Katy locked up the R&R in a daze, running on autopilot rather than really knowing what she was doing. She hurried home, letting herself into the house and going up to her flat. As she'd suspected, Glenda had fallen asleep on her bed, the television still playing softly in the background as she shook her grandmother awake, more roughly than she intended.

"Wha–? Katy, what? What time is it? Are you alright?"

"They're back, Gran. They're alive." She blurted, unable to think clearly enough to form a coherent sentence. She paced the room, running her hands through her hair as she went. "I knew it… I told you!"

"Katherine?" Glenda sat up, resting against the headboard and frowned at her. "Are you…?"

"Mum and Aunty Roxy… they're here. They came into the R&R. They faked their deaths. They've been in Ibiza. They saw us in Ibiza… or me, anyway, and I…"

Glenda almost scowled at her, clearly thinking that she was talking nonsense. "What are you talking about, Katherine?"

"Gran… they're alive."

"How…? Why…?"

"Gran!" The younger woman shook her head, burying her face in her hands and bursting into anguished sobs. "They stayed away… they stayed away for two and a half years and I… what if I'd died? What if I'd never seen them again?" She gripped Glenda's arm tightly as she wrapped her in a hug, clinging to her grandmother as though she was the only thing stopping her drowning in her emotions. "I hate them. I really, really hate them. I wish… I wish they'd never come back."

Glenda shushed her quickly, rocking her and brushing the hair away from her face. "No, you don't, sweetheart. You could never hate them."

"I do!" Katy sobbed petulantly. "I hate them."

"Are they really back?"

Nodding, the younger woman blinked at her a couple of times. Apparently believing whatever she could see in her granddaughter's expression, Glenda drew in a deep, rattling breath and tears sprang to her eyes. She sobbed, unable to stop herself, before clutching Katy more tightly to her and burying her face in the younger woman's hair.

For a long while they just stood together and cried, unable to believe what was happening. Glenda still wasn't entirely sure what was going on but knew that Katy was telling her the truth. She knew that the younger woman wouldn't have made something like that up, let alone been so upset if it was just some trick or joke.

"What do we do, Gran?" Katy asked at last. "They're back and I… I can't… how am I supposed to trust them?"

"Don't do anything hasty." Glenda counselled her gently. "You need to get some sleep; tomorrow I'll tell Kathy you're ill and she'll have to cover you. We'll take the kids out for the day, OK? Get away from the Square for a bit so you can think."

"Thanks, Gran. That would be good." Katy exhaled slowly. "But then… I'm not going to let them dictate our lives. They can't expect me… us… to drop everything. We've got our lives, Gran… they're just going to have to deal with it."

Glenda nodded slowly, watching her carefully. Saying goodnight, she started towards the door, until she felt Katy's hand wrapping around her wrist. Turning back to look at her questioningly, she found herself fixed with a pleading expression and sighed, knowing what her granddaughter was about to request before she even opened her mouth.

Smiling weakly, Glenda settled herself on the bed before opening her arms and allowing Katy to curl into her side. Running her hand through the younger woman's hair a couple of times, she pressed a kiss to Katy's forehead and closed her eyes, guessing that neither of them was going to get much sleep that night.

Katy was up before Glenda on Monday morning, much to the older woman's surprise. She walked into the kitchen to find her granddaughter scrubbing at the already spotless counters almost feverishly. Gently taking the sponge from her hands, she propelled her into a chair and moved to boil the kettle, doing her best to keep the concern off her face. Glenda knew that Katy wouldn't take too kindly to that and, if she wanted the younger woman to cooperate, she needed to keep her onside.

"What d'you fancy doing today then, my darling?" Glenda asked lightly, placing two mugs of coffee on the table and sitting opposite her granddaughter.

"Not sure… I just… I wanna get out of Walford for a bit."

"OK, Southend it is, then." Glenda nodded decisively. "A day on the beach, bit of sea air… it'll do us all a world of good. You go and wake the kids, I'll make sure Kathy knows she's covering you."

Nodding meekly, Katy wandered in the direction of the bedrooms showing no enthusiasm for the plan at all. Neither of them felt the need to mention that they'd spent most of their week in Ibiza on the beach. Glenda tapped her mobile against her lips for a moment, wondering how best to cheer her granddaughter up, before calling Kathy and asking for her help. Her friend wasn't pleased, but she did agree to cover Katy until Tina turned up to cover her later on.

Already dressed and ready, Glenda moved across to the front window. Peering out onto the Square, she wondered whether she should believe her granddaughter's words the night before after all. If her daughters really were alive, surely she'd feel different. Yesterday she'd believed they were dead and now she'd been given hope that perhaps that wasn't true after all. She understood why Katy was struggling to come to terms with it, despite the fact that the younger woman had held onto her hope while everyone else told her it was pointless. Anger bubbled inside her as she thought about it, causing her to ball her hands into fists at her sides.

"Mummy says we're going to the beach. Are we?" Jessica asked, appearing at her side and peering up at her hopefully.

Glenda cupped the small brunette's cheek and smiled indulgently. "We are indeed, sweetheart. You can have anything you want today. My treat."

"Chips and ice cream?" Matthew demanded, as though he thought she was just tricking them.

"Chips, ice cream and sweets, if you want." She agreed instantly.

