A/N: Thank you so much to everyone reading and leaving comments. I genuinely love reading your thoughts and predictions - especially as I've written a few chapters ahead and feel like maybe some of you seem to know exactly how my mind works 😂

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

"We should book a holiday."

Katy opened one eye and glanced across at Isaac in bemusement. He was propped up against the pillows, scrolling through his phone and apparently completely ignoring the fact that his girlfriend was attempting to sleep.

"We as in me and you or we as in me, you and the girls?"

"Whichever." He shrugged, not looking away from his phone. "You looked after Matthew, Amy and Ricky when your parents both had to go away the other week, surely they'd look after Ruby and the twins if they don't come with us."

Snorting, the blonde shook her head. "I'll let you tell the girls we're going away without them."

"I'm quite happy to take them with us."

Glancing at him in disbelief, Katy snorted again. "Really? Isaac 'I only ever go on lads holidays' Baptiste? You're seriously telling me you'd be happy to go to a resort with a kids club or stay at a villa where we'd either have to take the girls out with us in the evening or stay in?"

"Katy; I'm with you, you have kids, the kids are part of my life now." He replied evenly, getting the feeling that she was trying to goad him into reacting. "I can hardly complain when you remind me things have got to change."

"As long as you're sure…"

"What?"

"What what?"

"What aren't you saying?" He asked, turning to look at her in frustration.

"I dunno what you're talking about."

Isaac scoffed. "Really? 'As long as you're sure'; what's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, all I'm saying is there's a big difference between a holiday with kids and a holiday with your mates. I understand if you're not ready for that yet."

"Sounds more like you're not ready for that yet. I mean you're the one making a fucking massive deal out of it."

Katy scowled at him. "Fine. We'll take the girls on holiday. Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Isaac muttered sarcastically as Katy turned her back on him and closed her eyes again.

Katy huffed and tried to force herself to sleep. Before she knew what was happening her alarm was blaring and she rolled out of bed before she found herself falling back to sleep. Isaac complained about her wriggling from his embrace, earning himself a light slap on the arm and an order to get up.

By the time he appeared in the kitchen – showered, dressed and ready for work – all three girls were seated round the dining table and Katy was handing Jessica her toast. She smiled and kissed him quickly as he dropped into the chair opposite Ruby's and went to fetch him a cup of coffee. He grinned, thanking her quickly before taking a long gulp.

"I could get used to this." He informed them, grinning at the girls.

"You're OK to take them to school with you, then?"

"What?" He blinked. "I've gotta be there earlier than they do and–"

"They can go to breakfast club, right?"

"Tilly and Kacey go to breakfast club." Ruby added helpfully.

"Right, that's sorted then." Katy agreed with a nod, ignoring the expression on Isaac's face that clearly told her that he thought he'd been bulldozed into it. "Hurry up girls, you don't want to make Isaac late, do you?"

She shot him a triumphant grin and returned to the kitchen to finish packing their lunchboxes, stuffing them into their backpacks and shouting for the girls to go and clean their teeth. When the familiar stampede up the stairs sounded, she went to clear the table, smiling at Isaac as she did so.

"You don't really mind taking them in, do you?"

Isaac shook his head, finishing his coffee. "Nah, I'll just drop them at breakfast club. It'll be fine."

"Don't take any crap from them, right?" She warned. "You know they'll try and push it. Make sure they don't cheek you."

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her against his body. "I think after the 'you have to call him Mr Baptiste' lecture, they got it."

"Yeah, well, just make sure they remember."

The chaos that ensued as they looked for shoes and book bags soon disappeared with the bang of the front door and silence reigned. Katy sighed, standing in the hallway for a moment before pulling herself together and going to get ready for work.

A couple of days later, when they had actually booked their holiday, they broke the news to the girls. Sophie and Jessica were delighted; making their mother mark the date they were going on the calendar in the kitchen so they could count down the days. Ruby watched Katy carefully for a moment, a suspicious frown on her face.

"But when are we going to see Gramps and Uncle Ant?" Ruby asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I dunno, babe." Her mother sighed and shrugged. "I haven't spoken to your dad about it."

