"Oi, Mitchell!" Tyler shouted walking along Bridge Street to where Katy was leaning against the pole of the stall talking to Whitney who had just taken over from the pregnant teenager. She glanced towards him, noticing Whitney rolling her eyes as he approached.
"What d'you want?" She asked calmly, not letting her friend see the small smile that crept over her face.
"Dad asked Roxy if he could borrow some stools from the club and she said yeah and you'd let us in." He said with a shrug, his hands in his pocket. Katy sighed, glancing at the time on her phone.
"What, now?"
"Well, yeah…"
Katy nodded. "Alright." She glanced at Whitney and pulled a face, walking away in the direction of R&R. "I knew they only gave me a key to the club so they wouldn't have to do stuff like this."
As soon as they were around the corner, Tyler grinned and kissed her. "Fancy going to get some lunch?"
"You're terrible." Katy said with a smirk. Then she nodded. "Sure. We'll have to go somewhere else though… too much hassle around here."
As they walked along the street towards the tube station Billy and a woman with a file in her hands came up the steps from the flat he was living in. She watched as they passed by, wondering what could be going on. Then she spotted the 'For Let' sign outside and wondered if that had anything to do with it.
Noticing that she seemed to be deep in thought, Tyler slipped his hand into hers, interlocking their fingers. Katy jumped at the contact but grinned up at him, before glancing around nervously.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Katy shook her head. "Nothing. Where are we going, then? Somewhere nice I hope."
"Of course. What else!" He said with a grin.
Tyler insisted on paying for the tube tickets and wouldn't tell her where they were going. Katy was worried that it would be somewhere fancy because she was hardly dressed for anywhere posh. Then again, looking at Tyler, neither was he.
"This way." He said with a grin as they got off the train and headed out of the station. Katy sighed and smiled, allowing him to lead her along by her hand. Katy's mobile started ringing as soon as they got through the doors and out onto the street. "Don't answer it!"
Katy shot him a look and accepted the call, holding the phone at her ear. "Hello?"
"Preggers, it's Lola." The familiar voice said. Katy exhaled sharply.
"I do have a name, you know." She said. "What is it?"
"Did you grass on me?"
"Did I what?"
"Did you tell that old guy I burned his stuff?"
Katy pulled a face, turning away from Tyler slightly. "No, of course I didn't… why?"
"He came round here before the social worker arrived threatening to phone the police. I thought it must have been that little maggot Liam, but he said it wasn't."
"Well maybe he told someone else. It weren't me." Katy threw Tyler a quick glance and then hissed into the phone. "This isn't a good time… I really have to go. I'll see you later."
"Who was that?" The boy asked as Katy returned the phone to her pocket. She just shook her head.
"Boring family stuff. It's not important." She said, lacing her fingers through his once more. "Come on, I'm starving."
It turned out that Tyler was planning on taking her for a picnic. They bought sandwiches and drinks and headed to a park where they sat on the grass and watched the people around them. There was a play-park full of small children who were running around, playing with the equipment and laughing. Katy felt her gaze drawn to them as she lay on the grass rubbing her bump gently. Tyler propped himself up on one elbow looking at her intently. The girl had her eyes closed and was tracing a pattern on her stomach with her fingers.
"How long is it now?" He asked. Katy opened one eye and looked at him questioningly. "'Til the baby is born?"
"Oh… two months." She said lazily, closing her eyes again. The sun was hot and it felt nice on her face.
"D'you know what it is?"
Katy grinned. "A baby."
"Don't be an idiot, K." He said, smirking. "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"A girl… Ruby." She told him.
"That's pretty." He said nodding. Tentatively he put his hand on her stomach, just above where her hand was. Almost instantly the baby kicked and Tyler moved his hand, shocked. Katy laughed and replaced it. Ruby kicked again and this time he laughed as well, rather than recoiling. "Wha–"
"Katy?" A voice said from somewhere above her. The teenager shot up into a seated position, glancing wildly around. Her mouth almost dropped open as her gaze settled on two faces that she would never have expected to see, let alone there.
"A-Auntie Peg?" She stammered, staring at the woman almost in horror. "Ben… what are you doing here?"
The small blonde woman raised an eyebrow. "I think, darling, the question is more what are you doing here? Our house is just round the corner… don't you recognise it?" Katy looked around and realised that yes, she did recognise where she was. She'd walked past this park with Ben and James in his pram when they'd been staying with her before.
"Oh… yeah… of course." Katy said, shaking her head and smiling. "Umm… Auntie Peg, Ben, this is Tyler. Ty, this is my Aunt… step-mum… well, this is Peggy Mitchell and Ben. You know, Phil? This is his son."
He looked a little confused. Suddenly Katy realised how hard it was to explain her family dynamic to anyone who didn't know them. With a shrewd look, Peggy smiled at Tyler, who stood up and held out his hand politely. The pregnant teenager found this amusing, but didn't say anything. Ben was glaring at him fiercely.
There were a couple of minutes of small talk, before Katy plucked up the courage to make a request. "Auntie Peg… please don't tell anyone you've seen us."
"Why?" Peggy was instantly suspicious and Ben's glare got darker.
"It's nothing bad… it's just… well… Tyler is Michael's brother and with everything that went on Ron and Rox aren't massive fans of the Moons at the moment. And we haven't actually told anyone about… well, us… so we'd rather you didn't mention it."
"If you don't want us to say, we won't. Right Ben?" Peggy promised. Ben didn't look happy, but he nodded reluctantly. Katy hugged them goodbye wondering when she'd see them next. Their meetings were never very regular.
As Ben hugged her he whispered, "If he hurts you, I'll get him, alright?"
Katy smiled and replied in just as low a voice. "I'm counting on you."
"Oh!" Peggy called over her shoulder as they walked towards the exit. "I want to hear as soon as that baby is born, alright?"
"Promise." Katy said smiling.
Tyler smiled and stood up. "That was… interesting. I don't think Ben likes me much."
"He's just protective, don't worry." Katy said with a shrug as he helped her to her feet. "Actually… maybe you should worry… he's not long been out of prison for GBH."
As Tyler glanced at her quickly, trying to work out if she was joking, Katy just raised her eyebrows and grinned.
