"Will you have a word with Callum?"

Katy frowned. "About what?"

"Your cousin."

She frowned again. "Uhhh? Which one?"

"Ben." Whitney snapped. "He's too nice for his own good and it's gonna get him into trouble."

"What? Ben is?"

"No, you idiot. Callum is!"

"I'm really confused." Katy admitted, leaning back in her chair and shaking her head. "What are you on about?"

Whitney made a sound of complete frustration and threw her hands up in the air. "I ain't got time for this. I've got a meeting with Lister about my new stall. I'll have to explain later.

Nodding, although it was pointless as her friend wasn't even looking at her anymore, Katy watched as Whitney rushed out of her office. She had absolutely no idea what the younger woman had been talking about but, considering Ben was involved, she severely doubted it was anything good.

Katy sighed in frustration. She didn't have time to deal with other people's problems at the moment. Phil had been on at her to speak to Louise, to impress on her how difficult it had been to have her girls so young. Katy had outright refused, reminding him that her kids were her life and she would never tell anyone otherwise.

Finally, though, she had been relieved to find out that Phil had apparently made his peace with the fact that the eighteen-year-old was pregnant. He had announced that he was throwing a family dinner and wanted everyone in attendance. Glenda had hastily pre-empted her granddaughter's demands that she also attended, by announcing that she was going out for dinner and drinks with Kathy and, seeing as Katy's rotas were non-negotiable, they wouldn't be able to rearrange. Rolling her eyes, her granddaughter had given in without arguing and stomped off to get Matthew and the girls ready.

"So what's the occasion?" Billy asked about half an hour later, taking his seat beside Janet once everyone else was settled comfortably.

"Yeah? We celebrating something?" Lola asked, handing the wine bottle to Katy, who filled her glass without hesitating.

"Family." Phil announced proudly. Katy rolled her eyes, contenting herself with taking a large gulp of her drink rather than saying anything.

"What we having?" Jay asked, noting the expression on his cousin's face and changing the subject.

Louise pulled a face. "Not fish again?"

"Please, God, no." Honey agreed.

"I've only just got over the last one."

"That was wicked," Dennis grinned broadly, "them big eyes."

"Right, well, we were gonna have Thai, but I thought it might be a little bit… spicy."

"I'm fine with spice." Louise assured him.

"Well you know, just in case."

The door closed, announcing the arrival of the missing Mitchell. Ben apologised as he entered the room, catching several eyes before focussing on his father. "Sorry, I had a meeting."

"That's alright." Phil assured him quickly. "Better late than never. Sit yourself down here next to me, yeah." The young man smiled as he settled himself in the empty seat. "Right, well, like I was saying, we were gonna have Thai, but instead we're gonna have one of my legendary fry ups."

"Lovely…" Honey's expression clearly said that she was thinking the opposite.

Katy took another gulp of her wine. She wished that she and the kids had gone to Walford East with her grandmother instead. Mitchell family dinners weren't her idea of fun at the best of times, but at least they normally got a decent meal out of it. Glancing towards the end of the table, however, she realised that Matthew and the girls were having a lovely time with Lexi, Janet and William. Katy sighed, smiling weakly at Lola when she nudged her in the ribs.

"What d'you reckon all this is about, then?" Lola asked in a low voice as Phil moved to bring in their dinner from the kitchen.

Katy shook her head. "God knows… I can't believe you talked me into coming."

"I didn't want to come on my own!"

"Billy, Honey and Jay are here." The older woman pointed out irritably. "What d'you need me for?"

"Moral support!"

"Right, you lot, shut up a minute." Phil ordered, looking round at his guests. "So, the sausages are from Mum's old favourite butchers down in Stepney and the black pudding is from Monty's from Mile End. The twins used to swear by them."

"The twins?" Dennis asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"The Krays, darling." Sharon told him quickly.

"Provided most of the blood for them and all, I heard." Jay joked, causing Katy to snort into her wine while everyone else turned to look at him with varying degrees of non-amusement on their faces.

"Shotgun some of that!" Dennis said.

"So, ain't Keanu joining us?" Phil asked his daughter, changing the subject quickly.

"Oh, he said he had some overtime to sort."

Billy chuckled. "Slave driver, that boss of his."

"Hey, less of it!" Louise laughed too. "Every penny counts. "You can't blame a man for thinking about the future, eh?"

"Yeah well he… he ain't the only one."

Everyone turned their eyes on Phil curiously at his words, wondering what he was getting at.

"Phil?" Sharon's face fell and she looked at him, almost irritably.

"Sharon, I know what we said…"

"Said what?"

"Phil."

"We're family, ain't we?" He reminded her. "We don't have to tell everybody, but I think the family should know, shouldn't they?"

"Know what?"

"Dad?"

"Well, your… you're not the only ones planning for the future. Me and your mum are, too."

"What's that mean?" Dennis demanded.

"Well… you're gonna have a little baby brother or sister." Phil chuckled delightedly, apparently completely unaware that every other face in the room was not mirroring his feelings on the matter. "Sharon… Sharon's having a baby!" He laughed again, reaching for his glass. "To family – old and new!"

The rest of the assembled Mitchells joined in his toast, completely lacklustre in their enthusiasm for the news.

Katy made it through the meal, refusing to make eye contact with Ben despite the fact that he was doing his best to speak to her. As soon as they had finished, she made their excuses and hurried across the Square to her father's house. He was having Matthew and the girls for the night while Glenda was out with Kathy and Katy was at work.

