She kept her secret and she revelled in it, her shifty behaviour didn't go unnoticed by Daddy dearest mind you when didn't it? Carla just went about her life, went with the flow, and just did what she had to do to survive with the inward acknowledgement of the ticking time bomb in her womb. She watched as Johnny walked into the room, he looked at her and she just sat there staring into her coffee, she breathed out and reached for her phone, she didn't know why she even expected a message from Peter but she did. Nothing though, it was all just stupid. Johnny walked out and sat at the table with his morning coffee, Carla got up and he sighed.

"You don't have to leave"

Carla threw her head back and huffed.

"I'm sorry, kid" Johnny offered her a small smile, he pushed one of the biscuits he had towards her as a peace offering, she sat down and took it "Really"

"Yeah well maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh" she admitted and bit into the biscuit, she sighed softly "You were only trying to be supportive"

Johnny offered a small smile.

"I should head to work-"

"With the possibility of Peter out on a bender?" Johnny looked at her, she shrugged "I just don't get it, love, you were obsessed with supporting him one minute and now you're not interested"

"The factory won't run itself Johnny" she got up and went into the kitchen, she pulled out her meds and sighed realising she needed to talk to her doctor "Someone has to work out of the two of us and with Peter being in no fit state..."

"Are you in the right frame of mind for that though?"

Carla sighed in annoyance, she rubbed her head and just walked out of the room, she couldn't be dealing with the onslaught of questions right now.

"Carla!"

Johnny called after her, Jenny frowned as she walked into the room.

"What was that about?"

"Don't ask" Johnny sighed, she nodded "I just hope that everything works out for the best"

Carla went to work, the snarling from Sarah was unneeded and unwelcome but it happened, she didnt expect anything less but there it was. At lunch, she took herself off to make a phone call to book an appointment with her doctor. She walked back to work, snacking on a pastry from Roy's, a hot chocolate in her hand as she slowly cut down her caffeine intake. Her eyes were glued to her phone, she sighed softly at a message from Michelle, word had obviously got around. She offered a weak smile when she saw Nick and Sam walking together, he smiled at Carla and she smiled back before going to work, she sank down into her chair and just got on with it until she noticed a call from the doctors so she took it and left the room.

It didn't stop the worry from filling her as they wanted to see her immediately.

"Hi Carla, take a seat" Dr Gaddass smiled, Carla hesitantly sat down "Don't look so worried, just because a doctor calls you in doesn't mean it's necessarily bad news"

"Okay..." Carla offered a weak smile, she pulled out the pregnancy test from her bag and placed it on the table "I took this and yeah...I don't really know what to do"

"That's okay" Dr Gaddass smiled, Carla bit her lip "Are we waiting for Peter-"

"No, no we're not," Carla said quietly "He has enough on his plate right now, I just want this to be kept between us"

"It's important to have support-"

"Just tell me the risks, please" Carla looked at her, she was practically begging at this point "Just tell me what I'm looking at"

"Well, there's your kidney, it'll be a strain on your body but there is no reason why you can't have a healthy pregnancy, Carla-"

"Even at my age?"

Dr Gaddass smiled and nodded.

"It's not uncommon for women to get pregnant later in life even with previous health concerns" she smiled softly and Carla nodded "However there are risks, low birth weight, the chance of stillbirth increasing, miscarriage too, the possibility of the baby having Down's syndrome..."

Carla sucked in a breath.

"There's also the possibility of you developing post-partum depression after birth, even post-partum psychosis which is why it's important to have support, more so after everything you've been through this past year"

Her heart sank, the last thing she needed was to get ill again.

"I'm not saying this to scare you off, I know you're more than capable of making your own decisions" she whispered, Carla nodded slowly "And I know Peter's going through a lot right now-"

"Ever since I lost my baby before I never thought I'd get this chance again" Carla looked into her eyes, she breathed out "This baby might not even be Peter's and I might not have his support. I want to be a mother to his baby and there's always a chance it could be his but is it too much of a risk?"

"I'll tell you what I'll do" she turned around in her chair, she went over to the pamphlets on the wall "I'll give you some reading to do and I'll get you referred to a midwife, I'll also contact your kidney doctor too. We'll need to alter your medication so I'll write you up a prescription; read these through, speak to someone you trust so you can have all the support you may need"

She placed them on the table, Carla nodded and smiled.

"You can always come and talk to us if you have any more questions"

"Thank you" Carla whispered and put the leaflets in her bag "I think I probably will end up going ahead with it but there's no harm in just taking some time out to think I guess"

"Do you have any idea how far along you might be?"

"No" Carla shook her head "My cycles have been all over the place I couldn't tell you"

"I'll do a blood test" she smiled, Carla nodded "We'll get the results in a few days, I'll call you with them, it might give us an indicator of how far along you are"

"Thank you" she whispered and smiled a little as she stood up "This won't go any further-"

"Everything you say here is confidential" Dr Gaddass nodded, she breathed a sigh of relief and smiled "We'll speak soon okay?"

She nodded and walked out of there, adjusting her bag on her shoulder as she walked out of the medical centre, a soft smile on her face over what her future could be.

"Carla"

She turned her head, she dropped her gaze when her eyes met Peter's, she walked off because she had bigger things to deal with.

"You're ignoring me now?"

