Walford is My Home Town

by MythMoonWitch

Part 3 of the "Walford is" series picks up in a slightly altered Walford.

25. Chapter 25

We do not own Eastenders, Ashes to Ashes, Waterloo Road, Doctors, or Emmerdale

Chapter 25

Ray yawned and turned his radio up louder. He was glad the motorway was clear, but then at 5am what were you supposed to expect? He sighed, the majority of his day was going to be spent driving, though on the way back he would get company. He was going to pick up his Mum, he told he should be there around 9am, but with the lack of traffic it looked as though he would get there earlier than that. He was glad, it meant he could stop for a cup of tea before taking her back with him to London.

Ray sighed as he glanced at the clock briefly then back at the road. He wasn't complaining about going to pick Maggie up. It meant that he go out of the house while Rowan did her last minute sweep of the flat; she'd stopped cleaning so much over the last few days, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe that she was going to leave it today, the day when his Mum was actually going to arrive. He knew that the moment she got up she would do another massive clean. He didn't even know why Rowan was going to such extremes, his Mum liked her well enough, she wouldn't be too bothered about the cleanliness, a speck of dust would not phase her. Yet no matter how much he tried to explain this to Rowan she would just not listen.

Ray smiled at the sign that pointed to Manchester Town Centre and finally pulled off the Motorway. He navigated his way through the familiar roads until he reached the neighbourhood where he had grown up and parked his car outside the familiar little house. He clambered out of his car and waved at the silver - haired woman swapping her milk bottles next door

"Morning, Mrs. Shaw," he greeted her pleasantly.

"Good Morning, Ray, how are you?" she asked with a smile at him.

"Good, ta," he grinned. "yourself?" he asked back politely. He didn't really want to make small talk with his Mum's next door neighbour, but he wasn't going to ignore her now it had started.

Evelyn nodded. "Fine, perfectly fine," she smiled back as she retreated back into her house. Ray bent and grabbed up the new milk bottles and knocked on the front door.

Maggie muttered to herself as she dragged herself down the stairs to open the door. Ray wasn't due for another 20 minutes and she was in the middle of packing up everything. She shouldn't have left it this long, but she hadn't found time during the week to do it. She opened the door grumpily and her frown instantly bloomed into a wide smile at the sight of her son. "Ray!" she announced happily. "I wasn't expecting you for another 20 minutes at least," she said as she stood back to let him in.

Ray stepped over the threshold and placed the milk bottles on the side as he shut the door and pulled his Mum into a hug. "Yeah, well, the motorway was clear all the way up so I had a free run," he explained as he let her go and took the milk through to the kitchen. "If you hurry up then we can probably avoid some of the traffic on the way down, though, I'm expecting a gridlock," he sighed.

Maggie followed him through to the kitchen and watched him put the milk in the fridge and switch the kettle on. "You want breakfast?" she asked and Ray shook his head. "Nah, Ro made me a burrito last night to heat up this morning when I got up so I ate that on the way down," he told her and she nodded.

"Good," she said. "How is she?" she asked curiously.

Ray grinned. "Huge," he supplied with a shrug. "Really getting quite big," he said. "And no doubt up at the moment and cleaning the flat for the 50th time this week," he said and looked at Maggie's puzzled face. "She's nervous about you coming to stay."

Maggie snorted. "She shouldn't be, what am I going to do!" she said indignantly. Ray smiled. "That's what I've been saying, but she wants everything to be perfect," he shrugged.

Maggie sighed. "As long as the pair of you are happy and the babies are healthy then it is perfect," she told him and Ray smiled. "You can tell her that then Mam, because she won't listen to me."

Maggie chuckled and hurriedly made Ray his tea then left him to it as she went back upstairs to pack up the remaining things that were splayed out on her bed ready to go into her suitcase.

Ray lifted his Mum's suitcase into the boot as Maggie locked up the house, left a note for the milkman and shot a glare at her next door neighbour's house. She turned to Ray with a grin and climbed inside his car as Ray got off the phone with Rowan. She buckled down and sat back as Ray drove out of Manchester.

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Rowan bid a regretful goodbye to Ray and flopped back onto the bed. She heard him nuke the breakfast burrito she'd made for him to take and sighed at the sound of the door closing. A few short hours and his mother would be here. She glanced at the clock and debated going back to sleep, but she was awake now.

She dragged herself from bed and padded into the kitchen after pulling her hair up into a hair claw. She opened the cabinet where she kept extra ingredients for cooking. She'd had to insist on getting it. It was becoming too hard to climb the stairs with her arms full of ingredients. She looked at the neatly organized shelves and contemplated. She would make muffins, she decided. She pulled the ingredients to do chocolate, banana nut and the coffee cake ones Ray seemed to be getting fond of and got busy.

She flipped on the CD player and turned the music up loud as she began to sing along as she mixed batter and got the muffins in the oven. She hurriedly cleaned the kitchen until it was shining and then looked over the front room before attacking it as well. She put the muffins out to cool and checked the time before scrubbing down the bathroom. She then checked over and cleaned the nursery and then reorganized the linen closet.

She paced around for several minutes, glanced at the clock again and decided to take a shower. She looked over her clothes and finally decided to wear a new deep violet-colored summer dress she'd bought the last time she'd gone shopping with Alyssa. She applied some make up sparingly and curled her hair, pulling it up on the sides with a hair claw so the curls spilled down her back.

She pulled on her white cardigan to brighten up the dress and cover the expanse of her back the dress left visible. She was comfortable with Ray seeing the long thin scars on her back, but she still didn't like the idea of anyone else seeing them, certainly not his mother!

She glanced at the clock again and gnawed her lip, if all was going well Ray and his mother would be here in just two short hours. She picked up her phone to see if Ray had left Manchester yet.

She went downstairs after tucking her phone in the pocket of her cardi and chatted idly with Syed and Trevor as they tidied up after breakfast rush and she herself had a glass of juice and a bacon sandwich.

Janine waited in the alley near the pub and kept watch for JT. She knew he often went to the Minute Mart in the morning and wanted to "accidentally" run into him. She peered around the corner and jumped back when she noticed him walking in the direction of the pub. She flashed an inward smile and then whirled from the alley as she heard his footsteps and was rewarded by the impact as they collided.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she gasped and bent to help JT pick up the things he'd dropped.

"Yeah, it's fine, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," he said with a shame-faced smile and gratefully took the bag from her.

"Are you sure I didn't injure you?" she asked and trailed a finger down his chest.

JT took a step back and shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine," he assured her. "Excuse me," he said and stepped around her.

"As long as you're sure," she called after him and he barely waved. Janine watched him disappear into the pub and headed off. Step one complete.

Whitney frowned as she watched Janine walk off. She hadn't realized JT and Janine were so friendly. She headed into the pub and saw Roxy off in the corner talking with Peggy. She wondered if she should say something to Roxy. But then, it might be nothing. Janine had run into him and it looked like she'd been apologizing. Surely, there was no more to it than that, Whitney decided. She would keep it to herself, she decided.

She pulled out her phone and sent off a text to Molly.

"So, saw Peter at the cafe this morning and he looks like he's walking on air. What did the pair of you get up to the other day?" she wanted to know. She grinned and stuck her phone back in her pocket. She knew it had been Molly and Peter's anniversary, she'd helped Peter pick the ring out. But she'd heard nothing from either one of them all day Thursday and her curiosity was becoming unbearable.

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Rhys sat at his desk and brooded. Ffion was becoming a hermit in some bizarre quest to avoid Sean. According to Bradley, she was convinced Sean was going to try and get back at her for Rhys arresting him. She was scared and thinking about going back to Cardiff.

Rhys snorted. Stupid women. Sean wouldn't go anywhere near Fee, not if he was smart. Rhys had made sure Sean understood that. Then, to top it off, Tanya seemed to busy to see him the last few times he'd asked her out. He turned his surly expression on his computer monitor and tried to make sense of the report he was trying to finish.

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Molly sighed and rolled over to look at her phone as it woke her. Who was texting her at such a ridiculous time? It was the holidays!

She grabbed her phone and read Whitney's text, a smile playing around her lips. She sent one back.

"Our anniversary was Wednesday :)" she sent back and then dropped her phone onto the mattress next to her as she snuggled back under the bedcovers and thought about Friday evening. She hadn't told her Mum or Gene yet: she could only imagine Gene's reaction.

Molly sighed and reached for her phone and read through her texts. She smiled at the sight of the ring on her finger. Peter was going to ask her to marry him. She hadn't told her Mum that either; Alex hadn't noticed the ring yet and Molly would explain when the topic came up. Until then she wasn't going to be saying anything.

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Sean watched out of the window sullenly. He had just seen Janine stalk across the square with an overly satisfied smirk on her face. He supposed she'd started breaking Roxy and JT, he hoped she'd started; He hadn't slept with her for the enjoyment of it.

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Ray sighed happily as he pulled up outside the Restaurant. He'd driven the long route around Walford at Maggie's request to show her the area. He parked up and grabbed her stuff from the boot.

"So, this is home," he said proudly as he gestured up at the Restaurant. Maggie looked up at it and then back at Ray. "This is Rowan's?" she asked and he nodded. "Wait til you try her food Mam!" he told her as he carried her suitcase towards the door and held it open for her.

Ray looked around the Restaurant an then glanced at the time. "Ro's probably in the kitchen," he told her and pointed her towards it then carried the suitcase up the stairs and left it in the flat. He bounded back down the stairs and stared at his Mum in confusion. "What are you doing still standing there, Mam?" he asked as he slid an arm around her shoulders and guided her through the Restaurant to the kitchen.

Ray smiled at Maggie as he spotted Rowan and went to kiss her. He smiled happily at her as he held her. "I think Mam's a bit nervous, too," he whispered quietly. "She's barely said a word since we got into London," he murmured to her quietly.

Rowan touched Ray's cheek and pushed down on the table to help herself stand up.

Ray turned back to Maggie and gestured to Syed and Trevor. "Mam, this is Syed and Trevor, they work for Rowan," he introduced and then turned to the two men. "This is my Mam, Maggie," he told them.

