A/N: Training day tomorrow means no lessons to prepare. So I did this instead. Enjoy.

Chapter 12

Saturday 6th March 1999…

The weeks after Catherine's birthday pass quickly, with Ruth spending an increasing amount of time with Harry and his children. Towards the beginning of the relationship, whenever she and Harry had the same weekends off she would arrive at their house on the Saturday morning and spend the whole day with them. Once the children were in bed she and Harry would enjoy a meal together before relaxing on the sofa, either to watch something on the television or just to talk and get to know one another. Ruth would leave somewhere between 11 and 1 and they would spend Sunday apart. In fact the only weekend she didn't see them was at Christmas, as she'd gone home to Cheltenham to spend time with her family. She'd spoken to them all on the phone on Christmas Day though. Since New Year's Eve, however, when her relationship with Harry had become more physical, Ruth has stayed over every Saturday night and now spends full weekends (and some evenings in the week) at Harry's house.

They'd been careful to shield the children from their developing relationship at first, for fear of worrying them or hurting them if it didn't work out. So waking up in Harry's bed on New Year's Day, Ruth had been more than a little nervous at the prospect of joining Harry and the children for breakfast. Harry had told her she was worrying about nothing and he was right. Catherine and Graham hadn't been fazed at all by her staying over; they'd accepted her appearance at the table that morning without question. It was only when faced with the reality of Ruth sharing her father's bed a few weeks later, when she'd woken up from a nightmare and crept into her Dad's room, that Catherine mentioned the development.

"Are you Daddy's girlfriend?" she'd asked sleepily as she clambered into bed with them.

Ruth and Harry had shared a look over Catherine's head and mutually decided that there was no point in lying. "Yes I am," Ruth had answered.

"I thought so," Catherine replied knowingly.

"Is that okay?" Ruth has asked, looking for approval from the little girl.

"Yeh," yawned Catherine, snuggling into her. "I like you."

And that had been that.


When the four of them spend the weekend together, their activities range from trips to the zoo to curling up in front of the television to watch a film, but what Ruth enjoys most is making things with Catherine. Ruth is constantly impressed by Catherine's creative abilities. Although the results aren't always perfect, she clearly relishes the creative challenge. Harry is usually the recipient of Catherine's creations and they are always accepted with love and cherished with pride. Ruth is occasionally given a picture or two as well, and they take pride of place on her refrigerator door. Today they are baking fairy cakes, while Harry is trying to teach Graham the finer points of football in the garden, and Catherine is as eager as ever.

"Did you do a lot of baking when you were little?" asks Catherine as she helps Ruth gather together the ingredients and equipment they need to make the cakes.

"Only when I went to my Grandma's house. My Mum wasn't really a baking sort of person."

The little girl watches as Ruth takes the top off the food mixer and wipes out the bowl with a clean cloth. "Did you make cupcakes like we're going to make?"

"Oh yes; they were my Granny's favourite thing to bake."

Catherine nods. "We made cupcakes in school one. Miss Harrison told us you have to sieve the flour so the air gets into it and that helps the cakes rise."

"That's right; well done. If we weigh the flour out now, you can sieve it for me." Carefully, Ruth pours the flour into the bowl of the weighing scales and together she and Catherine check they have the right amount. Ruth helps Catherine pour the flour into the sieve and then allows her to sieve it gently into the mixing bowl. This is followed by the addition of sugar, butter and eggs. Once all the ingredients are in the bowl, under Ruth's supervision, Catherine whizzes them with the electric mixer and pours the resulting creamy mixture into cake casings. Ruth then carefully slides them into the oven to bake.

"Can we have a drink now?" Catherine asks.

"Of course, what would you like?"

Catherine instructs Ruth as to what she wants to drink. Ruth pours it for her and then they both sit down at the table and begin to discuss the icing for the cakes.

"I think I'd like pink icing," Catherine declares. Ruth isn't surprised; pink is the young girl's favourite colour and with that in mind, she'd brought some pink food colouring with her.

"What about Graham?"

"Well, he can't have pink; he's a boy. He should have blue."

"Some boys like pink."

"Graham doesn't," Catherine insists.

"Well when your Dad brings him in we can ask him what colour he'd like, can't we?"

Catherine nods enthusiastically. "I like making things with you Ruth," she says.

"I like making things with you too, sweetheart."

"You're much better at making things than Dad. He tries but he's not as good as you."

"I'm not as good as Ruth at quite a lot of things," Harry says, entering the kitchen with Graham on his hip. "She's quite remarkable," he adds, looking pointedly at Ruth.

"What does remarkable mean?" Catherine asks; always eager to learn new words.

"It means that something is very good and deserves a lot of attention." Harry tells her, setting Graham on the floor. "So what are you girls talking about?"

"We put the cakes in about ten minutes ago and are trying to decide on what colour icing to have," Ruth explains.

"Cake?" ask Graham.

"Soon, sweetie. They're not ready yet," Ruth tells him. He accepts this before pulling himself up onto her knee.

"I want pink icing," Catherine tells her Dad, "but Graham can't have pink icing 'cos he's a boy and boys don't like pink."

"Some boys like pink," Harry says gently, "and some girls like blue."

"That's what Ruth said," Catherine remembers and she seems to give the concept serious consideration before declaring, "They're just weird!"

Ruth and Harry manage to supress their laughter and Ruth asks Catherine to get the food colouring out of the bag so that Graham can choose. She lays them out on the table and points to each one in turn and names the colours for him. He still struggles sometimes to get them right so she and Harry are taking every opportunity to reinforce them for him.

"So, which is it to be, son?" asks Harry as Ruth reaches the pink; the last bottle.

Graham raises his finger and points, "Gree!" he exclaims.

"Green?" clarifies Ruth. Graham nods. She puts the green and pink bottles to one side, just as the oven timer pings.

"It's time to get the cakes out!" cries Catherine. With that, the little girl is off her chair, towards the oven. "Can I do it?" she asks eagerly, reaching for the oven gloves.

"If you're very, very careful; the trays will be extremely hot and we don't want you to burn yourself do we?"

"I'll be careful. I promise!"

"Okay then." Ruth turns the oven off and Catherine slowly opens the oven door taking a step back as the heat gusts out. She reaches carefully into the oven and retrieves the trays, Ruth hovering and watching constantly; ready to intervene at any time. "Well done sweetheart," she praises. "We just need to leave them to cool for a little and then we can ice them."

Harry watches them intently; he knows he's got to allow Catherine some independence and responsibility but he worries about her too much; Ruth is able to give this to her and Harry can see it's good for her. He adores the way Ruth is with both his children; they've accepted her better than he could ever have hoped, especially Graham who is shy and doesn't normally take well to new people.

"Daddy!" calls Catherine. Harry returns from his musings and whips round to face Catherine, only to receive a handful of flour in his face.