lucy barlow (also richards) is a florist whom peter barlow (chris gascoyne) meets while buying a bouquet for shelley unwin (sally lindsay). he is instantly attracted to her, and an affair begins. lucy, unknown to peter, has hired tracy barlow (kate ford) to cover her maternity leave. when tracy tells peter that her employer is pregnant, peter realises the child could be his. he later marries lucy, telling her that he and shelley have split up. tracy, however, knows otherwise and is happy to keep quiet and be bridesmaid to lucy and later shelley when peter bigamously marries her. lucy discovers the truth four days after her marriage to peter and ends the relationship. her son simon (jake and oscar hartley) is born in early july 2003 but at first lucy does not want peter to be involved. she soon discovers that being a single parent is tougher than she thought and gratefully accepts peter's help.