"Hi, how are you?" Syed smiled and gave Maggie a friendly wave.

"Hiya," Trevor glanced up and waved the butcher's knife he was wielding and flashed Maggie the smile that charmed so many hearts. It still amused Rowan to no end the amount of women that seemed to show up here to eat just for a glimpse of Trevor.

Maggie stood uneasily in the large kitchen and nodded her hello's to Trevor and Syed, their friendly greetings had made her feel a bit better but the curious anxiety was still lingering. She moved her gaze back to Rowan and Ray curiously as they spoke quietly to each other.

Rowan walked over to Maggie.

"Hi, welcome, are you hungry?" she asked, trying hard to hide her nerves with a large smile plastered on her face. "We could have an early lunch or I baked muffins this morning, we could go up and I can make some tea to go with them," she offered.

"It's good to see you again," she said. "I'm glad you could make it."

"Lunch we can eat down here, um..." she peered into the dining room and noticed James was walking around setting the tables. "James can take care of us."

She quickly closed her mouth, aware that her nerves were making her babble. Although, she had to admit, she felt slightly less nervous knowing Maggie might be as anxious as she was.

She bit her lip and flashed a quick glance in Ray's direction before taking a deep breath and stepping forward to give Maggie a hug of welcome.

A smile played around Maggie's lips as Rowan babbled, she remained silent and kept the friendly expression on her face, refusing to let the nerves show. She hugged Rowan with a smile and let go after a moment with a glance at Ray. She raised an eyebrows at the self-satisfied smiled plastered all over his face. She turned her attention back to Rowan. "I wouldn't mind a nice cup of tea," she said pleasantly.

"Well, then," Ray said as he slid his hand into Rowan's and tugged gently and grinned at his Mum. "Upstairs?" he asked Rowan. "Get Mam settled in and all that?" he said with a glance at Maggie. Maggie nodded back with a smallish shrug. It was their home not hers, she felt a little uncomfortable.

Rowan nodded at Maggie's reply and looked over at Ray and smiled.

"The stairs are just down the hall over here," Rowan said and squeezed Ray's hand before letting it go and walking out of the kitchen and leading Maggie to the hall.

"Go on up, I'll be right behind you," Rowan said and waited for Maggie to precede her. Rowan didn't want to be watched as she would make her very awkward way up the stairs. This was almost better. Friday lunch could often get very busy and the flat would be quieter. She had some cold roast left in the fridge she thought, she could make sandwiches easily if Maggie wanted more than tea and muffins.

Maggie did as she was told and made her way steadily up the stairs. She nodded slowly at Rowan's words as she reached the top and gently pushed on the door to open it. She made her way inside their home curiously. She had been imagining what it would look like for a while now. She grinned as she looked around: it was unbelievably tidy! She smiled at Rowan as she inspected everything with her gaze.

She grabbed the rail and began hauling herself up behind Maggie as quickly as she could.

"I left the door open, just walk on in," Rowan told Maggie as she saw her approaching the landing. She finally reached the top of the stairs too and went in right behind Maggie.

Ray followed Rowan upstairs and patted her back gently as she reached the top. "Would you like me to get you a stair lift?" he murmured to her quietly and smiled to show he was teasing as he took her hand and squeezed it before heading into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

"Very funny," Rowan murmured back.

"Take a seat, Mam," he told her as he gestured to the table.

"Go ahead and sit down, I'll get the kettle ready," Rowan told her and moved over to switch it on. She grabbed the basket of muffins off the counter and put it in the center of the table and then got down three small plates and put them next to the basket.

"I baked these just this morning so they're nice and fresh. There's chocolate, banana walnut and coffee cake," she explained, pointing at each type of muffin in turn before turning to get the mugs from the mug tree. She put the mugs on the counter and looked over at Ray, then at Maggie.

Maggie sat down. She looked over the muffins and chose one at random from the basket. Ray watched Rowan for a second, knowing that she would want to keep busy thanks to her nerves. He grabbed a chocolate muffin from the basket and put it on a plate for himself. He grinned at Maggie.

"You could show her the spare room," Rowan suggested as she waited anxiously for the kettle to boil, tapping her fingers nervously on the counter. She knew Ray couldn't understand why she was so nervous, but if he knew Gem better he would understand. In Rowan's eyes, Maggie was just like Gem and just as terrifying. She would be eating Rowan's cooking. Would she like it? Was the flat clean enough? Would the sheets be soft enough? She gripped clasped her hands together to stop the tapping and tried to calm herself.

Ray nodded amiably. "Sure," he agreed as Maggie stood automatically.

Ray led Maggie to the room which would be hers and sat on the bed. "You're being unusually quiet," he commented and Maggie shrugged. "It's just so strange," she replied. "You've never had a girlfriend before so I've never had to visit and it's so odd," she explained as she sat next to him. Ray hugged her. "It's odd for me and Ro too, Mam, she's never had to do this either," he told her.

Rowan watched Ray lead his mother to the nursery and hoped Maggie wouldn't mind sleeping there. There was plenty of room with just the dresser and crib and bed. Rowan had made sure a couple of the drawers in the dresser were empty-the rest were loaded with baby clothes. And she'd had Ray put up a some shelves for toys, one of which had a rail for hanging things on. Rowan had made sure there were some hangers Maggie could use to hang up any clothes she didn't want to put in drawers.

She quickly fixed the tea and put the mugs on the table. She added milk and sugar to Ray's and then put the milk and sugar on the table in case Maggie wanted it. She gnawed a fingernail and wondered if she should just sit down at the table and wait for them to come back or go to the bedroom. She was sure they were talking in there and didn't want to interrupt.

She huffed out a breath as one of the babied kicked and sat down to stroke her belly.

Maggie looked around the room curiously. She took in everything then turned to Ray with a smile.

"This is where you're going to put your children," she said with a proud smile and Ray nodded as he looked around. "What d'you think?" he asked.

Maggie smiled broadly. "I think it's wonderful," she beamed and Ray grinned at her. "Good."

He looked around once more then looked at Maggie again. "You don't mind sleeping in here do you? It's the only spare room we've got really," he told her with a small smile and Maggie pushed at him lightly. "Why on earth would I mind?" she scoffed and Ray shrugged.

"While I'm down here I want to go everywhere," she told him. "I want to go to the Station and see the team, I want to meet everyone you know and I want to go to all the places you go to," she told him decisively. Ray chuckled. "That shouldn't be too difficult, I think Ro's planning a big get-together while you're down here, which means you'll get to meet all our close friends," he smiled. "So, that'll be Ro's sister Alyssa and her husband, Ro's nephew JT, his partner Roxy and her daughter Amy, maybe Shaz and Chris, Alex, Gene, Molly and Sam..." he listed, ticking people off on his hands.

Maggie's ears pricked up. "Gene?" she asked. "Gene Hunt, you're still working for him?" she wanted to know and Ray nodded. "Yup, he's married now, again," he added. "And got a kid, too," he sighed and looked towards the door. "You wanna unpack now? Or go eat those muffins?" he asked.

"Eat definitely, I'm gasping for a cuppa," she laughed as she stood from the bed and led him out of the bedroom and back to the kitchen. She smiled at Rowan as she sat back down in the seat that she had left and pulled the muffin she had put down towards her.

Ray took the seat next to Rowan and grinned at her as he immediately dug into the chocolate muffin.

Maggie looked up at Rowan and smiled at her. "Ray tells me that we're having a get-together with all your friends," she said, she wanted to start a conversation and hoped to ease Rowans nerves, they couldn't be quiet around each other for the entire time she was down here, best thing to do was get a conversation going.

Rowan looked up and swallowed the small bite she'd broken off the coffee cake muffin she was eating and nodded as Maggie sat down.

"Yes, tomorrow evening," she replied and pushed the sugar and milk over to Maggie could reach it easily if she wanted it.

"Alyssa said she and Jack won't miss it. I haven't heard from Alex and Mr. Hunt yet. Molly will no doubt say when she gets in for work. JT and Roxy are coming. Syed said he and Christian will be there. Shaz is coming but Chris has to work so he'll be late. Simon said he could make it, but Ginger will be late, he's working," she tapped the side of her mug and furrowed her brow then shrugged. "As for Ffion, Bradley and Rhys...well...that's a toss up. Syed walks Ffion to work in the morning, but apparently she hardly leaves the house otherwise and she's still not talking to Rhys so..." she shrugged and glanced at Ray.

"I think that's everyone isn't it?" she asked him then looked at Maggie.

"I'll be doing Mexican food...well...Syed and Trevor will be doing a fair share of the cooking and I'll be supervising," she chuckled. She stopped chuckling and huffed out a breath as the kicking began again. She broke off another piece of the muffin to eat and patted her belly.

Maggie reached for the milk and added it to her drink as she listened carefully, picking out the people that she knew and trying to remember the names of the people that she didn't. Rowan was listing them in pairs? She assumed all of these people were together if Rowan was talking about them as pairs. She nodded along as she listened.

Ray nodded. "Sounds like it," he agreed.

Maggie looked to Ray and then back to Rowan. "I know some of those people," she smiled. "Chris and Gene anyway," she shrugged. "So the rest of them..." she trailed off and Ray chuckled. "You'll be fine Mam, they're all lovely," he smiled and she rolled her eyes. "I wasn't worried, Ray," she retorted and he nodded disbelievingly. "Sure," he said with a grin.

Maggie frowned at him then looked to Rowan again. "So, all of these people are together?" she asked "I'm assuming so, seeing as you listed them in pairs," she smiled as she sipped her tea and cradled the mug in her hands.

Rowan nodded. "Yes, mostly couples. Rhys is single. Watch out for him, he's good looking and he knows it, he's a terrible flirt," she advised Maggie. She glanced at Ray. "I think Jane's coming, if she doesn't have a show," she told him and then turned back to Maggie.

