Responses below, as per usual. Came 'em coming; Mandy, that's a good suggestion for Sue. I have some ideas anyway but it could work… *cogitates* Although perhaps people just like her being mean? Give us a shout if you want her to stay a baddie or have some redeeming motivation/dark secret etc.

Sophie: Well, here you are! As far as babyfic goes, you'll have to wait and see what happens…

You6: *grins* I'm glad you enjoyed it. I could've made it a lot funnier, more ridiculous, but I didn't want to go OTT.

Mandy: Mental health problem? H'mmmmm…. and there's the tranquilisers…

Paisley: Sue's soooo annoying. She started off OK but turned really irritating. I'm thoroughly enjoying showing that here and developing reasons for her dislike of Christine et al. That's never really addressed in the show—although I suppose it could come. I'm intrigued by hints that Simon could leave? Apparently the actor has said that S9 will be big for Simon… and those recent pics of Christine with the new Head are also interesting. Romance? Christine re-promoted to Deputy Head at least? Darn it, I just want WR to end with her being happy! (She says while plotting to put poor Christine through umpteen wringers, yet again…)

Caitlin: *g* Farce or near-farce was what I was going for, so glad you found it funny.

Loulouberry: Thanks! :)

loveistheprotection: LOL! I assume you like the idea… ! It won't be smooth sailing, though but I'm sure you must have guessed that by now.

Guest: Well, there's plenty more Tom/Christine drama to come!


Mulgrew Household, 7.15am


Christine halted at her kitchen door as she finished fastening an earring, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she observed the apparent family scene before her. For once both Tom and the kids were seated around the table, with Connor and Imogen squabbling over who would get the cream from the top of the milk and Tom ignoring them while he frowned over some papers from school.

Connor, she saw, had gained the milk by the simple expedient of tickling his wife until she wriggled, thus loosening her hold on the bottle. It was refreshing to see her son so happy, his face alight in a way she'd rarely seen. Imogen had been good for him…

'Hey. Aren't you planning on eating breakfast?' Tom asked, jolting her out of her reverie with a meaning look.

'H'mmm. That's if Connor and Imogen have left anything,' she responded mildly as she came to sit down. It was odd; this simple normality was something she'd never known in her adult life, and Connor's bemused expression told her he agreed.

'You look great, Christine,' Imogen offered as she passed the cereal, grey-green eyes taking in Christine's black trouser suit and silky red top, both exhumed from their month-long banishment at the back of the wardrobe. 'What's the occasion?'

She lifted her chin. 'I've decided I'm not going to fade into the background, no matter what Robert Bain and his cronies want. I was Head of Waterloo Road for a term and I think—I really think—I did a damn good job. I'm not going to let them forget it!'

Connor gave the crooked grin that was so characteristically his. 'That's great, Mum, you really look the part, more than Mr Lousy does, anyway.' A pause. 'Are you hoping to get it back?'

'I—' Christine halted, her gaze colliding with Tom's. Did she want the Headship back? All at once she found she was no longer certain; for the first time in decades she had a life outside work and was sober enough to enjoy it. 'Actually, I don't know, Connor. I… do you know what? I think I might try just having a life for a change!'

Her son's grin broadened into a proper smile as he pushed his seat back, pausing by Christine's side for a moment before leaning in and giving her a clumsy kiss on the cheek. 'You deserve it. Coming, Im?'

Imogen nodded vigorously and followed him out, leaving Christine and Tom alone, and she felt a flush rise on her cheeks as he studied her.

'What?'

He smirked. 'You look happy.'

'I didn't realise it was so newsworthy. Pass the milk, would you?'

'When are we going to tell them?'

All at once her happiness fled and she had to force a smile. 'When there's something to say?'

Tom frowned. 'Thought you said the doctor had given you the OK.'

'Oh, he did. He did.' She swirled a spoon through her cornflakes without looking at him. 'Provided I keep off the drink and the smokes I should be fine.'

