Their first few days back on Albert Square went past in a bit of a blur. Katy had decided to act as though she had never been away and, in that spirit, the only person other than her father that she'd specifically been to visit since her return to Walford was Dot.

The young woman had frowned as a middle aged man had thrown open the door of her grandmother's house and stared out at her. With an even deeper frown, she had asked whether Dot was in and, when he'd asked who wanted to know, Katy had taken an immediate dislike to him.

"Katy!" Dot had beamed as she pushed past him impatiently and stalked into the living room. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Grandma." Katy bent to press a kiss to her cheek, before settling herself beside the older woman on the sofa. "I'm back. We're back."

"Oh, that's wonderful! I expect your father is pleased."

"He is." She agreed. Opening her mouth to ask how her grandmother was, Katy met the eyes of the man who had opened the front door and scowled. "Can we help you?"

"Oh, Katy, this is Stuart." Dot introduced him, smiling as the man moved forward with his hand outstretched and a grin on his face.

Katy looked him up and down, arching an eyebrow. "And you are?"

"Manners, Katherine." Dot chastised her immediately.

"Nah, she's alright." Stuart smiled. "It's good to know she's looking out for you." He moved to sit in the armchair. "Mrs Branning is very kindly letting me stay here for a while."

"Rent free?"

"Katherine!"

"Fine, fine!" Katy held her hands up at the scowl on her grandmother's face and sighed. "I'm sorry, this was just a fleeting visit, Grandma. I've got lots on, but I wanted to see you before you found out we were back from anyone else."

"I appreciate it."

"Ruby wanted to come with me, but I'm on my way to the bar, so– oh! I haven't told you. I bought The Albert on Turpin Road. I'm re-branding and re-opening it as R&R."

Dot smiled fondly. "Ronnie and Roxy would be so proud of you."

"I hope so." Katy replied softly. Then her expression turned serious and she briefly glanced in Stuart's direction. "If you need anything – and I mean anything – you call me, Grandma, OK?"

"Thank you, Katy."

"I'll see you later."

Shooting the man another suspicious look, Katy left the house and headed in the direction of Turpin Road, making up her mind to find out as much about Dot's lodger as she could. The workmen were already at the bar when she arrived, waiting to bombard her with questions as soon as she stepped foot over the threshold.

Katy had a very clear vision of how she wanted her bar to be. Rubbing her temples as she listened to the electrician listing issue after issue. Vaguely wondering whether a bunch of cowboys had done the wiring the last time it was revamped, Katy stopped him mid-rant and shook her head.

"Just do what you have to do. But I really don't think that a complete rewire is necessary. I know that this place passed the inspection in 2016 when my uncle had it checked, so unless you're telling me that that report was wrong, I don't see how there could be this much of an issue now."

He stammered something about regulations, but Katy shook her head and informed him that she'd be getting a second opinion if that was the case. Furrowing his eyebrows, Katy heard him muttering about her under his breath as she strode away, moving to speak to the decorators about her revised plans.

"Are you sure you want the circular sink unit in the bathrooms?"

Katy nodded. "Yeah. It's the one my mum and aunt chose for their club. I want the same."

"But it makes the space–"

"I don't care. Take out a cubical if you have to."

"Right, and the main colour scheme?"

"Red and white, like I said, yeah?"

"Definitely no alterations? Gary's going to get started on the upstairs later."

"Fab." Katy grinned, glancing at the time on her phone. "I've got some suppliers and stuff to chase up. Is the office usable?"

"Yeah, should be no problem."

Smiling, she headed up the staircase, dodging workmen and tools alike until she reached the door that led into the office space. Although the situation she was currently in was one that she had been dreaming of and planning for a very long time, it was bittersweet because she had always imagined her mother and aunt as part of it.

"Mum?"

Katy glanced up, smiling at her daughter as she saw who was standing in the office doorway. The smile dropped slightly as she realised that the seven-year-old appeared to be alone. "Where's Granny?"

"I don't know. At home maybe?"

"Ruby!" Katy grabbed her phone and immediately dialled Glenda's number. "What have I told you? You can't just wander off whenever you feel like it." As the call was answered and her grandmother immediately started babbling apologetically, Katy sighed. "Relax, she's here. Yeah, I know. I know, Gran. It's not your fault. Yeah, alright… see you."

"I got bored."

Rubbing her forehead exasperatedly, Katy sighed and put her phone on the surface of her desk. She pointed towards the sofa in the corner of the office, arching an eyebrow at her daughter as Ruby rolled her eyes and flounced towards it.

"Ruby, you cannot just leave when you're bored. Granny was really worried about you." She explained, trying to stay calm. "It's dangerous for you to be wandering around without knowing where you are, or anyone else knowing either."

"Mum." She sighed deeply, as though she were the parent. "I did know where I was going. You brought us here yesterday, remember?"

"Of course I remember." Katy frowned at her. "But that's not the point."

"I just wanted to make sure you were OK. Granny said you were really tired."

"Oh, Rubes… I'm fine, baby, I promise." Her mother gathered her into a tight hug. "Honestly, I'm absolutely fine."

"But Granny said–"

"Ruby, Granny's just fussing again. I promise you I'm fine." She looked at her daughter sternly. "But I won't be fine if you wander off when Granny's supposed to be looking after you. What if something happened to you, angel? What would I do then?"

"Sorry, Mummy."

Katy sighed, pulling the little girl into her side. "Just don't do it again. Please."

"OK." Ruby peered up at her hopefully. "Can I stay here with you?"

Nodding, her mother pressed a kiss to the top of her head and walked back to her desk. She text her grandmother quickly, telling her that she'd keep Ruby at the bar until she went home, before turning back to the seven-year-old.