"Jane hired me at the café the day I arrived here," she explained. "The next day, she sold me the café and left town not long after. She was leaving her husband," Rowan continued. "She came back though, and bought the café back off me for a nice sum and I used the money to buy this place," she finished with a gesture to indicate the restaurant and flat. She reached over and took Ray's hand and gave him a warm look. "The next day, I asked Ray to move in here with me and he said yes."

Maggie let loose a laugh. "Wow, such amazing luck!" she beamed. "So, you've moved from a Cafe to a Restaurant?" she said with a smile at Rowan. "Your food must be something good or else that wouldn't have worked," she said with a small wink at the pair of them.

"I think luck and timing had a great deal to do with it. I traveled around a lot, so I was used to a lot of first days, but not like the one I had when I got here. Jane hired me on the spot. She tossed her apron at me and left. I met Alyssa later that day and when Jane came back she offered us a flat. It was probably the weirdest first day I'd ever had," she laughed. She looked over at Ray.

"I met Pat that day, and Christian and Syed had um…well….a very interesting conversation and I met Jack Branning then, too. I'm not sure, but I think he tried to chat me up," she mused and shook her head and chuckled.

She flashed a mischievous grin at Ray and then looked at Maggie. "As for Ray moving in, it might have just been because he didn't like having a flat over a sari shop," she teased and gave Ray's hand a squeeze.

Ray snorted. "And the fact that if I live with you, above a restaurant, I get amazing food whenever I want it!" he added with a grin at Maggie as he squeezed Rowan's hand back.

Maggie looked at Ray. "I hope you weren't living on take-aways while you were living on your own," she told him sternly and Ray's smile drooped.

"Not all the time," he replied cautiously.

"Ray! I know cooking isn't something you so well, but even you can make beans on toast!" she admonished and bit into her muffin as Ray sighed and looked at Rowan as he rolled his eyes.

"I can do more than make beans on toast now, Mam, Ro's been teaching me,"

Maggie beamed at Rowan. "Is he as much of a tyke in the kitchen as he was when he was little?" she asked. "Always wanting to lick the bowl, or lick the spoon, he had to be the one to stir the sauce, too," she laughed. "I remember the first time I let him make his own sandwiches!" she chuckled with a look at Ray. "He ended up covered in chocolate spread!"

Ray scowled. "It wouldn't come off the knife onto the bread so I used my hands, then my nose got itchy," he said.

Rowan covered her mouth to hold back her laughter at Maggie's comments, but was unsuccessful. The thought of a little Ray covered in chocolate was just too funny an image.

"Well, he was a disaster with legs when I first started trying to teach him, but he's getting better. He still uses too much soap when he washes up, though," she grinned at Ray. "He'll have to make breakfast for you tomorrow," she promised. "My biggest problem is keeping him away from sweets. For all that he proclaims he doesn't have a sweet tooth, he eats a lot," she said and gestured at the muffins.

"As for the rest, I tend to be slightly territorial in the kitchen so he wisely stayed out of my way when I cook, though I've gotten better since I started teaching him," she admitted.

Maggie smiled warmly at Rowan as she listened to her talk. It seemed she had got over some of her nerves at least and Maggie was glad. If Rowan wasn't nervous then she wouldn't be either; there was nothing worse than that awkward atmosphere.

Ray grunted as they both ganged up on him. "Stuff comes out the bottle too quick," he grumbled as he took a large bite of his muffin. "And, I don't like sweet stuff," he protested and Maggie snorted.

"Ray, sweet shop on the corner of the High Street," she reminded him and Ray looked at her. "What about it?" he asked. Maggie sighed and looked at Rowan. "There's an old fashioned sweet shop on the High Street and every Friday he'd beg me for money to buy sweets. Then he got himself a paper round and I'm sure half his wages went to that shop," she smiled.

"Lies" Ray muttered quietly and Maggie pulled a face at him.

"If I left him alone in the same room with these, they would be gone within 10 minutes, I swear," Rowan joked. "And then there's the constant swiping of Alex's Pop Tarts at work."

Ray turned to Rowan. "I'm gonna replace the Pop Tarts anyway, that's her birthday present and it's not just me that eats them!" he told her. "Besides, Alex shouldn't be eating them anyway, they aren't good for her."

Rowan patted Ray's hand. "My, my, you certainly do protest too much, acuisle," she teased him and grinned at Maggie.

Maggie looked between them. "Who's Alex?" she asked curiously and Ray looked at her. "Guv's wife," he said and Maggie laughed. "You're deliberately winding up your boss' wife? Are you trying to get sacked?" she chuckled.

"Nah, Alex tried to get The Guv to help her out once and he just told her to stop acting like a child and deal with it," he grinned.

Rowan giggled and shook her head. "I like that you conveniently leave out she's your fellow DI," Rowan said and rolled her eyes at Maggie then turned back to Ray with a speculative look. "I think he told you to stop acting like a child, too," she reminded him. "Then he separated them, like a pair of naughty schoolkids," she added as she turned back to Maggie. "Alex is in with the rest of CID supervising and Ray is still in Mr. Hunt's outer office, ostensibly to keep away the riff-raff," she finished.

Ray sniffed and frowned in response as Maggie laughed.

Ray looked at Rowan and shrugged. "Yeah, she's that an all," he agreed.

Maggie raised her eyebrows. "You work with the woman, too! And got separated?" she laughed. "You really think that winding up a colleague is such a good idea?" she asked and Ray shrugged.

"She makes it way too easy, she sets it up so perfectly, who am I to resist such massive temptation," he grinned.

Maggie sighed and shook her head. "Woe betide you if she does something back."

Ray shook his head with a grin. "Nah, she's rubbish at trying to get me back, though I do miss sharing an office with her, Debbie's nice and everything but she's no fun to wind up," he sighed as he pulled his mug closer and took a large gulp.

"And who's fault is that?" Maggie prompted

Ray grinned. "Alex's for making it so easy to wind her up," he retorted.

Rowan pointed her finger at Ray. "See, you are no longer allowed to make comments at me and Lyss when we tease Jack," she told him. "But you still shouldn't steal Alex's stuff. She'll lock you up one of these days," she said with a smirk.

Ray snorted. "I'd like to see her try," he grinned.

Rowan got up and made more tea. She filled a teapot and put it on the table with a slight clatter as one of the babies kicked. She bit the inside of her lip and made a split second decision and picked up Maggie's hand and put it on her belly. She felt the baby shift inside her and knew another kick was coming. She was sure Maggie had felt the movement, too and felt the expected kick arrive.

Maggie gasped delightedly then started to laugh. "Right restless pair," she commented as she kept her hand on Rowan's tummy hopefully and laughed as she felt another kick.

Rowan nodded. "Around this time of day, yes," she agreed and glanced over at Ray.

Ray grinned. "Footballer for United," he announced. "Not like Gene and Sam, he reckons Sam could play for City," he snorted.

She rolled her eyes at the mention of Gene.

"Yeah, well, Mr. Hunt is a City fan, no accounting for taste," she grinned at Ray, then looked back down at Maggie.

Maggie chuckled. "You a United fan yourself then?" she asked and Ray grinned broadly. "She is now," he smiled and Maggie took her hand away from Rowan's tummy and pointed at Ray.

Rowan nodded. "I've got a scarf and everything," she said.

"You best choose a decent name for my Grandson young man! Nothing ridiculous," she told him and he nodded mutely.

"I won't let him pick anything ridiculous," Rowan promised and stroked her belly. "I chose Claire for the girl's name, after my mother, and they're going to have the Carling name," she told Maggie and gave Ray a warm smile.

Ray nodded slowly as he watched the delight on his mother's face. "I know," he said softly as he smiled at the pair of them.

She looked back up at Rowan, her eyes bright. "They get the Carling name," she repeated and Ray stood and moved over to wrap his arms around Rowan, pulling her back to his chest gently. "Yup, Rowan and I discussed it and it's what she wants," he smiled as he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. Maggie beamed at them.

"You still need to come up with a boy's name," she told him. "Maybe you should pick your favorite footballer."

Rowan glanced up at Ray as he pulled her close and looked back down at Maggie and nodded. "He is the father, it's only right," Rowan said, trying to downplay the decision. She knew if Maggie started crying that she would, too.

Maggie nodded and smiled. "Claire?" she repeated. "That's pretty," she smiled. "Claire Carling" she said, trying it out with a smile then looked at Ray. "Now you have to pick something that isn't ridiculous, sounds good with your surname and fits with the name Claire," she said.

"Sheesh!" Ray muttered under his breath. "So much criteria," he grumbled as he hugged Rowan and laid a hand on her stomach.

Maggie smiled up at Rowan gratefully as she pushed the tears away, she could cry later, if she started now then she wouldn't stop.

Rowan glanced over at the clock and her eyes widened.

"It's 2 o'clock now," she remarked to try and keep the mood from getting emotional. "Should we maybe go downstairs and see about a late lunch? The rush will be over and I can find out from Molly if they're coming tomorrow," she suggested and slipped away from Ray to gather up the empty mugs and plates.

Ray let Rowan go reluctantly and gathered the plates that Rowan had left and took them to the sink for her as Maggie stood up, too. Maggie rubbed her tummy as it let loose a small gurgle. She looked over at Ray and Rowan and smiled happily. "Lunch sounds good to me," she agreed.

"Don't be such a moan," Rowan joked and prodded at his belly gently with her elbow then grinned at Maggie.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

"I know it was your anniversary!" Whitney sent back and huffed in exasperation. "So what is up with Peter and why aren't you at Rowan's?"

Whitney shoved her phone back in her pocket and went to unlock the door.

Ffion looked in the fridge with dismay. No milk. No biscuits either. No bread. She sighed. And Bradley was at work. She stared at the contents a bit longer as though what she wanted might magically appear and huffed out a breath before going to get dressed. She was going to have to go out.

She brushed her hair, pulled it into a quick tail and slipped her feet into a pair of sandals and set off for the Minute Mart.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly chuckled at Whitney's text. "Am in work this afternoon for lunchtime rush, Peter is happy :P"

She checked the time and sighed. She knew that Sam was awake, she could hear him gurgling to himself as he sat up in bed. She was supposed to be looking after him today while Alex was at work. She heaved herself out of bed and stumbled across the hall to her brothers room. She peered around the door and waved at Sam.

