put my coat on and sat down on the bench, slipping my phone and keys into the pocket of my coat.

I thought about the last conversation I'd had with her; about Mum and the days I spent in hospital after the fire at the factory. I remember the fire, I could still feel the heat on my body as Tony chased me away from Mum, who sat tied to a chair. I remember him forcing me up the stairs and I remember Mum fighting herself free as I distracted him upstairs. And then I remember tripping and falling down the stairs. I can still remember the pain in my arm as my fall broke it and then Mum dragging me out the door but after that, I don't remember a thing, the massive impact on my head caused that. And then I was in the hospital and Mum was sat beside me. I'd never seen her look so tired. But she had fought tooth and nail with everything she had for me to be ok.

I thought about Hayley and how hard she tried to help Mum in those days I was in hospital. How Hayley knew that Mum needed to look after herself before she could think of looking after me. She'd fed Mum, talked to her, kept her company, and sat with me, while she'd gone to the toilet or washed her face and got changed in the hospital bathrooms. I wished she was here now; I wish she were here when Mum was ill or when the girls were born.

I heard a car pull up on the road behind me and it distracted me from my thoughts. I went back to thinking of Hayley and how she would have swept in and looked after the girls for me when Mum was ill. She would have taken a little bit of the pressure off. And I hoped that if she were there, then Mum wouldn't have seen her as bad like she had done with everyone else.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and a familiar squeeze. I turned around to see Mum stood behind me. I smiled a little as she squeezed my shoulder again and then walked around the bench to sit down beside me.

"What brings you out here? It's freezing." She said as she took both of my hands in hers and held onto them. They were cold, a stark contrast to the heat of the fire that I could feel if I thought about it hard enough.

"I just needed some time to think." I said, not even taking my eyes off of the ground in front of me to talk to Mum.

"And?" she asked, knowing that there was more to the situation. I took a deep breath and thought about how to word the next part of my sentence. But I didn't know how. "Orlie Belle, come on, it's me, you can tell me anything, you know that." Mum said. She was right, I did know that, but I expected to do this in such a different way, whenever I had thought about it before.

"I'm pregnant Mum." I said. I'd sobbed and sobbed about it this morning, so now I had nothing left to cry. Mum just pulled me into her, my head resting on her chest, her cold coat pressing against the side of my face. We stayed like that for a while, in silence as the two of us looked across at Hayley's gravestone. I wondered now what she would have thought, what she would have said, how I would have told her.

"I presume it's Ben's." Mum asked as I lifted my head and turned to face Mum, still holding onto her hands. I nodded. "Do you know what you want to do?" I shook my head. "Well, you know that Chelle and Peter and I, we'll support you with whatever you decide to do." She said.

"I know you will. I just don't know Mum. You know that I've always wanted to have children, but I never expected it to be like this. On my own, pregnant by a man who'll spend the rest of his life behind bars. And that's just part of the problem isn't it, what if this baby inherits the same awful gene that he's got and turns out a monster like him."

"Hey, hey, that would never ever happen. Because this baby would never go anywhere near him, and he or she would be raised by you. And if you were to do half as good a job with this baby as you are with your three sisters, and Rosie and Raffy for that matter, then they will be amazing, no chance of them turning out like Ben. I promise you." Mum said.

"You really think that?" I asked, nervously.

"Orabella I know that. Your three sisters would be nowhere had it been left to Peter and I. You have been there to do the mundane everyday school runs and you've been there for the important things, the first days of school, the tears when they didn't know if we were coming home, the cuddles at night. I can't make the decision for you, but I know that if you choose to keep this baby, you will have no difficulty in being the best Mum you possibly can to him or her." Mum told me. There was a long silence between us as I let go of Mum's hand and placed my hands on the stomach.

"I've known for a few days now Mum and I can feel it already. I can feel that love that you talked about, even if I do feel incredibly sick all of the time." I said.

"And if you're feeling that love, then it will be the biggest mistake of your life to get rid of that baby. You would never be able to live with yourself Orlie. I felt awful for feeling that when I was pregnant with you, and Isla and Tally, and now look at me, now you four girls are the best things in my life, and I would stop at nothing to protect you." She told me.

"I know you wouldn't. A broken arm and a big knock on the head taught me the lengths you'd go to to protect me." Mum smiled.

"Come on now, let's get you home. It's freezing." Mum said as we both stood up and she put her arm around me. We both smiled a little goodbye to Hayley and then walked out of the churchyard to our cars. We both drove home separately and as I drove, I thought about Mum and Dad and how the two of them must have felt all those years ago when they found out that Mum was pregnant with me. It was shortly after the two of them had got married and although they were married and settled with each other, they were still young and the idea of having a baby must have been daunting for them. I knew that, because the idea of having a baby made me feel the same. Mum and I both parked outside the pub when we got back to the street. Mum put her arm around me as we walked into the back door. Michelle was stood in the bar but saw us walk into the back room and take off our coats.

"Where've you been? Peter's been trying to get hold of you." Michelle said as she marched into the back room.

"We've just needed a bit of time alone. Sorry my phone was in the car. Why? What's happened?" Mum asked.

"After school club's been cancelled so Peter had to go and get Isla, Ella and Rosie early." Michelle said, before pausing. She knew that something was going on, she knew Mum and I well enough by now to know we were rubbish at hiding things from each other. "What's going on? Has something happened?" I looked at Mum, who then looked back at me and nodded.

"Come here." I said to Michelle reaching out my hand. I pulled her towards the sofa and we both sat down as Mum shut the door of the back room and sat on the arm of the chair opposite.

"Is everything alright?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, yeah everything's fine. It's just, I had some news a few days ago, some pretty big news so I've had quite a lot to think about and Mum and I, we just needed to have a chat about a few things." I began telling her.

"Is it Ben? Has something happened with his case?" Michelle asked.

"No, no, well," I took a deep breath, not really knowing what to say to her.

"Just say it, Orlie." Mum said from across the room.

"I'm having a baby Chelle." I said. I looked back to Mum, who smiled reassuringly, and then looked back to Michelle who held her hand over her mouth. "Don't worry, it's good news. It's Ben's but that doesn't matter Chelle. I'm having a baby." I said as I began to cry. She pulled me into her, and Mum got up from the armchair and hugged the two of us as well.

"We are going to be there every step of the way, me and your Mum, we are gonna be your little support team. You aren't gonna be on your own with this." Michelle said as we pulled away from each other and Mum knelt on the floor in front of us.

"I know, I know I'm not on my own. I've got this little baby with me." I said and the three of us smiled as the back room door banged open and Isla, Ella and Rosie walked in, with Peter just behind them. I quickly wiped the tears from my face as they dumped their bags on the floor.