"But it won't be the same time, will it?"

"No, course not. We'll make sure you get to go on both holidays."

"You promise."

"Of course." Katy nodded at her. "I always keep my promises, don't I?"

When Ruby grinned at her and skipped away, Isaac tilted his head curiously. Pre-empting his question, Katy sighed and pointed out that she had no idea if Tyler was even intending to take the girls to Spain, considering he hadn't mentioned anything about it.

"D'you think it might be a good idea to ask?" Isaac pointed out. "I mean, clearly Ruby'll be gutted if they don't go."

"Fine, I'll speak to him." Katy muttered reluctantly.

"I thought things were better between you?"

She frowned, giving a small shrug and starting to gather up toys and books that were strewn about the living room. "Doesn't mean we're best friends and I want to talk to him if it's not strictly necessary."

"I get that, but–"

"Look, I'll get in touch with him, OK?" Katy almost snapped. Seeing he was about to press her further she exhaled sharply. "I'll do it now, alright? Happy?"

Clearly wondering what had caused her mood to sour, Isaac shrugged and headed into the kitchen to let her make the call in peace. Katy scowled after him for a moment, before inhaling deeply and deciding to get the conversation over and done with.

"Hi, Tyler… you alright?"

"Yeah, fine, you?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering whether you were intending to take the girls to visit your dad over the summer?" She asked, keeping her tone as nonchalant as she could. "It's just that Isaac and I have booked a holiday and we promised Ruby we'd make sure she wouldn't miss out on seeing Anthony and Eddie because of it."

"Oh, right…" He seemed slightly taken aback. "I mean… I hadn't really thought about it."

Clenching her fist, Katy forced herself to bite her tongue. She had known that things were too good to be true. Clearly Tyler's claims that he wanted to spend more time with the girls had just been talk. Evidently he didn't have any intention of taking them on holiday.

"Fine… I'll tell them then, shall I?"

"No, don't…" He was clearly thinking quickly. "Look, when are you going away? I'll see what I can do about booking something–"

"I wouldn't want to put you out." Katy muttered sarcastically.

"No, it's just… with everything, I didn't think you'd agree to–"

"Don't you dare blame me for the fact you hadn't thought about it!"

"No, I wasn't!" Tyler defended himself quickly. "Just… when are you away?"

Katy exhaled sharply. "Flying out on the third, back on the thirteenth."

"Right… I'll speak to Dad and look up flights, alright? It'll probably be after you get back… towards the end of the month. Would that be OK?"

"Yeah, no problem, as long as they're back before Ruby's birthday." She replied firmly.

"Yeah, course… goes without saying."

Katy severely doubted Tyler had even considered that she would want her daughter to be back to spend her birthday at home. Then again, she wouldn't have even put it past Tyler to have forgotten that it even was Ruby's birthday at the end of the month. Agreeing to let him sort it and get back to her, Katy ended the call quickly.

She put off going to inform Isaac of the outcome of the call, not wanting to answer questions about how the conversation had gone or what they had agreed. Instead she pulled her laptop towards her and started doing some online holiday shopping, not in the mood to head up west and face the summer holiday shoppers. Wrinkling her nose as she glanced at the total price of her basket before she checked out, Katy barely glanced up at the sound of her boyfriend entering the room.

"So?"

"He hadn't even thought about it." Katy replied bluntly, finishing the transaction and shutting the laptop. "He's going to speak to his dad, look up flights and let me know."

"The girls will be pleased."

"Mmm…"

"What is it now?"

"Nothing."

Isaac fixed her with a disbelieving look. "You're not thinking he'll do something stupid like disappear with them?"

"Well now I am."

"He wouldn't though, would he? You said you get on alright with his dad and brother? Surely they won't let him do anything like that?"

"Nah, I don't think Tyler would." Katy acknowledged with a sigh. "I'm just fed up of all of this. The last few months he's been everywhere I look; people keep wanting to talk to me about him and I'm just done with it, alright?"

"Alright, fine." He agreed, holding up his hands. "I'm dropping it."