"Gimme 20 minutes Sammy, I'm gonna get a shower then we'll get you up," she told him before shutting his door and going back to her bathroom.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Sean looked up as a familiar figure passed him. His lips curved in a quiet snarl. Ffion. She had got him locked up for rape! Rape! Stupid little cow had had a guilty moment and had tried to get him done for rape! He stood as his fists clenched. He leaned off the tree he had chosen to lurk around that morning and made his way towards her. The Minute Mart? He smirked and waited against the wall outside for her to come out. He could hear her talking to whoever it was behind the counter. He waited patiently and grabbed her arm as she came out.

Sean pulled Ffion after him into the side-alley next to the pub and pushed her against the wall. He glared at her. "You never told me Ffion..." he growled out. "Why did you try to get me locked up!" he continued menacingly, his eyes flashing as his fury grew. He'd almost forgotten about it until her presence had reminded him, now he couldn't let it go, his eyes focused on hers. "Because you weren't crying rape when I was shagging you on that couch," he spat at her.

Ffion bit back a scream as she was pulled into the alley.

She shook as Sean held her against the wall and stared at him, her eyes wide with fear.

"Rhys didn't believe me," she replied, her voice shaking. "He's my brother and he knows all the…the…stuff….people said about you. He said I was lying when I told him you didn't force me," she half-sobbed and tried to keep from crying. "Let me go, please," she begged. "I told him you didn't," she added in a small voice.

Sean snorted in disgust. "The point is Ffion, even if you did tell him the truth in the end, you told him that I raped you," he growled. "You lied."

Sean noted the sound of more people filling up the Market, he doubted Ffion would file a complaint against him again but someone else might. He pushed away from her.

"Don't think we're anywhere near finished," he told her darkly as he slid from the alley.

Ffion let out a breath as Sean walked away and swiped at her eyes as she slumped against the wall. She picked up the bag she had dropped and hurried home. She went into the bedroom and stared at the wardrobe. She really ought to pack up and go.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Whitney read Molly's text and rolled her eyes and quietly growled.

"I KNOW Peter is happy-he's so happy he's floating. You meet me later and SPILL YER GUTS!" she sent back and went about get people their drinks.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly checked her texts before drying her hair and chuckled to herself. She hurriedly sent one back.

"I'll pop in before work - meeting Peter 4 lunch," she replied then set about drying her hair.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Sean headed to the pub and scowled when he realised that it wasn't actually open yet: too early. He growled, he was pissed off now and wanted to see Roxy. He grumbled to himself and went to stew in the park, his eyes fixed on the pub doors, as soon as it opened he was there!

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Gene nodded at Debbie as he passed and went down the hall. He walked through the double doors and over to Alex's desk.

"What do you fancy for lunch today?" he asked her. "Debbie offered to order us some Chinese when she does."

Alex looked up at Gene and smiled with a shrug. "I really don't mind," she told him. "If you want Chinese then order me some too, you know what I like," she said.

Alex leaned back in her chair and looked up at Gene. "Did Molly seem different to you yesterday?" she asked him. "Or am I just being paranoid?" she said quietly.

Gene nodded and then frowned at her question.

"She seemed overly cheerful. I don't think I've ever seen her quite like that. But it's good if she's in a good mood, isn't it?" he asked and then leaned on Alex's desk. "Or do you think she was on something?" he wondered.

Alex shook her head. "I don't think she's on anything," she said slowly. "But it's bothering me for some reason. I'm fine with her being happy, if she's happy then everything is fine, but that wasn't just happy..." she sighed and shook her head. "It's just weighing on my mind for some reason that's all," she told him.

Gene shrugged. "So, talk to her. That's what you women do, isn't it? Talk? Can't seem to shut you up, in fact," he remarked with a sniff and winked at her to let her know he was teasing before heading back to his office to tell Debbie what to order himself and Alex.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Stacey walked over and watched her brother sitting in the park, staring at the pub for a moment before going to sit next to him.

"Sean, you really have to watch what you're doing. You got really lucky the other day. That Rhys isn't one to mess around with and you had to mess with his sister, and Bradley. Bradley didn't deserve it, Sean. I married him. He was willing to be my baby's father even though he wasn't and he was there for me when I got out when hardly anyone else was. I can't help what happened with Ryan, it's not Bradley's fault. You hurt me, doing that to Bradley, do you realize?" she asked him.

"And now this..." she said and gestured at him and then at the pub. "Roxy made her choice, Sean. Stalking her isn't going to change her mind. It's just going to make people think you need to be locked up," she advised.

"I think Ryan and I are going to leave soon. Why don't you come with us? Get out of this place," she offered.

Sean didn't look at Stacy as she spoke, he just stared at the pub and listened.

He turned to her once she'd finished. "She's my wife Stacy, you understand what that means? She's mine," he growled out. "That JT is sleeping with a married woman, my married woman," he said bitterly as he looked back up at the pub.

"I'm not leaving until Roxy realises that she wants me," he told her.

"Sean, that may never happen," Stacey warned him, her tone soft and slightly sad and put a hand on his arm. "You have to realize she's been on her own a long time. If she knew you were alive then why make everyone think you were dead? Does that sound like she wants you back? You need to be realistic, Sean and you need to be careful. The last thing you need after that rape business is to get locked up for harassment."

Sean looked back up at Stacy. "I didn't rape anyone Stace," he told her firmly. "And I'm not gonna get locked up for harassment because I'm not harassing anyone," he added stonily.

Sean sighed and looked at his sister, he turned to her and pulled her into a hug. "I know what I'm doing Stace, Roxy still loves me, she's starting to see that now," he murmured.

"That doesn't matter, Sean, it matters that it's in people's minds now. You should know what it's like around here. You're on that copper's bad side now, so please, be careful, Sean," she begged.

She sighed as he hugged her. "I still think you should leave with me and Ryan when we go," she said again and stood up. "I've got to go, I'll see you later."

Sean grunted at her and moved his attention back to the pub. Stacy was wrong, he wouldn't leave until he had his family back.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly gathered her things and waved goodbye to Joanna, Sam's childminder, as she left the flat. She fired off at text to Peter saying she was on her way to the pub to see Whitney and hurried to Albert Square.

Molly pushed open the door to the pub and looked at the bar until she saw Whitney. She went up to the bar and leaned against it.

"Heya, Whit," she grinned. "When d'you get your lunch break?" she asked curiously, the pub didn't seem to busy, but with the Cafe, the Chippy and the multiple restaurants around she supposed a pub lunch wasn't the most appealing thing.

"Tracey won't be here for another hour, I usually go on break when she gets here. But if you need me to take a quick break now, I'm sure Peggy will let me," Whitney replied after a glance at the clock. "Speaking of the time, it's nearly noon, shouldn't you be at work?"

Molly nodded. "I'm fine for a bit," she said as she leaned closer to Whitney. "So, you wanted to know what happened on Wednesday and why Peter's so happy," she smiled as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "Well...I slept with him," she said quietly to Whitney.

Whitney's eyes widened in shock at her friend's confession and she leaned back and gaped at Molly. She still resembled a fish as she turned her attention to Fatboy as he came up and interrupted. She hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.

"But Peter's still in one piece which means that Gene doesn't know, and neither does Mum, so shhhhhh!" she said putting a finger to her lips.

"Gene and Mum don't know what, Baby Girl?"

Molly suppressed a groan as she turned around to face Fatboy. "They just can't know," she said shortly and Fatboy grinned. "But what can't they know?"

Molly frowned at him. "You're incredibly annoying, Fats," she told him and he grinned. "It's why you lot love me," he replied.

Molly rolled her eyes with a smile. "Shouldn't you be working?" she asked and he raised his eyebrows "Shouldn't you?" he retorted with a wide grin and Molly sighed with a nod. "Yes I should," she said. "And I want to see Peter before I go, so I'm gonna have to see you guys later," she said with a small wave.

Fats grinned at Molly's retreating figure. "Give P-Dog a big kiss from me!" he called after her before turning to Whitney once Molly had gone.

"What can't Mr. and Mrs. Hunt know?" he asked her conspiratorially.

Whitney gave Molly a wave as her friend left and looked at Fatboy and shrugged. "Girl stuff," she told him blandly and flashed him a quick smile. "Now, are you here to pester or are you going to order something?" she asked him in a teasing tone.

Fatboy pouted at her indignantly. "That is called charm," he told her matter-of-factly.

"I'm hungry, Whit," he told her. "What's for eating?" he wanted to know.

Whitney glanced over as JT came out of the kitchen and walked behind the bar to get a can of soda.

"What's for lunch?" she asked him. He glanced at her and then at Fatboy and flashed a wicked grin. "Fish and chips," he joked in a slow drawl and Whitney snorted with laughter.

He held up a hand at the look on Fatboy's face and chuckled. "No, kidding…I've got some fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy and I made lasagne and sausages with mashed potatoes and steak and kidney pie," JT listed off then raised his eyebrows and looked at Fatboy expectantly.

Fatboy couldn't hold back the groan at the mention of fish and chips. Working in the Chippy had been great to start with but now he couldn't eat the stuff. Not when he worked with chips every single day.

"I'll take the chicken," he grinned and then looked at Whitney. "An a coke, too," he smiled at her.

JT nodded and went to fix Fatboy a plate and Whitney grabbed a can of coke and put it on the counter and held out her hand for the money, giving her fingers a little wriggle to hurry him along.

Fatboy slapped a tenner into Whitney's hand with a grin as he took his food and coke to a bar stool and sat himself down so that he could stay and talk to Whit.

Whitney leaned on the bar and dropped her chin in her hand.

"So, what are you doing this weekend? Know anything fun going on?" she asked.

Fatboy shrugged. "Heard about some party going on in Croyden somewhere," he said. "Was gonna go down and check it out," he said indifferently. "Why? Wanna come?" he said hopefully, he didn't really want to go on his own.