"It's gonna be boring." She warned her. "I've got paperwork to do."

"I can help you."

"It's all bills and boring things. I need to call some suppliers to order the stock for the opening." Katy furrowed her eyebrows; pausing to read an email from the company she'd ordered promotional fliers from. "It's… it's just gonna be really boring. Maybe I should call Granny…"

"No! I wanna stay with you. Please?"

"You're going to get bored."

"I won't."

Katy exhaled sharply. "Fine. But you'll have to be quiet."

The little girl grinned, flopping back against the sofa cushions and watching her mother as Katy turned her attention back to the email she was composing. With a soft smile as she met Ruby's eyes, Katy remembered sitting in a very similar position when she'd been much older than her daughter was now, watching Ronnie working on the club accounts or complaining about any number of suppliers or employees.

"I'm gonna be just like you when I grow up." Ruby told her determinedly, as though she could see where her thoughts had drifted.

"You should aim higher than this, sweetpea." Katy chuckled, remembering her own mother telling her something similar. "You can do whatever you want to."

"I want to do this."

Pretending to consider her for a moment, Katy nodded. "Well, in that case, I've got a really important job for you."

Ruby's face lit up. "What is it?"

"We need posters to advertise the opening." She sighed theatrically. "I don't know how people are going to know about the bar otherwise."

"I can do that!" The seven-year-old announced excitedly. "I can do a poster!"

"Can you? That would be amazing. You'd be doing me a massive favour, Rubes."

Grinning to herself, she scribbled down the information her daughter needed to copy down onto the poster and settled her with some paper and pens. As she returned her attention to her own work, she smiled fondly at Ruby's determination.

"Katherine? Is there anything else the girls need for school?" Glenda asked, keeping a firm hold of the reigns attached to her grandson and twin great-granddaughters. Katy laughed whenever her grandmother insisted on using them, but Glenda was adamant that it was the only way she would return with the same number of children as she left with. "I've got the uniforms and new shoes. Can you believe Matthew's gone up two sizes since October?"

"No, I can't." Katy replied and Glenda knew that she wasn't really listening. "They can use their old bags. I'm not buying new PE kits, either. Their old ones are fine."

"What about the t-shirts with the logos on?"

"OK, fine, new t-shirts, but that's it."

Glenda sighed, choosing her next words carefully. "Are you sure you want to invite your father over for dinner tonight? We've only just moved in, nothing's settled and you're so busy that–"

"Yes, Gran, tonight." Katy replied firmly. "I need you to ask him whether he and the kids can come over at about six."

"But–"

"Please… it's been so long. We're home now and I just want to move on."

Glenda nodded, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment. "You're right. We're almost home so I'll go straight over."

"Thank you."

Pushing her phone into her bag, Glenda directed the children towards Jack's house. Her frown deepened as they approached, the events of the last few months they'd lived there flooding her memory and sending a sharp pain straight to her heart. The children had no such hesitations about setting foot inside, excitedly banging on the door before Glenda could stop them.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Jack's voice reached them from inside and Glenda couldn't help a small smirk twisting her lips. "What do you–?"

"Hello, Jack."

"Glenda."

The tension between the pair was so palpable that even the children noticed it, looking up at Glenda as she stared at her son-in-law. A weak smile appeared on her face. Immediately Jack relaxed and allowed himself to smile back.

"It's good to see you."

Glenda chuckled. "Watch out, Jack. You'll be telling me you missed me, next."

"I wouldn't go quite that far," he admitted, "but it is good to see you."

"Grandad Jack!" Jess grinned at him delightedly, grabbing onto his leg.

"Hello, my princesses!" He beamed, scooping both twins into his arms and hugging them tightly. Crouching, he set them down and reached out to ruffle Matthew's hair. "Hi, buddy. How're you?"

"Is Amy here?" Jess asked. "And Ricky?"

"Yeah, they're upstairs. D'you wanna go see them?"

Nodding vehemently, all three children set off up the stairs as soon as their grandmother released them, the thundering of feet dying down as they reached their destination. Glenda glanced at Jack as they were left alone on the doorstop. She shrugged.

"They don't actually remember you, or Amy and Ricky."

Jack nodded slowly. "I missed them. I missed all of you."

"Katy wants you to come round for dinner tonight. At six. You and the kids."

"We'll be there."

"I'd better–"

"They can stay here… if you want? I'm sure you've got lots to get on with. Moving is a hassle."

Glenda smiled, genuinely grateful for the offer. "Thank you, Jack."

"See you at six."

Deciding to do as Jack had suggested, Glenda set about emptying the few remaining boxes in her flat. Standing back to survey her work, she smiled triumphantly, before glancing at the ceiling and sighing. Climbing the stairs, she let herself into Katy's flat and shook her head at the piled boxes littering the floor space. She didn't think her granddaughter had emptied a single box since she'd moved in.

Starting in the kitchen, she worked her way steadily through the boxes marked for there. If Katy was planning on cooking for the family, she would need things to do it with. Then Glenda paused, realising that her granddaughter was probably hoping that she would have dinner under control before she got home.

As she'd suspected, Katy appeared at quarter to six, laughing gently at Ruby who was chattering away about something or other. When her granddaughter smiled innocently and asked what was for dinner, Glenda swatted at her arm and rolled her eyes.

"Is Grandad Jack coming over?" Ruby asked hopefully, looking between the two women.

"He is." Her great-grandmother agreed, shooting Katy a look. "Now, go and watch TV or something while your mum and I have a conversation."

"Thank you." Katy mouthed at Glenda as Ruby skipped off to do as she was told.

"I also made dinner." Glenda continued, arching an eyebrow at the younger woman. When Katy just smiled sweetly back, she rolled her eyes. "I hate you."

"No you don't, Gran."