It was a lie. She hadn't visited the doctor; she hadn't dared. She'd a sneaking suspicion that he'd douse her hopes of getting pregnant with an icy shower of common sense and she didn't need to hear it. Any hope was better than none, she told herself. Tom's delight at the mere possibility of having a child together terrified her as much as it touched her; she could not rid herself of the nagging worry that she would lose him if she could not conceive.

'Chris?'

She was spared the need to reply by Connor's return, dressed and ready for school, his earlier smiles replaced by a glower, and her eyebrows rose.

'What's the matter, son?'

'Imogen,' he grunted. 'She's FaceTimin' Lulu, they're signing away without using their voices … I don't like it.'

'What, the signing?' Tom asked, sounding amused. 'Don't you think it's good for Imogen to have someone she can do that with?'

'It's not that, I don't like her,' Connor snapped. 'Ever since she came Imogen and Dynasty have just grown further and further apart… and Dyn bein' away the past week hasn't helped.'

'Dynasty herself hasn't helped,' Tom said carefully. 'She's pushed everyone away, including her mum and her sister, from what Kace's said.'

Connor gave a single glum nod. 'Yeah, and Kevin. Louisa's trying to muscle in there too.'

'With Kevin?' Christine echoed. 'I find that hard to imagine.'

'So would I, if Dynasty'd just give him time of day. Mum, can't you do something?'

'Me?' Christine was startled. 'Connor, I can't start interfering in your friends' love lives, it'd be totally inappropriate!'

'She won't to listen to anyone else!'

'He has a point,' Tom said, giving her a look. 'Oh, come off it, Chris. You and me both know that appropriate or not, you and Dyn have a relationship that goes way beyond teacher and pupil. She needs to get a grip before she comes back on Monday or she's going to lose everything. Sue's still on at Simon to expel her.'

Christine could not help stiffening at Simon's name and Tom sighed.

'He's a good bloke, really he is, but Sue's a champion nagger—'

'—And he's too much of a wimp to say no,' Connor finished, his mouth twisting in an expression his mother recognised. 'Please, Mum?'

She groaned and lifted her hands. 'Fine. Fine, I can't fight you both. I'll go and see her this afternoon, will that do?' They nodded in tandem and she tutted. 'Just… for Pete's sake, don't go expecting miracles!'

'I won't,' Connor promised, shifting from one foot to the other in an agitated fashion. 'Can we go now?'

'You're in a hurry,' Tom observed.

'Yeah, the sooner we go, the sooner I can get Imogen off the phone.'

Christine was aware of a prickle of unease. 'You really don't like Louisa. Why? It's not like you.'

Her son met her gaze squarely as he pushed away from the table. 'She's hiding something. I know. I just know.'

The hairs lifted on the back of Christine's neck at that as she and Tom took the hint and finished getting ready to leave. Was she imagining things or was there a subtext there?


Bain Household, 7.55am


'Well, Simon? Have you decided yet? What I asked you to consider last night?'

Louisa examined her aunt through her eyelashes as Sue sat next to her fiancée. Simon, she saw, looked uncomfortable—but then he often did when Sue started wheedling. Louisa wondered if Sue realised what an idiot she looked, but the doting expression on her Gramps' face across the table explained everything. Sue was the youngest, the most indulged of his three daughters, and she'd always been able to wrap her father around her little finger.

Shame she's never twigged that trying it on with Simon only annoys him, Louisa thought scornfully as she watched. But then, Auntie Sue has never been terribly bright—

'Sue, you need to let this go,' Simon was saying in between swift gulps of Alpen. 'Dynasty's been punished. She's a good student who's just been through a nightmare; you can't blame her for not being completely herself.'

'So it's OK for her to viciouslyattack us?' Sue sounded petulant instead of genuinely annoyed. 'Simon, I don't understand you. It doesn't matter what happened to her last term, she's nearly eighteen, isn't she? Old enough to grow up, regardless!'