"Sure, me and Brett have been looking for something to do this weekend since I actually have the night off tonight," she replied enthusiastically. "You find out the details. I'll text Brett and let him know," she said as she pulled her phone from her pocket.

"You going to bring Mercy along?" she asked him, her tone slightly teasing. "Oh, and we should get Peter and Molly to go, too."

She quickly fired off a text to Brett about the possible party and then quickly shoved her phone away as the lunch rush began.

Fatboy shrugged. "Depends," he said vaguely. "We can ask P-dog and Molls, see if they wanna come too," he said. If it was going to be all couples then he would invite Mercy, he didn't want to be a gooseberry, but she would probably go if he pleaded her.

Whitney leaned against the bar with a sigh when lunch was finally over and shared a smile with Tracey. She pulled her phone out to see if she'd heard anything back from Brett.

Fatboy grabbed at his phone as it went off and beamed at Whitney's text before checking there was no likely looking customers and then moving away from the counter to call Mercy.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Ffion huddled in a chair in the front room and peered through the curtains, watching Sean watch the pub as she nervously gnawed a fingernail. Rowan had wanted her to come to a special dinner tomorrow, but she was afraid. She rubbed her nose and went back to gnawing her fingernail. She could always just stay when her shift was officially finished. Then, she wouldn't have to walk back and forth through the Square. She just hoped Rhys wasn't coming. If he did, she'd splash out on a taxi home.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Rhys glared at his computer. All this upheaval with Ffion was making it more difficult to concentrate. He had people keeping an eye out for her. Syed was walking her to work and she would walk back with James when he was finished working. But still. He didn't like that she wasn't leaving the house otherwise and she still wasn't talking to him. Even Bradley was becoming closed-mouthed. It seemed he was joining Ffion in blaming Rhys for any harassment Ffion might get from Sean. He sighed and looked at Shaz, wondering if she was still angry with him, too. Women – always sticking together.

He schooled his features and attempted a small smile. "Lunch?" he asked her casually.

Rhys furrowed his brow. Shaz must still be giving him the silent treatment, he decided as she didn't respond to his invitation for lunch. He shrugged and went in and asked Debbie if she'd add what he wanted to the order she was placing. She nodded and wrote it down. He sighed and went back to his desk and started finishing up his paperwork.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly skipped along to see Peter then dashed off to work before she was more late than she already was.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Nora shook her head at Molly and tossed her apron to her as she hurried to answer the phone.

Syed looked at her as he came out to put more slices of cake in the dessert case. "I won't tell that you were late," he teased her and headed back into the kitchen after gesturing towards some people that had come in.

Molly caught the apron with a bashful smile and managed a look of apology as Nora answered the phone before snorting at Syed. "Oh, please, the clocks here are 20 minutes quick, I think you'll find I'm early," she shot back as she slipped the apron on over her head and followed him back into the kitchen.

Syed threw his head back and laughed at Molly's remark.

He glanced back and saw she was following him and shook his head as he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her back around.

"Go help those people over there since Nora's on the phone," he told her, a chuckle taking the sting from his insistent tone. He knew she just wanted to come into the kitchen for a glance at Trevor. Trevor always seemed blithely unaware of the attention, for which Syed was grateful. It was hard enough dealing with the multitudes of females that came to gawk at him without him being arrogant and smug about it.

Molly pulled a face and reluctantly went over to help Nora instead of going into the kitchen.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Rowan caught Ray's arm as she headed for the door of the flat and pushed him to precede her down the stairs. If something should happen and she fell, she wanted Ray to catch her. She followed him down and gestured him to go pick a table as she walked over to tap Molly on the shoulder where she was sitting helping Nora fill the salt, pepper and sugar shakers.

Ray nodded and led Maggie over to a table. He sat her down and looked on as she looked around the Restaurant.

"So, this is the Restaurant?" she asked and he nodded. "Yup," he said and proceeded to gesture to the people sitting around that he knew.

"Do you know if you all are coming tomorrow? And could you bring over some water for us?" she moved so Molly could see Ray and his mother where they were sitting.

She walked over and looked at Ray and Maggie. "Trevor made that Dijon chicken for the lunch special today, should we have that?" she asked.

Molly nodded at Rowan. "I know Mum and Sam are coming but I'm not sure about Gene, I think it depends on work," she shrugged with a smile and dashed off to get some water.

Ray nodded. "I don't mind," he grinned and Maggie looked between them before shrugging happily. "I don't mind eating whatever," she grinned. "I'll try anything once."

Rowan thanked Molly before heading back to the table.

"Molly says Alex and the baby are coming, she's not sure about Mr. Hunt, though, depends on work apparently."

Ray nodded. "Well that's a given, if he's got meetings and stuff then he's not going to get a chance to get down here," he shrugged.

Maggie frowned "How many meetings can a DCI have?" she asked and Ray chuckled.

"Super now, Mam, he got promoted," he told her as Maggie frowned at him. "You don't tell me anything anymore," she accused and he shrugged.

"So, if Gene's now the Super, who's the new DCI?" she asked and Ray shook his head. "No one, with 2 DI's he felt he didn't need a DCI."

Rowan glanced at Ray. "And he didn't want to bring in someone from the outside," she told him with a smug look. "It's a Saturday, surely he's not going to have meetings on the weekend," she snorted.

Ray shrugged. "You never know, call Debbie and ask her, she knows his schedule," he told her and pulled a face at her when Maggie wasn't looking, he grinned at her as he turned to look out of the window.

"This is Molly, Alex's daughter," Rowan introduced as Molly approached with the glasses of water. "She's working here while she's off school."

She turned to Molly. "This is Ray's mother, Maggie," Rowan continued. "I'm just having water, thanks, Molly."

Molly smiled at Maggie as she filled a glass for Rowan and then set the jug down on the table. "Hey, nice to meet you," she said and Maggie smiled back. "You too, Molly, I'm hoping to meet your Mam soon," she said and Molly nodded before grinning and hurrying away to clear the plates.

Rowan held out her hand to Maggie. "Want to see the kitchen? I'm going to go tell Syed what we're having," she offered with a smile.

Maggie looked up at Rowan after Molly had dashed way and nodded with a smile, she looked at Ray as she stood. "You stay there Curly-Locks," she grinned as she followed Rowan to the kitchen.

"He won't go anywhere, not with food on its way," Rowan chuckled as she looped her arm with Maggie's. She led her to the kitchen and smiled at Syed and Trevor.

Maggie waved hello to the two guys and observed what they were doing curiously, she didn't want to disturb them but was interested in how the kitchen here worked. She'd never really been inside a kitchen in a restaurant and she was curious.

"Three lunch specials, please," she asked them. "Make them good, this is Ray's mother so we need to impress her," she joked and winked at Maggie. She pointed at the two men. "That is Syed, and that is Trevor," Rowan told Maggie and then showed her around the kitchen, being careful to stay out of Syed and Trevor's way.

"Syed will be here tomorrow with Christian. They were two of the first people I met on the Square. In fact, Syed even threw some work my way, didn't you, Sy?"

"Well, yeah, how could I not when you kept me from dropping all those boxes? Though it was more my mum you helped," Syed replied with a smile.

Rowan leaned over to Maggie. "I thought he was about the cutest thing I'd ever seen. How could I not help him?" she said in a conspiratorial whisper and giggled. "That was before Ray went and knocked my socks off, of course," she added.

Maggie chuckled quietly as she looked at Syed. "I can see why," she smiled back and then looked through the gap in the hatch to sneak a glance at her son. She sighed softly before smiling brightly at Rowan. "So, what besides Mexican food, muffins and this chicken stuff that we're having do you cook here?" she asked. "Though I doubt I'm going to get a chance to sample everything, as much as I'd like to," she grinned.

"I cook some traditional stuff, bangers and mash, steak and kidney pie, pasties...that kind of thing. But mostly, it's food I grew up eating. Things like chicken fried steak, ham and beans, meatloaf, cornbread..." she trailed off and shrugged. "On some Friday nights, I do a themed buffet. We do all the baking and I sell a lot of the stuff we bake to Jane to sell at the cafe. This place is a bit of a walk from the Square and apparently my baked goods were missed when I came here," she said with a laugh.

"Everything seems so super-sized," she said. "The fridge, the oven," she smiled. "I've never been inside a restaurant kitchen before," she said.

"Yeah, we cook for a lot of people. I've worked in restaurants all my life. My mother ran a little restaurant like this back home, a diner, and she would sometimes take me and my sister Lily into the kitchen to help out," she said and then swallowed hard. Sometimes she missed her mother badly.

Maggie smiled at Rowan warmly and patted her arm gently. "How long since you've seen your Mam?" she asked softly.

Rowan frowned and then smoothed her face and swallowed hard again. "A long time, not since I was 14," she whispered. "They um...they had gone to visit some friend of my Daddy's and there was an accident. We didn't even know at first. It was in winter and there'd been a bad storm and the phone lines had gone down. A week went by and they hadn't returned. Gem got Sheriff Clay to get on the CB and see if he could find out what was going on..." she trailed off and looked down with a sigh, then looked back up at Maggie.

"There's a load of empty space in the mountains, no one knew where the accident might have actually happened, no one knew which way they'd gone..." she felt her throat close and swallowed hard again. "It was three years before the bodies were finally found. My sister and I stayed with Gem that whole time. My sister disowned me at the funeral. I took the money my parents had left me and left town, went to University. Met someone, moved here, married him, he turned out to be a monster," she shrugged and sniffed and forced a smile.

Maggie listened attentively as Rowan spoke, once she was done she wrapped her arms around Rowan and pulled her into a gentle hug. "I'm sorry," she murmured gently. She knew how it felt to lose your parents but couldn't imagine the grief it would cause at such a young age.

She was glad that Rowan and Ray had found each other and after hearing about Rowan's past she couldn't help but feel for her. She rubbed Rowan's shoulder gently then drew back a little way and squeezed her hand. "Come on, chin up. Ray's gonna be wondering where we've got to," she smiled.