Wincing as she entered the bar and locked eyes with Tina, the Mitchell was acutely aware of the last conversation they'd had. Motioning towards her office, Katy headed up the stairs and through the door, waiting until the older woman was settled on the sofa before sitting behind her desk. She smiled, slightly reluctantly before taking a breath.

"I owe you an apology."

"What's this?" Tina grinned. "An apology from a Mitchell?"

"Shut up, T." Katy rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, alright? I was out of order and I shouldn't have spoken to you like I did."

"Yeah, maybe, but it's not like you. What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it."

"You're my boss but you're also my friend, Katy." Tina reminded her. "If there's anything I can help you with–"

The blonde smiled tightly at her. "Trust me. You don't wanna get involved in my problems right now. It's far better for you if you steer well clear at the moment."

"You're not on your own though, right? There's someone you can talk to about… whatever this is?"

Katy nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Promise?"

She smiled. "I promise. But… thanks."

Tina didn't look convinced, but smiled and left the room to return to serving at the bar anyway. Katy sighed and chewed her lip, wondering which problem deserved her attention first.


"Katy? I need you to talk to Tiff." Jack's tone told his daughter that it was an order rather than a request. Katy leant back in her chair and frowned, listening to his voice from the loudspeaker of her mobile. "Summit's happened and she needs you."

"Summit new?"

"She saw the guy."

"The one who raped her?" Katy sat up straight at once. "Where?"

"Nah, you need to concentrate on your cousin."

"You ain't gonna do summit stupid are you?"

"You're warning me?" Jack laughed mirthlessly. "Just meet us at the park."

"What?"

"I'll explain when you get here."

Not wasting time, Katy was out of the office before Jack had even hung up. She didn't know what was going on, but the urgency in her father's tone was enough to tell her it was serious. Signalling that she wouldn't be long, the young woman left the bar and made her way hastily towards the park.

She spotted Jack and Tiffany at once, standing beside the hut and apparently hiding from someone around the other side. If Katy wasn't very much mistaken, Jack was either giving his great-niece a pep talk, or laying down the law.

"What's going on?"

"Fraser's over there."

"Fraser?" Katy frowned. Then understanding blossomed over her face. "Oh… the bastard who–"

"I don't suppose there's any way I can put you off?" Jack asked Tiffany.

She shook her head, glancing at her cousin quickly before taking a deep breath and walking past them in the direction of the picnic bench where her attacker was sitting. Katy frowned at her father, motioning past him towards the redhead, but Jack just sighed and shook his head.

"She needs to do it, Katy. She needs to face him and show him that she ain't scared; that he ain't beaten her. Surely you understand that."

"Of course I do… but she's just a kid, she–"

"You were just a kid too, remember?"

"Dad, I was never a kid in the way Tiff is." The blonde said, shaking her head. "Someone should have noticed… someone should have helped her."

"Yeah, I know." Jack closed his eyes in regret, before shrugging. "But we're here now."

They turned and watched the exchange, pride swelling in her chest as she watched her cousin standing up to the young man. As he took a step towards her, Katy flinched, unable to stop herself twitching in their direction. Beside her, Jack tensed, clearly preparing himself to intervene if the young man showed any signs of threatening Tiffany.

Finally, though, she walked back towards them and they were able to relax a little. Tiffany didn't stop; walking straight out of the park without saying anything. Jack and Katy followed, also wordlessly, until they reached the war memorial and the teenager dropped down to sit on the bench. She twisted her hands in her lap as her cousin and uncle settled themselves on either side of her.

"Your mum and nan would be really proud of ya." Jack said at last, breaking the silence.

Tiffany glanced sideways. "I never want anyone knowing about this."

"It remains with us." Jack promised. Katy nodded, smiling gently at the teenager.

"I just wanna get on with my life." Tiffany told them resolutely. "You know, it's done. It's finished."

Katy reached over and squeezed her hand supportively, before realising that Jack's attention was somewhere over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what he was looking at. As her father leant forwards a little, watching something closely, Katy couldn't help herself turning and following his gaze.

Immediately she realised the cause of his anger, spotting the young man who had attacked Tiffany larking about with his mates, throwing chips at each other. Katy's eyes snapped back to Jack's. They looked at each other, an understanding passing between them.

"I'm gonna go and see if Bernie's around." Tiffany said suddenly, making the others jump and fix their attention on her at once.

"You sure you're OK?" Katy asked, still concerned about her.

"Not yet." The redhead admitted. Then she smiled. "But I will be. See ya later."

Watching as she walked away, immediately buried in her mobile, Jack and Katy remained seating on the stone for a moment. Then the blonde looked at her father knowingly, earning herself a long sigh and an exasperated stare.

"What?"

"You're thinking of doing something, ain't ya?"

"Someone's gotta teach scumbags like him a lesson."

Katy chuckled. "I thought you were into grassing people up these days?"

Jack sent her a dark scowl. "Leave it out, Katy."

"What's your plan, then?"

"You ain't getting involved in this. You've got enough trouble at your door."

Briefly wondering whether he'd found something out, Katy shot him a sideways look. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The bar, Tyler's wedding… I know you're still worried Dean's gonna come back."

Katy wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, well… Tiff's family, ain't she? Family comes first."

"Not this time. You leave this to me."