Most unexpectedly, Louisa found herself speaking up on Dynasty's behalf—if only to annoy Sue. 'D'you know what happened to her?'

'Oh, I know about her brother, of course. It was terrible and tragic, but it's still no—'

'She was raped,' Louisa cut in with the ease of long practice. 'By the guy who killed Barry. Imogen Mulgrew told me and she should know.'

'Louisa!' her grandfather objected. 'Do you think this is an appropriate conversation for the breakfast table?'

Louisa glared. 'It was Sue who brought it up, not me!'

'Yes, well, you were the one who mentioned rape. Now, be a good girl and pipe down. Your aunt and uncle are trying to have a professional conversation.'

'A professional conversation that involves you, Louisa,' Sue said, simpering across the table in a manner that made Louisa want to behave as though she was eight instead of almost eighteen. 'Because we all know how much you want to be Head Girl, don't we? And naturally, if Dynasty Barry is deprived of her badge… who better than you to take over?'

'Apart from the minor detail that in that case it'd go to Imogen,' Simon remarked.

Sue made a polite but dismissive noise. 'Don't be absurd, Twinkle. She's totally unsuitable.'

Louisa's eyes switched back to Simon, her heart rate picking up. It was no secret in the family that her desire to be Head Girl bordered almost on obsession; her failure to secure that post at her last (very expensive and extremely exclusive) school was a primary factor in her decision to transfer to Waterloo Road for the rest of her schooldays. She'd assumed that with Simon installed as Head it would only be a matter of time before she gained that elusive badge.

But Simon was saying, coolly, 'She's done the job while Dynasty's been away.'

'Yes, but… come on, Twinks! That's just for a few days, it's not the same as doing it always! She's not… well, she's not capable, is she?'

'Because she's deaf, you mean?' Louisa snapped before she had time to think, a lifelong reflex kicking in. 'What about Emily? She's Head Girl at Dene Hollow.'

Sue waved that off.

'That's different, darling. It's a special school, isn't it? It isn't the same at all. It would be sheer cruelty to force it on Imogen in a place like Waterloo Road. I'm only thinking of her, you know—and you. I know how hard it's been having your twin get the job while you haven't even made prefect.'

Louisa stiffened as Sue once again rubbed salt in an old wound. Sue herself had been first prefect and subsequently Deputy Head Girl at the boarding school they'd both attended, and she seemed to relish reminding Louisa of it every five minutes. Then Simon added insult to injury by saying that Imogen or no Imogen he still wouldn't give her the job at Waterloo Road.

She slammed her cup down on its saucer, ignoring her grandfather's spluttered reproaches in defence of her late grandmother's most cherished china. 'Why, Uncle Si? Don't you I think I can do it?'

Simon glowered at her from under black brows. 'Look, Lulu, I've told you before. I don't like you calling me that. Secondly, whether or not you can do it is irrelevant. Did you and Sue never stop to think of that while you collected your 'evidence' of Christine Mulgrew's supposed nepotism? How'd you think it'd look, if I made you Head Girl and our connection came out? My credibility as a head teacher would be shot to bits!'

'Oh, Christine,' Sue sniffed. 'I can't imagine why you're worrying about her.'

Simon's shoulders were tense. 'It's bloody hard not to when my whole school still looks first to her!'

'That's because you haven't been assertive enough, sweetheart. You need to put your own stamp on the place, let the kids and Christine Mulgrew know you're the boss now.'

'Do I?' There was a strange note in his voice that made Louisa stare at him. 'I don't know, Sue. I don't know if I want to.'

'Simon!'

He'd risen to his feet. 'Yeah. The longer I'm in this job the more I start questioning my right to it—'

'But you were the one who said—'

'That was then. I… my head was all over the place, you know why.' He ran a hand through the shock of dark curls that clustered on the top of his head. 'I'm sorry, Robert. I'm not bailing on you, but… this whole thing? It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Sour. As if it's not Christine who's been guilty of nepotism—' He threw his napkin across the table and stalked out.