Rowan hugged Maggie back.

She gave her a watery smile and then chuckled. "He's more likely wondering if we're going to come back with the food."

Maggie laughed.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Gene came out of his office when he noticed the delivery man from the Chinese restaurant putting the box of food on Debbie's desk. She handed the man the money and glanced at Gene as he walked up.

She hurriedly fished out his and Alex's food and handed it to him.

"Ta, love, and look, those budget reports need typing. Can you come in on Sunday and take care of that for me before my meeting?" he said, trying to keep the disgust from his tone. He wanted to be out catching villains, not stuck in meetings with poncey bureaucrats most of the day. Not that Walford seemed to have many of those lately. He missed the action. He was keeping an eye on that Sean Slater; a lot of people had told him that Sean was trouble.

Debbie nodded. "Sure, Guv, no problem," Debbie chirped and pulled her food from the box and sat down to eat.

Gene carried the food into Alex and put the container down on her desk before grabbing the chair from the nearest desk and dropping into it to sit with her and eat.

Rhys noted they had their food and got up to go and get his then went to sit outside at the table where the smokers went to eat. He could put up with it to get out of the office.

Alex took the food from Gene greedily and smiled happily at him as he sat down with her and cleared a space for him amongst her paperwork, she didn't really want drops of sauce all over her forms.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

When lunch was over, JT went upstairs to find Roxy.

"What time do you need to go to the club for that delivery?" he wanted to know.

Roxy looked up at JT as Amy crawled off her lap and towards him. She looped her hair behind her ear and smiled up at him. "In about an hour," she said. "The delivery gets there around 4, I want to be there early to run through some stuff and double check all the papers," she explained.

"Good," he said and leaned over to press a quick kiss to her lips. "Then I can sit and relax with my two favorite girls in the whole world," he said and dropped onto the couch with a sigh.

"For as many places as there are to eat here, you wouldn't think it would be so busy at lunch, but it is a Friday, I s'pose," he commented as he lifted Amy up onto the couch next to him.

Roxy leaned against him happily as Amy climbed onto his lap and started to play with the buttons on his shirt. She looked up at him and shrugged. "The food here isn't so bad, and if the Cafe's full then here is the ideal place, especially seeing as you can get a decent drink here," she said. "If the market traders are drinking coffee and tea from the Cafe all day then they are going to want a change at lunch time aren't they," she smiled.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad it's over and I have a chance to rest before putting myself at your disposal," he said to her with a grin and slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close for a kiss.

JT sighed and looked at the clock.

"Guess we should head over there now," he suggested. They didn't want to be late for the delivery. He hauled himself to his feet and put Amy on the floor after giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and went to make sure Peggy was still in the kitchen.

She looked up from the newspaper she was reading as JT came in.

"We're heading over to the club now to get the delivery. Amy's in the front room," he told her and she nodded and stood up before folding the paper. She picked up her cup of tea and a sippy cup of juice for Amy and went in and sat down on the couch.

"See you later," Peggy said and patted Roxy's leg before turning her attention to Amy.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Rowan led Maggie back to the table when she noticed their food was nearly ready.

Syed gestured at Nora to take the food over to Ray, Rowan and Maggie, which she did, asking Ray and Maggie if they wanted anything else to drink as she put the plates down.

Maggie shook her head at Syed as she took the place. "No thanks, I'm fine with water," she smiled as she raised her half-full glass. Ray nodded. "Couldn't get us a beer could you Nora?" he asked.

Nora gave Ray a cheerful smile and brought him back the beer he'd requested and went to busy herself cleaning and resetting the tables.

Ray looked up at Rowan and Maggie as they came back and chuckled as Rowan got back up and left again.

She slid onto the booth next to Ray with a sigh and then groaned and got back up again.

Ray accepted the beer from Nora with a grin and gulped a large mouthful back almost immediately. He pulled his plate towards him and started on his food eagerly as it was placed before him, much to the amusement of Maggie who was sitting opposite him. She looked down at the meal in front of her and shrugged to herself before tucking in.

"Be right back," Rowan said, trying to keep the annoyance from her tone. She was really getting tired of having to constantly go to the bathroom.

Maggie shook her head with a small smile. "I remember that," she said and Ray frowned.

"Remember what?" he asked and she smiled.

"Having to go to the toilet every 5 minutes when I was pregnant with you," she replied as she looked over to where Rowan had vanished. "Is she getting cravings at all?" she asked and Ray shrugged.

"None that I've really picked up, she's just been a bit OCD about cleaning recently since we knew you wanted to come down. But she has gone a bit girly recently," he sighed. "She never used to wear dresses or curl her hair, then suddenly it's like she's morphed into Alyssa," he grumbled.

"Her sister?" Maggie asked.

Ray nodded. "They see each other as sisters, they're really close and they tease Alyssa's husband Jack mercilessly when they're together. Poor guy can't catch a break, but he does set himself up for it," he chuckled. "But Lyss is a proper girly girl, she works in a Salon and everything, never a hair out of place and all that," he grinned. "Suddenly Rowan just seemed to turn like that, not that I mind now, but at the time it was a bit of a shock," he smiled and shook his head.

Rowan came back and nodded before sitting back down next to Ray again. She glanced at Ray and ran a quick, teasing hand over his thigh while his mother was looking out the window and smirked at him before casually picking up her fork and starting on her food. She really hoped the recent barrage of kicking that she'd had to endure the past two nights didn't happen tonight. She'd had to sleep with headphones on her belly to get any rest the past two nights. She was well looking forward to making up for lost time tonight.

Ray's leg twitched involuntarily at the touch of Rowan's hand and he looked at her briefly out of the corner of his eye, he was glad she had stopped, he didn't want any awkward situations in front of his Mam.

Rowan kept back her smile when she felt his leg twitch. She was glad to see Syed had given her small portions of the chicken and wild rice; she still couldn't eat much at one time. She ate her food and idly glanced around the room, her attention settling on Molly. There was something different about the way she was acting, but Rowan couldn't put her finger on it.

"So, we'll have the big grand tour tomorrow and the big dinner tomorrow night," Rowan began. "Any thoughts on what you'd like to do tonight?" Rowan asked. She had some nice playing cards, and some good movies, and there were always the photo albums and things. Rowan was hoping Maggie would want to stay in. She was tired from being up so early and wanted an early night so she would have plenty of time to ravish Ray before falling asleep in his warm arms.

Maggie looked over at Rowan across the table and smiled. "Well, seeing as the Grand Tour is tomorrow I'm going to want to be awake and able to made it around everywhere," she smiled. "So if you don't mind I'm gonna be wanting an early night," she said and Ray shook his head. "We don't mind, Mam," he assured her with a smile before pushing more food into his face.

Ray looked between them both. "So, quiet night in?" he asked and Maggie nodded agreeably. "Mind you.." Ray continued. "That's not such a bad idea," he said as he looked back at Maggie. "Give you time to settle in and unpack," he grinned.

Rowan nodded in agreement. "We can watch a movie or play cards or something," she suggested and glanced at Ray then shrugged and looked at her food again. She still couldn't believe she'd told Maggie about her parents. She had an idea that Gem might have told Ray, but Rowan herself hadn't told him the whole story. She'd thought about it, but she couldn't bring herself to. She knew how uncomfortable it made him when she cried.

She watched Ray eat out of the corner of her eye and worked her way through her own food. Yes, he was crude and rough edged, but he was a decent man and he was good to her and she loved him.

Ray shrugged noncommittally as he ploughed through his meal. Movies meant cuddling with Rowan on the sofa, and cards meant enduring his Mother's competitive streak. He didn't mind which.

Maggie smiled and glanced at Ray, she wondered if he knew as much about Rowan's past as she had just been told. She figured he had to. She nodded at Rowan, a night in with other people would be nice, she was used to sitting on her own with Tabby on her lap.

Rowan pushed her empty plate aside and leaned back in the booth and toyed with her napkin to keep herself from touching Ray.

"I can show you the pictures from our trip to Virginia," Rowan offered. "It was such a nice trip," she remarked and gave Ray a glance. A nice trip for more than one reason. "And he heard all the horror stories about me growing up and didn't jump on the next plane home," she teased and took his hand and squeezed it when he'd finished eating.

Ray swallowed his last mouthful and grinned at Rowan. He still remembered that trip.

Maggie nodded amiably. "I'm all for seeing pictures," she smiled. Ray chuckled and leaned over to Rowan. "Mam's never been out of England, in fact, she rarely leaves Manchester."

Maggie folded her cutlery on her plate and looked at Ray indignantly. "I'm here now aren't I? Does this look like Manchester to you!" she retorted. "And I don't leave England because I don't trust aeroplanes," she added. "As you well know."

Rowan held back a laugh.

"Well, he," she said and nodded her head in Ray's direction, "didn't look too terribly happy about flying in Junior's Cessna, but it was fine wasn't it?" She smirked at him then shrugged. "Cars make me nervier than planes," she added with a sigh.

Ray sniffed dismissively. "I was fine," he said in response as he looked between his Mum and Rowan again. He was curious to know what they had been talking about in the kitchen earlier, but wasn't going to ask, he got the idea that some of it would be about him and he wasn't sure he liked that idea.

She gestured at Nora to come take their plates and then pushed herself out of the booth.

"I still sometimes think I'm going to get stuck in there,"she joked and stepped back so Ray could get up. She thanked Nora then walked over to the cash register, counted it out and left a note for Syed how much she wanted left in the drawer for Saturday opening and to put everything in the safe, she'd do the books later.

Ray grinned at Rowan as she let him out and ran a hand down her arm as he waited for Maggie. He looked at Rowan as she went over to the cash register and took his Mum upstairs.

Maggie sat down on the arm chair in the front room as Ray took the sofa.

"You wanna coffee or something Mam?" he asked and she shook her head. "I'm fine," she replied and he nodded as he took up the remote and turned on the TV.

