"Katy!"

Jay jogged across the Square to catch up with her. The young woman paused, fumbling in her bag for the keys to the R&R, as he rounded the gardens and came to a halt beside her. Arching an eyebrow, she looked at him closely, her eyes roving over his face.

"Why d'you look so cheerful?"

"Am I not allowed to smile on such a lovely day?"

Katy frowned. "No. It's weird. Why are you being weird?"

"I'm not being weird." He argued, before nodding his head towards the café. "Fancy a coffee?"

Curious as to what could possibly have put him in such an obviously good mood, Katy nodded wordlessly and followed him inside. She smiled at Kathy, making her way to the back of the room and finding a table where they would have less chance of being overheard. Jay joined her a couple of moments later, setting a mug of coffee and a bacon sandwich in front of her.

Arching an eyebrow at the sandwich, Katy tilted her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Nothing!" Jay chuckled, holding up both hands. "Just had a bit of good news. Brilliant news, actually."

"Go on…"

"OK, but you cannot say anything to anyone. Understand?"

"Alright, alright. I promise. So spill…"

"Lola's pregnant."

Katy almost choked on her mouthful of coffee. "She's… what?"

"Yeah, she told me yesterday."

"Is… is she OK with it? Is it… yours?"

Jay smile dropped for the first time since she'd seen him. "Of course it is!"

"Alright, sorry! I just had to ask."

"Did you? Really?"

"Jay, people never stopped asking me who the girls' dads were."

"Well, it's totally different, ain't it? You didn't know."

"I fucking did." She snapped. "I just didn't particularly want to tell anyone else."

"Alright, alright. But it is totally different. And it is definitely mine." Jay told her firmly.

"Well then I'm really happy for you Jay." Katy assured him, leaning back in her chair and grinning. "Welcome to the club. How's Lola feeling about doing it all over again?"

His face clouded a little. "I dunno… she didn't seem keen, if I'm honest."

"It's a lot to get your head around, Jay. It's OK for you; you're not the one who has to carry it for nine months and then push it out of your–"

"Yeah, OK." He held up a hand. "A visual I really didn't need there."

"And trust me, if you thinking having one kid is hard, two or three is almost impossible." She continued, enjoying the expression on his face. "I mean, one gets ill and the other one decides to catch it too. One wants attention and so the other has to out do them. Multiple new pairs of shoes, clothes, toys… then they start school and you think it's gonna get easier, but actually it just harder and harder."

"You're really selling this." Jay muttered, wrapping his hands around his mug and looking a little sulky.

Katy grinned at him. "Just giving you the facts, babe."

"It wasn't something I was immediately on board with, either. I had to get my head round it, too."

"I get that. I bet it was a bit of a shocker."

"Yeah, well… you can't say anything to anyone, right? Even Lola."

"My lips are sealed."

"If anyone can keep secrets…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Jay laughed. "You know exactly what it means."

"I thought you wanted me to keep my mouth shut? You're going completely the wrong way about it, Jay."

"Look, I didn't mean anything by it, alright?"

"So… how far gone is she?"

"I dunno… like I said, she just did the test yesterday."

"Wait," Katy furrowed her eyebrows again, leaning forward and looking at him seriously, "I didn't realise she only found out yesterday, too. That must mean she's really early in the pregnancy."

"Well, yeah… I guess."

"Jay… babe, a lot can happen early on." She told him gently. "I'm not… I don't want to dampen your good mood, but there's a lot that can go wrong. You probably shouldn't go round shouting about it just yet."

"Yeah, I know." He shrugged. Then he sent her a sheepish, slightly embarrassed grin. "But I wanted you to know. You're like my sister, ain't ya?"

"Feeling's mutual, you know that." Biting her lip, Katy wrapped her hands around her mug. "Jay… Lola does want this baby, right? She ain't gonna turn round and tell you she's getting rid?" When he didn't answer, just shrugged and looked down at his drink, she sighed. "Babe… have you told her that you want it? Like… actually laid it on the line?"

"Well, no…"

"Don't you think you should?"

"I just… I dunno, K. What if she…?"

"Look, if Lola doesn't want to keep the baby – if she's got a valid reason – then you're just going to have to accept it and support her. You know how tough she's had it and, like I said, it ain't easy bringing up more than one kid. But she does need to know how you feel about it too, babe."

"Yeah… yeah, you're right."

As he stood, tugging on his suit jacket nervously, Katy reached out and squeezed his hand. "Call me, anytime, yeah?"

The next few days dragged. Katy got stuck in a routine that she couldn't seem to shake herself free of. She would do the school run, awkwardly avoiding Alex and anyone else who so much as glanced in her direction, go to the bar, pick the kids up and then go back to the R&R until closing.

Jay had popped over to inform her that Lola had deciding that it wasn't the right time for them to have a baby and Katy had comforted him. She understood Lola's choice, although she privately thought that if she'd had someone as kind and supportive as Jay she wouldn't have made that decision. As he left, saying that he was going back to work, she picked up her phone and stared down at the lock screen thoughtfully. The smiling faces of the girls and her brothers and sister stared back at her as she made up her mind.

"Ritchie? It's Katy." She moved to the door and made sure it was firmly closed. "Have you heard anything from Tyler's solicitor?"

"I was going to call round later this afternoon. I've had a request for you to attend a mediation session."

"You what?"

"He can't apply to take the case to court unless he can prove you've tried mediation and it's failed, unless…"

"Unless what, Ritchie?"

"Unless he says there's been domestic abuse or social services involvement."

"But… he can't, because there hasn't." Katy pointed out. When Ritchie didn't immediately agree, she frowned. "What?"

"The tone of the email suggests that he possibly wouldn't be above doing one of those options." Ritchie admitted reluctantly. "As long as there would be no truth in the matter, then he wouldn't have a leg to stand on."

"Of course there's no truth in it! I'm assuming they'd be suggesting that I've abused him, which is bollocks."

"Are you sure that it really needs to come to this, Katherine? Is there no way you can talk it through and come to some arrangement? Until recently–"

"Isn't that what mediation is for?" Katy replied sarcastically.

"So I can tell them that you agree to it?"

"I haven't exactly got a choice, have I?" She muttered irritably. "If I don't agree to it, then it sounds as though it'll just make things worse for the kids. Has he not considered what it would be like for them if he calls social services on me or has me painted as an abuser?"

"It would work in your favour later down the line."

"Fine, I'll do it. But I've made a decision."

"Are you sure this is something you want to say out loud… to me." Ritchie sounded as though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear it.

"Yeah, I've thought about it a lot." Katy assured her determinedly. "If this carries on and we do end up with a court order, I want everything thrown at Tyler that we can find. Nothing's out of bounds."

"Katherine, are you sure you've–?"

"I'm serious, Ritchie. He is not getting my kids."

With assurances that she'd do as Katy instructed, the solicitor ended the call. Clenching her hands into fists at her sides, the blonde paused for a moment, before grabbing hold of the nearest thing and hurling it at the far wall with a scream of anger. The stapler smashed into pieces as it connected, showering staples all over the sofa.