Louisa's gaze slid back to her aunt.

She was not surprised when Sue promptly burst into tears and her Gramps immediately began to console her in a ritual that had been familiar to Louisa since early childhood. It was a moment of epiphany; Auntie Sue had never had to stand on her own feet, there'd always been someone supporting her from below. Then and there, Louisa determined that would not be true of her. She'd get what she wanted—but she'd get it her own way, not Sue's way.


Barry Household, 8.15am


'Come on, love. You'll have to head soon and you ain't had brekker yet.'

'In a minute, Mum. I'm not hungry anyway.'

'Aw, come on, Kace.' Carol's tone turned imporing. 'I'm worried about you, kiddo. This is an exam year for you an' all and you need some grub in yer—'

Realising that her mother wasn't going to give up, Kacey unlocked her bedroom door. 'I had somethin' earlier, when I came in from me run.'

Carol looked dubious. 'You sure?'

Kacey gave a decided nod, and her mother sighed. 'Fine. Are you happy to go in by yerself?'

'Mum!'

Carol grinned. 'Daft question, weren't it? 'Course you're OK to go in, you're a Barry. Come on.' She put a hand on Kacey's shoulder and guided her down the stairs just as the doorbell rang, and Kacey stiffened automatically. That sound had rarely presaged anything good in her experience.

'Well, look who it is!' Carol greeted, sounding unsurprised as she opened the door to reveal Harley Taylor and Lula Tsibi. 'Swots, you two are, comin' for Kace at this time instead o' leavin' it til the last possible minute.'

Lula looked reproachful. 'Don't you think education is important, Mrs Barry? Where I come from, Waterloo Road… it is like paradise,' she said as Carol rolled her eyes. 'You cannot imagine… and Kacey is our friend. Harley and me, we do not like to see her come in alone, like some person no-one likes.'

'She means a Billy-No-Mates,' Harley said with exaggerated patience. 'That ain't Kace, though.' He grinned at her. 'Come on, see if you can keep up this time!'

Kacey winced. They'd come the day before but she'd followed them so slowly that to all intents and purposes she'd walked to school alone.

'I am looking forward to today, it should be interesting,' Kacey heard Lula say as she shrugged into her coat. 'Mrs Abernethy told us yesterday, for today we are not to raise our hands once, but once! How that will work?'

'It'll be a laugh,' Harley chortled. 'The good teachers'll have everythin' under control, but the crap ones…. ' He sniggered. 'Can yous imagine what them'uns in Year 10'll be like with Miss Spark? Darren Hughes'll be made up!'

'We'll find out,' Kacey reminded him through her tightly wound scarf. It was still January and bitterly cold outside. 'Miss Spark has us all for Science first double 'cos Mr Duffin is going to that curriculum thing with Mr Clarkson. I 'eard 'im say so the other day.'

Carol tried to look stern. 'Well, don't you be giving that girl any trouble, eh? Can't be a walk in the park havin' to teach brats like you lot.'

'Or Darren Hughes,' Lula commented with one of her wide smiles, and Kacey grinned, suddenly looking forward to the day as they trooped out of the house and down the road.

It had been difficult, being the only Barry at school under the circumstances, but Kacey had been warmed by the silent sympathy she'd received from the other kids and staff alike. Miss McFall, Mrs Budgen and Mrs Mulgrew had been their usual selves while Mr Clarkson had tried (and failed, given the frigid weather) to distract everyone by putting on a girls versus boys football match. The only exception had been Miss Spark, who'd treated Kacey with icy coldness whenever they'd happened to come across each other, but as she only taught Kacey's class on Fridays that was less problematic that it might have seemed. All the same, as Kacey listened to Harley and Lula's speculations on what the day would bring, she found herself hoping that the joint class with Year 10 would give Miss Spark something (and someone) else to think about. She had enough crap to deal with right now without that.


Next time: Simon tries to make his mark, Imogen flips out, and the joint Years 10/11 Science lesson is anything but productive.