Rowan glanced over as Ray took Maggie upstairs and finished bundling the receipts and sticking them on the shelf under the register and then headed up. She saw Maggie sitting in the comfortable chair and Ray already switching on the TV. She shook her head and walked over to the desk in the corner and pulled out the photo album. She brought it over and handed it to Maggie and perched on the arm of the chair to answer questions and point things out in the photos.

She had almost forgotten how many photos there were. She also told Maggie about some of the stories from when she was growing up as she pointed out photos. Glancing over at Ray to encourage him to add anything.

She avoided some of the more embarrassing ones about herself that Ray had been told, however.

Maggie looked at the photos with interest, pointing at people she didn't know and asking curious questions about the people and places. She listened attentively to the stories that Rowan told her and found herself laughing.

Ray rolled his eyes at the pair of them but couldn't help the smile plastered all over his face. He listened idly to Rowan retelling parts of their trip, then sat back and relived certain parts in his head. He caught Rowan looking at him expectantly and chipped in, spilling out parts Rowan had missed and telling some of his own favourite parts.

Rowan looked up after they'd gone through the album and realized her mouth was dry. She got up and went to get herself a lemonade from the fridge and grabbed a beer for Ray.

"Maggie, would you like anything to drink?" she asked as she reached into the cupboard for a bag of crisps. She fought back a yawn. She thought she could manage one movie maybe before she wouldn't be able to keep her eyes open anymore.

Maggie shook her head. "No thanks, dear," she smiled as she settled back into the chair and looked at Ray expectantly. Ray sighed and tossed her the remote. "Don't put any gardening rubbish on," he told her as Maggie went straight to the movie channel and chose a Western.

Ray looked over his shoulder at Rowan and held his hand out for the beer she brought over and took the crisps off her too. He dumped them on the table and waited until she had put the lemonade down before pulling her into his arms on the sofa next to him and kissing her forehead. He dragged the table closer so they could reach without moving much and sighed contentedly.

Rowan smiled as Ray pulled her onto the couch and held her close. She leaned her head against him and sighed softly before taking a drink of her lemonade. She put it on the table and watched the TV blankly, trying to keep her eyes open, but Ray's warmth and presence was making it very difficult.

She sat for awhile and realized she simply couldn't stay awake. She sat up and looked at Ray.

"It's been too long a day for me, acuisle," she told him softly. "I'm going to bed."

She stood and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before walking over to Maggie and giving her a quick squeeze. She kissed the woman's cheek.

"Good night," she said to her and headed for the bedroom. She went inside the bedroom and closed the door behind her softly before stripping off the dress and unpinning her hair. She pulled on her oversized shirt and climbed into bed. She would wake up when Ray came to bed.

"Night, Ro," Ray called after her as he watched her walk away and Maggie waved at her.

Ray looked briefly at Maggie before turning his attention back to the TV.

Ray eventually let out a huge yawn as the film finished and looked over to see Maggie stretching and standing. He smiled as he gathered up the glasses and empty packets and took them through to the kitchen, then embraced Maggie and set off to the bedroom. He undressed, leaving his clothes in a heap on the floor and crawled into bed beside Rowan. He ran a hand down her side before pressing against her back and pulling her to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her temple before closing his eyes sleepily.

Rowan's eyes opened as she felt Ray climb in next to her. She reveled in the feel of him against her back and shivered as his hand traced down her side. She shifted and turned herself so she was facing him and gave him a long, soft lingering kiss. She broke it off, keeping her lips brushing his and kissed him again, harder. She put her hand on his cheek, sliding it back into his curls and then trailed her hand down to his bare chest.

Her lips moved to his neck as she pressed her palm flat against his chest. "Oh, Ray," she breathed in his ear, pressing her lips back to his neck and sliding her hand lower, down his belly and to his thigh, grazing her fingers teasingly across him as she did so. After two days, she wanted him so badly.

Ray shifted uncomfortably as Rowan kissed him. He didn't want to do this, his Mum was in the next room, he didn't feel comfortable with doing this with his Mum in the house. He gently reached down and pulled her hand off him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Not now, Ro, I'm tired," he said softly as he gently pulled out of her grasp.

He was willing to hold her while they slept, in fact he wanted to hold her while they slept. He didn't sleep very well when she wasn't in his arms. He shifted so that his arms were around her and kissed her lips softly. "Sleep, Rowan," he told her drowsily.

Rowan slipped from his arms, propped herself up and gaped at him. Since when was he ever tired? She furrowed her brow and studied his face. He was teasing her, like he sometimes did. That was it. Her lips curved into a smile as she leaned over and began to slowly kiss her way down his chest. If he was going to play hard to get, she knew how to make him give in.

Her hands trailed down to his waist and slipped into the waistband of his pants and she began to inch them down as her lips reached his belly.

"Ro!" Ray protested as he reached his hands down and yanked his boxers back up. No matter how much his body was responding to her he couldn't do this, not with Maggie in the flat with them. It made him feel uneasy and he didn't like it. He just wanted to sleep in the same bed as her. He gently stopped her kisses and eased her back and away from him. Ray shuffled down the bed until they were face to face under the covers and looked at her seriously. "I don't want to with my Mam in the next room" he whispered to her

Rowan widened her eyes at him. He couldn't be serious!

"You are joking?" she hissed back in disbelief. "All the places we've ever...that I've let you...Ray how old are you? How can...this is our home..." she trailed off and shook her head.

"Do you think she doesn't know how this happened?" she asked him and put his hand on her belly.

She knew she shouldn't be upset, but she could not believe what she was hearing. She gazed at him steadily, trying to keep the dismay from her face.

"Of course she knows how you got pregnant," he told her patiently. "She's been pregnant too, you know. I just don't feel comfortable with having her in the house while we're..." he trailed off and frowned.

"I just can't Rowan, okay," he told her and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry."

Ray shuffled in the bed until he was back up by the pillows and sighed as he shut his eyes. Maybe this time she'd let him sleep.

Rowan nodded slowly. She accepted it, but wasn't sure about what he'd said. Surely that couldn't be the real reason. She moved back to her pillow and glanced over at his back. Why wouldn't he have said something ahead of time if they couldn't while she was here? A warning would have been nice.

It must be something else she decided. It must be. She pressed a kiss to his shoulder and laid down and closed her eyes and hoped his mother's presence was the real reason. As odd as it was, she could handle it. It was the alternative she didn't want to think about.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Brett dug out his phone to check it just in case and frowned when he saw he had a text. Why hadn't he noticed? He sighed as he realised his phone had been on silent and read the text from Whit. He sent one back saying he was definitely up for it, then went back to his work.

Whitney read Brett's reply and sent off a text to Fatboy to tell him that Brett was up for the party. She then fired off a text to Molly about the party before finishing the clean up.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly finished stacking the dishwasher as she felt her phone go off in her pocket. She hastily pulled it out and read Whitney's text. She thought for a moment then sent one off to Peter seeing if he wanted to come, too.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Peter grinned and texted Molly back that he was up for anything with the love of his life and quickly shoved his phone back in his pocket as he walked into the chippy. He waved at Fatboy and went behind the counter to get the night register ready.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Molly rolled her eyes at Peter's text but smiled brightly as she set about emptying the dishwasher.

Whitney finished washing the last glass and sighed.

"Okay, see you tomorrow, Tracey," she said and headed out of the pub. She walked in the direction of the chippy, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she walked.

"Done working see you soon xx W," she sent to Brett and waved at Peter and Fatboy as she walked into the chippy.

"So, what about this party then?"

Fats grinned at Whitney.

"Sunday night innit," he said happily. Not only were he and Mercy going but Peter and Molly and Whitney and Brett. He had his little crew. Who needed Zsa Zsa, Lucy and Leon.

Whitney looked at Fatboy quizzically.

"I thought it was tonight, Fats," she said.

"Nah!" Fatboy shook his head "This weekend, Sunday," he said.

"Fatboy!" Whitney cried. "I thought it was tonight? So, now we have nothing to do tonight!" she complained. She took her phone back out. "And I told Brett it was tonight," she grumbled and sent him a text that the party wasn't until Sunday.

Fatboy grinned. "You shoulda checked first Whit," he grinned at her.

Whitney shook her head. "You were at the pub with me for your whole lunch, Fats, you should have said."

Fatboy grinned. "That's no fun though Whit," he told her.

"Sometimes, Fats, I hate you," Whitney snorted and gave his shoulder a playful shove before turning around and leaving the chippy.

"Come get me and lets find something to do," she texted to Brett.

Peter looked at Fatboy.

"I can't believe you did that, Fats," Peter admonished his friend. "For that, you can make yourself scarce tonight so I can have Molly over and the house to myself. You owe me," he said and leveled his finger at Fatboy.

Fatboy snorted as Whitney left and then waggled his eyebrows suggestively at Peter.

"Make myself scarce? Why P-dog? Whatcha planning?" he said with a knowing smile.

"Nothing, Fats, get your brain out of the gutter. I just want to spend some time alone with Molly without you and your mates banging around," Peter snorted and began to wipe the counter.

Fatboy grinned. "Suuuuurrreeee," he replied sarcastically and winked knowingly at Peter.

Peter rolled his eyes at Fatboy, but kept silent.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Roxy nodded at Peggy and kissed her cheek lightly before waving at Amy and grabbing a jacket as she went to meet JT downstairs. She took his hand and smiled at Whitney as she led JT outside the pub and started across the square

Sean looked up as he spotted Roxy come out of the pub and he made to sit up. He collapsed back against the bench with a scowl as the tall figure of JT followed Roxy. His gaze fell on their joined hands and his arms folded across his chest as he stalked them with his eyes.

Roxy felt herself tense slightly as she felt Sean's glare before she spotted him. She held her head high and ignored him as much as she could, clasping JT's hand as they crossed the square towards the club. She was glad that JT was coming with her.

Roxy let go of JT's hand as they reached the club and pulled the keys from her pocket to open the door and let the delivery guys unload their van into the Club. She picked her way downstairs and opened the office to go and check the paperwork.

Sean watched the pair of them disappear from sight, the scowl fixed on his face. Making a decision he stood and walked away from the bench.