"What do you want Peter?" she looked at him, promising herself not to let emotions get in the way "You didn't want to speak to me, remember?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, just a check-up with the kidney doctor-"

"You didn't tell me" Peter shrugged, sticking his vape in his mouth, she sighed in annoyance

"You didn't want anything to do with me so why should I tell you the ins and outs of my life?" she narrowed her eyes at him, folding her arms over her chest "I don't have to answer to you now, remember?"

"Have it your way"

She watched him stumble to his feet, she sucked in a breath and walked off.

He narrowed his eyes as she went back to the pub, he knew there was something going on, he just knew it.

Carla sat with her laptop balanced on her legs, she couldn't face going back to work, she really couldn't. All she had was the words of Dr Gaddass in her head telling her she needed support. Her mind went to her phone, her mind went to Michelle but she couldn't do that, not right now, it didn't seem fair considering she didn't know where she even stood with her decision. Johnny came up to check on her, she rolled her eyes and told him she was fine and that she was actually heading out to a meeting for Nick. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the room, he followed her downstairs and raised her eyebrows as she walked straight past Peter without a blink of an eye, he watched her go and he looked at Johnny who seemed rather stressed.

"Is she okay?" Peter asked, Johnny frowned "Saw her coming out of the medical centre, she had an appointment with her kidney doctor-"

"No, she didn't" Johnny frowned "She's been working all day"

"Oh" Peter faltered, he frowned and hummed, "She said she had an appointment with her kidney doctor"

"Maybe I'm wrong then" Johnny shrugged, Peter leaned against the bar "You don't look too good, you should rest, leave Carla to me"

Peter looked at him suspiciously, he nodded and walked out of the pub causing Johnny to sigh.

Jenny frowned and walked over to him, he looked at her and offered a small smile.

"Is everything okay?"

"I don't know" Johnny frowned and dropped his gaze "Something's going on with Carla, I don't know what but something is"

"I'm sure she'll come to you when the time is right"

"But what if the time is never right?" he looked at her, Jenny smiled sympathetically, "What if she doesn't feel like she can come to me-"

"Love, this is Carla" Jenny smiled softly "She's capable of making her own decisions, getting support when it hits her that she needs it. She's a grown woman, she'll be fine"

He nodded and smiled.

He hoped that she was.

Johnny's eyes lit up when Carla walked into the pub, she sighed and asked for an orange juice, Johnny poured it for her and she took it into the back, sitting down at the table as she just took a moment to think about things. She spent the entire afternoon going through those leaflets at some coffee shop in town but she didn't know what to do, well she knew where her heart was lying but could she do it alone? Johnny walked into the room and Carla got up, she shut the door and stood there watching him, she reached into her bag and pushed one of the leaflets towards him as he walked over to the table. He took it and she smiled a little, he pulled her in for a hug and she wrapped her arms around him, letting herself just relax for a split second until she needed to explain.

"You can't tell anyone" Carla whispered, he nodded and looked at her "Especially not Peter and not Jenny, no one, I trust you don't mess this up-"

"I won't" Johnny smiled softly and Carla breathed out as she sat down at the table "Do you know-"

"No" Carla shook her head, she knew he was going to ask about her baby's paternity and she couldn't do that right now "I have no idea and I don't even want to find out no matter how insane that is when I say it out loud"

"You don't?"

"No I don't think so, I don't know..." she breathed out "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this at the moment, deal with the facts, deal with the what-ifs, the maybes..."

She pulled out more leaflets from her bag, she pushed them towards Johnny and he breathed out in shock at what this could entail for his daughter.

"I don't know if I can do this alone"

"You're not going to be alone" Johnny whispered, he reached out and placed his hand on hers "You have me and you have Jenny, we can help you"

Carla nodded slowly with a small smile.

"You'll also have Roy and I'm sure Michelle will be supportive when you tell her, Kate as well" Johnny smiled softly at her, she nodded and breathed out "I guess you have a lot of decision-making to do huh?"

She nodded and breathed out.

"I think I'm going to keep it, minus the risks there's always a chance this baby could be Peter's" she breathed out, smiling softly "There's no way I could get rid of it, no way and if I have to do it on my own-"

"You're not going to be on your own love" Johnny smiled softly, she nodded and bit her lip "And you are one of the strongest people I know and I know you'd be an amazing mum"

Tears pricked her eyes, she let out a long breath before nodding.

"I never thought I'd have this chance again and the timing is so wrong but maybe in a weird twist of fate this is the light at the end of the tunnel"

"I think you have it all planned out even if you don't think you do" Johnny smirked, Carla nodded slowly "If you need anything you know where I am"

"There is actually something you could do to help" Carla swallowed, he frowned "I have a few appointments coming up and I was wondering if you'd maybe come with me? It's daunting doing it on my own-"

"Tell me when and I'll be there" he smiled, she breathed out and nodded "And if you need anything I'm there too, I know things are looking bleak but...I'll try my hardest to be there for you even if I get sent down for..."

She smiled sadly and nodded.

"Can you promise me one thing?" Johnny looked at her, she frowned a little and nodded "Don't overwork yourself"

"I won't" Carla whispered, placing her hand over her belly "There are more important things now"

She smiled and nodded, he smiled at her too and then got up.

She just hoped she had the nerve to navigate this all on her own.