"Are you feeling okay?" Michelle asked Carla as they were sitting in Roy's having lunch. Carla had barely touched her food because she felt sick to her stomach.

"Yeah, I'm fine… Just not that hungry." She said as she sipped her drink to help ease the nausea. Carla had been feeling like this for past week or so and very much had an incline as to why she felt this way… She had her suspicions that she could in fact be pregnant.

Carla hadn't yet managed to pluck up the courage to take a test to get that confirmation, she was hoping that she was just overly stressed and that's why she was feeling like this. However as time went on, her anxieties about the possibility of being pregnant only grew stronger. "Maybe you should see a doctor if you're not feeling well." Michelle said becoming concerned about Carla as she looked extremely pale.

"I think it's just stress from work." Carla lied. "We've got to make sure that we get that order out before Christmas and time is ticking on."

"We're way on track to get that out by the end of this week." Michelle assured.

"Yeah. you're right… I'm just being silly, ignore me." Carla said brushing it off but deep down she was completely terrified of the thought that she could be pregnant, especially when the only possible father was Peter Barlow.

"Shall we get back to work?" Michelle asked as she looked at her watch.

"Yeah, better had." Carla mused as she picked up her bag to get her purse out to pay for lunch.

"Do you fancy popping to the Rover's for one?" Michelle asked as Carla was locking the doors to the factory. The work day was finally over and quite frankly all Carla wanted to do was go home.

"Uh… Not tonight, I'm still not feeling great." Carla said as she joined Michelle who had walked down the steps outside of the factory.

It was then when Leanne had been walking past and Michelle made the effort to ask about Peter. "How's Peter today?" Michelle as she walked up to Leanne followed by Carla. Leanne smiled.

"He's doing really well and he should be able to come home in couple of days." She beamed. Thankfully Peter was getting better day by day and was no longer at risk of the worst happening.

"Aww that's lovely, he'll be home just in time for Christmas." Michelle smiled.

"I bet Simon is happy that he'll be back in time for Christmas too." Carla added. Leanne nodded.

"It's such a relief really… It's like we can start fresh and live together as little family and as husband and wife." Leanne added. Carla gave an award smile. "I really want to make this Christmas special too for both Simon and Peter."

"Well, if you need anything just give us a shout." Michelle said.

"Yeah of course." Carla added with a nod.

Carla hadn't actually seen Peter since that night at the hospital where they both apologised to one another because Peter's life was on the line. At that point, Carla hadn't even thought that she could possibly be pregnant now it was something she couldn't stop thinking about.

Michelle dropped Carla off at her flat and told her if she didn't feel well tomorrow to not come to work but Carla being as stubborn as ever assured her she would be fine. "Just text me in the morning if you're not up for work." Michelle said as Carla got out of her car.

"'Chelle, I'm fine." Carla said softly. "Thanks for the lift home." She said before she closed the door behind her taking a deep breath of air.

When Carla had gotten home she placed her bag down on the sofa and went into her bedroom to put something more comfortable on. When she returned to her living room she sat on her sofa and glanced at her hand bag before rummaging around inside. Out she pulled a rectangular box with the contents inside having the potential to change her life. It was a pregnancy test. Carla knew there was only so much delaying she could do when it came to this. "Now or never, ey?" Carla said to herself as she tried to calm her nerves.

Carla went into her bathroom and followed the instructions inside the box. Carla cleaned up after herself and went back into the living room before placing the test down on the counter. She had to wait 3 minutes for the results and those 3 minutes felt as though they were lasting 3 hours.

Carla began pacing the length of her living room. A part of her wished that she had told Michelle everything so at least she'd have some sort of support. "Not looking isn't going to change anything, Carla." She said out loud. Her whole body felt as though it was shaking and she was certain she was going to throw up.

Carla reluctantly walked over to the counter where the test was and braved herself to look. There in front of her was confirmation that she was in fact pregnant. Carla couldn't help but let out a cry.

Carla had never in her life wanted a baby, it wasn't something that she ever imagined for herself. Yet here she was pregnant, with a married man's baby. She had no idea what to do but there was no way she couldn't possibly go through with this pregnancy but could she go through with having an abortion?

It was safe to say Carla spent another sleepless night tossing and turning in bed. She kept beating herself up on how she could've been so careless and ended up in this situation. By the time morning had rolled around, she had maybe gotten around 3 hours sleep maximum.

Carla managed to pull herself up and out of bed. She went to make herself a coffee but the smell of it made her stomach turn and before she know it she was kneeled over the toilet spilling the contents of her stomach. Quickly cleaning herself up, she got dressed for work. She began to look her her body in the full length mirror which she had in her bedroom. She didn't look pregnant at all, she looked just as slim as she'd always had.

When Carla made it into work that morning she was slightly later than usual. Michelle wasn't expecting her to show up today so was rather surprise when she walked into the office at nearly 10am. "I thought you weren't coming in." Michelle said as Carla sat at her desk and rubbed her head.

"I can't afford to have days off when we have an order to get out." Carla said.

"If you're not well-" Michelle started.

"I'm fine." Carla sighed. "I might not be 100% but I'm well enough to work." Carla said. Michelle could see that Carla was far from fine so she perched herself on the edge of the desk to properly speak to Carla.

"You don't look fine… You know you can tell me if something is going on." She said. Carla wouldn't dare look at Michelle directly because she'd end up bursting into a ball of tears and probably spilling the truth. "Are you struggling with alcohol?" Michelle asked softly.

"Uh… Yeah." Carla swallowed. "These past few days have been a struggle but honestly I'm going to be fine." Carla said.

"Why don't I come to a meeting with you?" Michelle offered to which Carla quickly shook her head.

"It's okay, I'm getting under control again." Carla assured.

"You know you don't have to hide any of this from me… We're practically sisters, I just want what's best for you." Michelle said.

"Thanks." Carla said her voice breaking slightly and she wiped away the tears which had fallen. Maybe she should've been truthful with Michelle but right now she didn't know what to do.

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