JT felt Roxy's hand tighten on his and squeezed back and smiled down at her.

He watched her walk to the office and then turned to watch the delivery men bring in the crates and looked over the list and checked in the order. He signed off on it and took the invoice into the office and handed it to Roxy, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Roxy smiled up at JT and wound her arms around his neck as she kissed him. "I'll be done in a minute," she told him as she let him go and looked at the invoice she nodded, wrote a cheque and handed it back to JT.

"Will you give that to them please?" she asked him with a smile

Sean watched the delivery as it got unloaded, he knew JT was in the club with Roxy and he knew it would be unwise to try anything with JT around. Well, at least until Janine got her claws into him. He wanted JT well away from Roxy. Sean skulked toward the entrance to the club and followed one of the men down the stairs, watching out for JT or Roxy. He passed the office and peeked through the window then scowled in disgust at the sight of Roxy kissing JT. He clenched his fists but held his temper. He wandered past the unopened boxes and leaned against the bar.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

JT nodded and handed the delivery man the check and waved him off then turned and noticed Sean leaning against the bar. He kept his expression carefully neutral as he walked over.

"The club's not open yet," he told Sean, keeping his tone even and calm.

Sean looked at JT with immense dislike as the man paid the delivery guy and looked around the club interestedly. He smirked as JT spoke and held back the scowl as he looked at JT with a bored expression.

"I know," he said flippantly then grinned. "Is my wife around?" he asked.

"Roxy," JT called back at her. He had no intention of turning his back on this man to go and get her. "Someone to see you."

Roxy sighed as she heard JT's voice calling her. If those delivery guy were moaning about her cheque again then she was going to have a go, nothing else for it. She was not paying cash. She heaved herself out of the chair and made her way towards the bar. Why couldn't they just accept what she gave them, it was the right amount. She just wanted to get this stuff finished and go home with JT. She looked up as she came out of the office and felt her breath catch at the sight of Sean. Her steps didn't falter as she made her way to stand next to JT.

"What do you want Sean?" she asked warily.

"A job," he replied with a smirk.

Roxy frowned and folded her arms. "What makes you think I'd employ you?" she answered and Sean's smirked widened. "Because Rox, I've worked here before, I know what I'm doing and I look good behind the bar," he grinned.

"I don't need new staff," she said quickly and Sean shook his head. "Oh please, Roxy, I've been in her the last few nights and every time there has been one girl struggling to keep up with the amount of punters in here, you need new staff," he told her smugly.

Roxy unfolded her arms and sighed, he was right of course, she did need new staff. But she didn't want to hire Sean.

"And, if you don't agree to at least give me a try then I'll have no choice but to get onto the courts for discrimination," he said.

"Discrimination?" she gaped at him.

"Yes, you don't want me working here because you don't trust me, or rather, you don't trust yourself around me," he grinned. "I take it you haven't told him," he said waving vaguely at JT. "About our little meeting in the alleyway?" he said with a grin.

JT furrowed his brow. Since when did Roxy need more staff? He knew Doug and Sarah still worked at the club, Ronnie had said both were good, and James still willingly gave extra cover anytime they needed it since he wasn't working early mornings at the restaurant anymore. Ffion had taken over doing that.

This was just Sean trying to worm his way in. No doubt Sean thought Roxy was here all the time, which she wasn't. He fought the urge to forcibly remove Sean from the club.

His eyebrows went up at the mention of the alleyway and he looked at Roxy and then back at Sean. He'd had enough.

"You can leave now," JT said, his deep voice rumbling as he fought his temper. He wrenched Sean's arm behind his back and frog-marched him to the door and shoved him out.

"She has a full staff and she also has the right to refuse service. I suggest you stay away," JT warned and his hand clenched as he waited. He wouldn't hit the man first, but he would defend himself if Sean attacked. He let the door slam shut behind him and stood in front of it to block Sean trying to go back inside.

Sean struggled in JT's firm grasp and scowled as he was thrown outside. If JT hadn't had been there then he would've got the job! Sean sneered at him as he moved forward.

"I don't suppose she's told you what happens whenever she bumps into me has she?" he said. "You might think that she doesn't want me around, but actually, she does. She wants me and she's scared of how much she wants me," he told him.

He looked back at the door that JT was guarding then smirked as he turned and walked away.

Roxy watched JT marched Sean out and went to sit on the nearest bar-stool. She leaned on the bar, closed her eyes and sighed. She hadn't told JT about what had happened in the alley, she'd avoided the subject like the plague, and JT hadn't pressed the subject either. She knew Amy had mentioned it because she had been getting inquisitive questions from her daughter about Sean; questions that she had answered as truthfully as she could; questions that she had discouraged.

She opened her eyes as she heard the door slam shut and looked towards it, waiting for JT to come back. Nothing. She supposed he was still outside. With Sean. Roxy sighed again as she slid off the barstool and headed back to the office to finish up. She wanted to go home.

JT watched Sean finally walk away and let out the breath he'd been holding.

He slipped back into the club, firmly locking the door behind him and went over to Roxy.

"He's gone," he told her. "Don't let him scare you anymore, Roxy. I won't let him hurt you. Tell me if he bothers you or Amy again. If the police won't do something to keep him from harassing you, I will," he promised and pulled her close.

Roxy leaned against him and fastened her arms around his waist. JT seemed to have got this idea into his head that Sean wanted to hurt her. She knew that wasn't what Sean wanted to do. What Sean wanted was her, her and Amy. Sean wanted life to be like it was before he kidnapped Amy, and before he faked his own death. She couldn't go back to that just because he'd decided to turn up after so long! She had moved on, she had JT! She wasn't sure that she wanted that life back.

She buried her face into JT's chest and breathed him in as she hugged him tightly. He wanted her to tell him whenever she ran into Sean? What if something else happened between her and Sean? She couldn't tell JT about that! Roxy pulled away from him and gave him a weak smile

"I'll just finish this and we can go," she told him as she turned back to the desk and put all of the papers back into order. She turned to him once everything was filed again and slid her hand into his. "Home?"

JT held her close and sighed.

He looked down at her and nodded. "If he scares you or bothers you at all, let me know, Roxy."

He watched her as she worked and then smiled when she was ready to go. He opened the door and smiled as he saw Sarah and Doug standing there, Sarah holding up her keys.

"Hiya, JT, hiya, Roxy," Sarah greeted.

"Hey, Sarah, hey, Doug," he said to them and slipped past.

Doug gave JT and Roxy a quick wave and headed inside.

Roxy sighed as he stopped the hug and nodded at him mutely. "Okay," she told him with another attempt at a smile.

She smiled at Sarah and Doug and waved at them briefly as she took JT's hand. She glanced around for Sean and felt calmer when she couldn't see him around.

JT slipped an arm around Roxy and held her tight as they walked back to the pub. He felt greatly relieved when he didn't see Sean around. He was beginning to get worried about Roxy. He didn't like how she looked almost ill when Sean was around. He pondered over Sean's parting words. Did she look like that because she did want him back?

He quickly led her upstairs when they got back to the pub and pulled her into their room and sat her down on the bed. He sat next to her and touched her cheek to make her meet his gaze.

"Roxy, do you..." he trailed off and took a deep breath. "Sean gave the impression that...well...I just want to know...do you want him back?"

Roxy took a sharp breath in at JT's question and met his gaze. She stood up off the bed and moved to the door, pausing once she'd reached it and pulling it open a fraction. She turned to look at him and bit her lip as she studied his face.

"Please don't ask me that," she whispered. She opened the door wider and slipped out of her room and went to look for Amy.

JT stood up as she rose and watched her as she walked to the door, feeling ice begin to creep through his insides.

'Please don't ask me that,' echoed in his head as he watched her leave the room and felt the ice close around his heart. That was as good as a yes. He sighed and dropped onto the bed again. He stared at the wall and then got to his feet and headed out of the room. He went downstairs and out of the pub without a word to anybody and began to walk.

Roxy found Amy and swept her daughter into her arms. She hugged the girl to her tightly until Amy began to struggle and protest in her embrace. Roxy put the child back down on the sofa where she was sat watching cartoons and went over to the window. She had heard JT go downstairs and could see him now, outside. She was confused about what she wanted. IT was all Sean's fault, if he hadn't turned up then she would still be happy with JT. She was still happy with JT, or had been until he had asked her the question that she had been dreading. The question that she didn't have a clear answer to.

She looked over at Amy and went and joined her on the sofa. Amy climbed into Roxy's lap and sat there happily as Roxy focused on plaiting Amy's hair to keep her mind off JT and Sean.

JT walked around the Square, head down, hands shoved in his pockets. He thought about going to the restaurant to talk to Aunt Rowan, but she had Ray's mother over and no doubt she didn't need the intrusion right now.

He walked to the cafe, sat down and drank cup after cup of coffee until he knew the pub was closed, then walked slowly back and crawled into bed without a word to Roxy.

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Ffion felt a great relief wash over her once Bradley came home. She rushed over to him and flung herself at him, much to his surprise.

He wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, yes, just glad you're home," she murmured against his chest. She raised her head and looked at him.

"Let's move to Cardiff," she blurted out.

Bradley's eyes widened and he looked at her.

"What?"

"You heard. Come on. You can start up a mini-cab there, I'm sure a couple of my brothers will help you get started. There's some lovely places around where my family lives we could rent...or even buy a little house," she said, trying to keep the desperation from her tone and merely sound excited. "C'mon, what do you say?"

"Ffion, I don't know, that's a big step. Can I think about it?"

"Sure, sure," she replied quickly. She couldn't pressure him about it or he'd want to know why. "I'll make us something to eat."

/\\/\/\\\/\/\\/\\/\\/\\\/\\/\\/\/\\/\/\\/\/\\\/\/\

Brett looked down at his phone with a grin at Whitney's text and went and got in his car. He drove to Walford and parked up outside the pub and texted Whitney where he was.

Whitney grinned as she ran up to Brett and hurriedly climbed into the car.

"Let's go have some fun. I need a night out."