The children cheered, rushing to throw their arms around her tightly. Glenda laughed and pressed kisses to the tops of their heads, before pushing them back in the direction of their bedrooms to finish getting ready. Alone once more, she directed her gaze out over the gardens again.

"If they're sick, you're dealing with it." Katy announced, the hint of a smile on her face.

Pleased to see that she had cheered up a little, Glenda shrugged. "You can have chips and ice cream too, Katherine."

"Well, obviously." Katy smiled weakly. "Thank you, Gran."

"Anything for you, my darling."

Reaching out, she cupped the younger blonde's cheek for a moment before pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then, gently pulling back, Glenda smiled at her for a moment, before moving away to hurry the children up.

They left the flat and crossed the Square quickly, the children asking why Katy was making them walk so fast. She didn't relax until they were on the train, heading out of Walford and towards the seaside. Jessica chattered happily to her mother from the seat beside her, Sophie leaning into her as she curled up on her lap. Opposite them, across the table, Glenda was reluctantly allowing Ruby to show her a game on her phone (which Katy was still annoyed with her father for buying) while Matthew stared out of the window from his seat on his grandmother's lap, incorrectly announcing that he could see the sea every couple of minutes.

It was obvious that Katy's mind was elsewhere for the majority of the day. She smiled and laughed in the right places, but there was something behind her eyes that made it very obvious to her grandmother that she was thinking about something else. It didn't take a genius to guess what that was.

"Mum, can we have chips now?" Ruby asked, skidding to a halt beside Katy's towel and showering her with sand.

Glancing at the time, her mother stretched lazily. "It's about time we should be getting home now, so–"

"Granny promised!"

"If you'd let me finish," Katy requested reproachfully, "I was about to say that we could get chips when we get back to the Square. We can do chips and movie night."

"Oh, OK." Ruby beamed at her. "Thanks, Mum."

Grumbling half-heartedly about her children being spoilt brats and it being all Glenda's fault, Katy started to gather their things. As the children came running over at her shout, she bundled them into towels and rubbed the worst of the sand and seawater off them. Glenda walked up the beach behind them, at a much more leisurely pace, rolling her eyes as Katy threatened to wrap her in a towel as well.

On the journey home, all four children dozed off, causing the two blondes to exchange amused glances. Some of the tension had lifted from the younger woman over the course of the day but, the closer they got to Walford, the more obvious it became that it was back in full force. Glenda struggled to think of something to say, to reassure her that everything would be alright, but she failed. She was also a little concerned that anything she did say would be overheard by one of the children and, clearly, Katy wasn't in a hurry to tell them about Ronnie and Roxy's return.

"I'll go to the chippy and meet you at home." Katy offered once they stepped through the turnstiles and out into the street.

Glenda nodded, guessing that she wanted five minutes peace, before herding the children in the direction of the house. She briefly wondered whether it was such a good idea, but knew she could trust her granddaughter to be sensible. Besides, she highly doubted whether Katy would go looking for her mother considering the state she was in. Either way, she would give it a little while before she started worrying.

Katy was almost in a daze as she ordered and paid for their dinner. The girl behind the counter had simply smiled and asked whether she wanted the usual, so she didn't even need to think about it. That, however, gave her the chance to let her mind wander over where Ronnie and Roxy were and what they were doing. She wondered whether they'd seen Jack, Amy and Ricky yet. Surely her dad, or her brother and sister, would have tried to speak to her if that was the case. Then she wondered whether she should give Jack a head's up before they dropped the bombshell on him.

Grabbing the bag, barely remembering to thank the girl, Katy rushed in the direction of the gardens. She was about to head for Number 27 when she remembered that the children were starving and waiting for their dinner. Biting her lip, she decided to take the food home and then go out and speak to him afterwards. At least then she wouldn't alert Matthew or the girls to anything going on.

"Last day before they're all back at school, eh?" Karen called across to Katy as she walked up the steps of Number 43. "It's been a long six weeks."

The younger woman started, not having expected to be spoken to, before turning to look at her. "Oh, yeah. Not gonna know what to do with myself."

"We should start up a single mum's club or something. We could drink and complain about men and kids."

"Don't tempt me." Katy laughed, although she severely hoped the woman was only joking.

Letting herself into the flat, she took the food into the kitchen and started plating up, calling out to the children and Glenda as she did so. There was an immediate rush and she smiled fondly as four pyjama-clad children barrelled into the room and started grabbing at plates as though there wasn't enough to go round.

"Not hungry, darling?" Glenda asked, stealing a chip off Jessica's plate as she passed and laughing softly at the indignant 'oi!' that she received in response.

"I'll leave mine in the oven and eat it when I get back." Katy told her, passing her grandmother her plate. "I need to pop over to Dad's."

"Katy, if anything had happened today I'm sure your father would have–"

"No, I know, but if they haven't… I feel like I should give him a head's up." She sighed. "I can't settle, I'm sorry. Maybe if I go and see him I'll be able to relax a bit more."

Not happy about it, but guessing that she wouldn't be able to change her mind, Glenda nodded and watched as Katy hurried out of the flat.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! :)

Bennie, I don't think you're a psycho at all! Although, coming from me that probably doesn't mean much! I like your idea a lot... you'll just have to watch this space!

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