Back to normality?

Chapter 23

Five days later, on New Years Eve, Carla was determined to use the nights festivities as a fresh start for the both of them; she'd had her meeting with Scott the day before and he'd helped her to work through some of the feelings and emotions she had been experiencing. She had realised that, subconsciously, she had been afraid that having this baby would be disrespecting the memory of their late daughter; she'd also realised that she was, again subconsciously, afraid that if she agreed to married Peter again, he would stray and she would be left alone and broken again. Even though she knew he was committed to her and he had completely changed his ways, the doubt was always in that back of her mind; Scott had helped her to see that she was forever waiting for something to happen, almost like she was willing it to happen, and whilst she was, she wouldn't be able to truly move on and be happy. By the time Scott had left, she was feeling a lot more calmer, emotionally and was ready for the next step; telling their friends and family about the baby and the engagement.

Michelle was throwing a New Year's Eve party at the Bistro, with Carla's help in planning; that morning, she was sat on the sofa, with a tea in her hand as she flicked through the magazine resting on the side when Peter emerged from the bedroom.

"Morning love"

"Morning, are we still going tonight?" She asked, watching as he made himself a drink.

"If you want to? You've put a lot of effort into it..."

"It was nice, feeling useful again..." she shrugged as he took a seat next to her.

"Then we'll go, even if you find it too much to stay til the end"

"I'm hoping I'll be okay; the talk I had with Scott yesterday helped to clear my mind. I'm ready for whatever happens; with you by my side, I can do anything"

"How about...we get ready, grab breakfast at Roy's and head into town? See if we can find you something amazingly special for tonight?" He suggested.

"You don't have to; you've already spent loads on me"

"And you are worth every penny" he said, leaning forward to kiss her. "So...shopping?"

"Okay but first..." she grinned, throwing the magazine on the coffee table before taking his hand  and leading him to the bedroom.

By the time they'd arrived at the Bistro that evening, Carla was dressed in a simple black and grey long sleeved dress with leggings and her boots whilst Peter stuck with a grey suit and black shirt; walking inside holding hands, Michelle was the first to spot them and walked over, hugging Carla close.

"Sorry we're late" Carla apologised.

"I'm glad you're here at all; you did an amazing job with choosing the decorations. 2020 is gonna be the best year, for all of us" she smiled, glancing briefly down at Carla's stomach.

"We hope so"

"You look amazing"

"Peter brought it for me today; wanted me to have something special for tonight" she said, smiling at him and resting her head on his should as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Are you still telling everyone?" She asked, passing them a glass of orange juice each.

"That's the plan; it's about time everyone knew the truth"

"You're not feeling pressured to telling, are you?"

"No, besides, it won't be long until I start showing, will it?"

"If you change your mind, just tell me" Peter said, kissing her hair.

Nodding, she put on her best smile as Kate walked over.

"I know we've both apologised and moved on but can we start afresh? Forget any of it ever happened?" Kate asked.

"I'd like that" Carla agreed, hugging her sister and whispering in her ear. "Besides, my baby needs a fun, cool aunt to turn to"

Quickly putting a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming, Carla gave her a look.

"We are telling everyone tonight, but keep it to yourself for a little bit?"

Kate nodded and hugged her, almost squeezing the life out of her until Michelle and Peter pulled them apart.  As the evening went on, Carla spent time with Kate and Michelle whilst Peter spoke with Steve and his dad; watching later that evening as Carla, tiredly, sat herself in a chair in the corner, away from the noise, he walked over and sat next to her, pulling her into his arms.

"You doing okay?" He asked, softly.

"Just tired; a lot of people" she admitted; since she'd returned to the street, she hadn't entered the Rovers (at least not the bar area), and hadn't been round so many people at one time, regardless if they were friends, family and neighbours.

"We can go home if you want? It's only an hour til midnight; we can ring it in together" he offered.

"We haven't told everyone"

"We can do it now and then leave; you've done well to last this long" he said, taking her hand and leading them over to where Kate, Michelle, Tracy, Ken and Steve were standing at the side of the bar. "Can we just have a minute before we head off?"

Waiting for them to finish and focus their attention on them, he wrapped his other arm around her shoulder so she lean against him fully.

"First thing, I just wanna say that I'm proud of you, for how far you've come and for not giving up everytime it feels hard" he said, looking at Carla who smiled at him before he turned back to the rest of them. "Secondly, we have some news to share; i asked Carla to marry me again and she said yes"

"How long will you last this time?" Tracy quipped.

"Tracy, not the place" Ken warned.

"I know i screwed up in the past but we've worked through all that; we're happy and we want to start the new year properly. Especially as Carla is 14 weeks pregnant...she's due the middle of June"

"Congratulations" Ken said, hugging Carla and patting Peter on his shoulder.

"Thanks; anyway, we're gonna head off now. It's getting a bit too much but we'll answer any questions you have in a couple of days"

As Michelle passed her jacket to Carla, she hugged her close and stroked her hair.

"Call me tomorrow; I'm proud of you for tonight" she whispered.

Carla nodded and put her leather jacket on before snuggling into Peter again, needing the comfort of his arms.

As they exited the Bistro, Carla let out the deep breath she had been holding in; this didn't go amiss with Peter, who squeezed her hand.

"You did good tonight; I know it can't have been easy"

"When it was just Michelle or Kate, I was fine, even your dad but everyone else; it felt like they were waiting for me to lose it or something"

"Its the first time a lot of them have seen you properly since you came back; you've avoided the Rovers, you don't work the busy shifts at the Bistro and you're rarely out without Michelle or I. But you showed them tonight that you're on the mend; you went in there with your head held high and made an effort. Now we can settle in the bed, and watch the fireworks from the window; and we'll face everything else tomorrow"

And that's what they did; they snuggled up in their bed, curtains open enough to see the fireworks. Well, Peter did; as the clock struck midnight, he looked down to find his fiancee fast asleep on his chest, as peaceful as she could get.