EastEnders has confirmed Nicola Mitchell and George Knight’s romantic future after they became parents to baby Ivy last week. In recent weeks George has moved into Nicola’s basement flat and she helped him open his new restaurant, Knight Fusion, but the pair are yet to resume their romance.

On Thursday’s episode, after a dramatic hospital dash, Ivy arrived at just 31 weeks, with the little on being immediately placed in the NICU.

Nicola has been so far unable to see Ivy, who is prone to infections, after catching flu in the hospital.

Yesterday George was able to have skin-to-skin contact with Ivy, which only made Nicola more distressed. She later left her hospital bed to attempt to see her daughter but she was stopped by hospital staff who called George and convinced her to go back to bed.

On tonight’s episode, Nicola was told she could finally hold Ivy after her temperature went down.

When Nicola was brought in to see Ivy, she fretted that she could make the baby sick but George eased her worries and she finally held her daughter for the first time.

As Nicola was holding Ivy, George told her: “She’s strong, she’s a fighter, she gets better every day, just like her mum.

“All that you’ve been through and how brave you were and how amazing you are, she’s really going to love you, for all the same reasons that I love you.”

Nicola didn’t respond and just keep holding her daughter as George looked on.

Later Barney, Harry, and Gina came to visit and found George and Nicola behaving awkwardly. When Nicola was left alone with Harry she shared that George had said he loved her and she blanked him.

Nicola said that Ivy was her focus right now and that she didn’t have a great history with men. But Harry told her that she should put the past behind her and give Ivy the best possible future.

Meanwhile, Gina spoke to George who told her dad that Nicola probably wasn’t in the right frame of mind to hear his “love confession.’

Later, at the hospital, Nicola told George that Ivy was what they needed to focus on now instead of romance. Looking dejected, George accepted Nicola’s decision.