Returning

Chapter 2

Two weeks later.

Carla was at Ken's, sitting on the sofa holding a fussy Bertie. She was attempting to do some work regarding the Beard Oil business but Peter, who was originally taking care of the young child that day, was called away on business so Carla was left to take care of him.

Unfortunately, Sinead passed just over a week ago. They all knew it was coming but it hadn't made it any easier. It had affected Carla more than she'd thought it would've; her anxieties were getting the better of her but she was grateful she had little Bertie distracting her. Daniel wasn't in a good head space either, as you'd expect. He almost went away for a while, but Peter convinced him to stay put and they were now working on planning the funeral. Carla and Peter reassured him that they'd look after Bertie whenever he needed so at the moment, they had their hands full. They didn't mind though, they absolutely loved looking after him.

"Come on, sweetheart. Settle down now." Carla shushes Bertie, gently bouncing him on her knee as his cries quieten.

"There we are, you just want some attention, don't you?" She chuckles, watching Bertie snuggle into her chest as she leans back into Ken's hard sofa.

She stared down at him, his eyelashes fluttering for a while before closing. She never thought she was able to have such a close bond with a child, especially considering he wasn't her own. But she felt such a strong sense of protectiveness towards him, she wanted to look after him throughout his life. Not to take Sineads place obviously, but be that mother-like figure he's going to miss out on. Someone he can always talk too and open up too.

After a couple of minutes, Carla hears a notification from her laptop that was on the dinner table. She slowly lifts up the nearly one year old and carries him over to his cot that was nearby.

Placing him down in it, she makes her way over to her computer and finds an email from a client.

She frowns, she didn't realise business would be ready to go already since working on Sinead's business. But she presumed it was to do with the email she'd recently sent across discussing matters.

The email stated something about meeting in the bistro to talk about stock. She thought for a moment, unsure.

Eventually, she agreed to meet in the evening and texted Peter.

Carla: What time will you be back? Have a meeting this evening so are you gonna look after Bertie? Xx

Peter: won't be long, on the way back now xx

Later on, Carla was stood watching over Bertie and gently stroking the little blond tuffs of hair.

She was worried about this meeting, she hadn't had a lot of preparation. Unlike with underworld, this was all a foreign language to her and she was still finding her feet. But the client knew the situation she was in so she was hopeful that they'd understand the awkwardness.

"Hey, baby. Sorry I took so long." Peter sighs, walking through the door. "Steve wouldn't shut up."

"Don't worry. I was content with Bertie anyway." She smiles, going over to him and nustling her head under Peters chin.

"Have you two had a good time then?" He asks, he loved this side of Carla. It was something he never had a chance to fully embrace.

"Surprisingly, yeah. He's adorable, bless him."

"I'll tell you what else is adorable."

"What?"

"You with him." He smirks, watching her shake her head slightly and look down.

"Don't be silly."

"Just watching you with a baby is so special to me, Car. You've always got your barriers up, acting like you don't care about babies and that you don't have a maternal bone in your body but you do. You love him, don't you?"