"How was the holiday?" Ronnie asked, beaming at her daughter and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She set a mug of coffee in front of the younger blonde, before settling herself opposite her at the table. "Nice tan."

"Yeah, it was good." Katy agreed with a small smile. "It was… normal."

"To most people that wouldn't be a good thing."

"Ahh, but to anyone around here, normal is what we all strive for."

Ronnie snorted. "It's not that bad."

"Yeah?" Katy shrugged. "What's new round here, anyway? Where was Aunty Rox rushing off to?"

"She's got a new man." Her mother replied, chuckling and raising her eyebrows.

"Really? Who?"

With a shrug, the older woman turned her attention to her bag, pulling out an envelope and setting it in front of her daughter. "Just some guy from one of the suppliers we use. This came to the flat for you; you need to change your address at the hospital."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Katy, you know how important it is."

"I will, OK?" She huffed.

"What does it say?" Ronnie asked, watching as her daughter's eyes flicked over the letter quickly.

"Give me a minute, will ya?" Katy requested softly. "They want me to go in for some tests."

"Why?" Ronnie immediately paled a little. "You had blood tests before you went away. Have they shown something?"

"I don't know, Mum. I'm sure it's nothing. I feel fine."

"You always say that, whether you feel fine or not. They must have found something."

"Honestly, I don't feel ill at all." Katy assured her. "It'll be OK."

Reaching out, the younger woman covered her mother's hand with her own and squeezed it gently, before pushing the letter back into the envelope. Folding the envelope in half, she pushed that into her jacket pocket and did her best to completely forget it existed. She knew that Ronnie wanted to push the issue, to ask questions about what the letter actually said and what would happen next, but Katy didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about it. She looked around the café for a moment, smiling warmly at Tiffany as their eyes met across the room.

"So… what else has been going on around here? What've I missed?"

Knowing that her daughter was fishing for information about her parents' relationship, Ronnie shrugged. "Not much, you know what it's like."

"Right…" Katy shot her a disbelieving look, before remembering something. "Oh… how's Ricky been?"

"Ricky?" Ronnie frowned. "Fine, as far as I know, why?"

"He… he was having a bit of trouble the last week of term. His teacher called me in to talk about it."

"Trouble?"

"Nothing major… he just wasn't himself."

"Did you ask him about it?"

Katy rolled her eyes. "I tried… but he clammed up. He did mention you and Dad, though."

"You think…?" Ronnie's eyes widened and she leant closer, lowering her voice. "You think he knows something about me and Jack?"

"I have no idea, Mum, but it makes sense."

"Oh god…"

"Dad needs to make a decision, Mum. This isn't fair."

"I know, but I–"

"It's been months. He's had so long to actually decide what he wants and tell Denise it's over."

Mouth dropping open, her mother blinked. "You think Jack would choose me?"

"Of course he will." Katy rolled her eyes. "You're meant to be together."

"I don't think…" Ronnie sighed. "I know you want us to be together, Katy, but I honestly don't think Jack will choose me. After everything…"

"You're just… giving up?"

"I'm making a mature and rational choice."

Katy rolled her eyes. "You're giving up."

"No, I'm not. There's no point fighting something that isn't going to work." Ronnie told her sadly. "You were right… I'm being selfish. I'm not giving Jack the chance to be happy with Denise, I–"

"Oh, come on, Mum." The younger woman laughed softly, shaking her head. "Give over. This isn't you; you are selfish. You and me both. Since when did you give up on something or someone you wanted?" Katy demanded, folding her arms across her chest. "What happened to the Ronnie Mitchell who dragged me along to crash a wedding because she thought Dad was getting married to someone else, eh?"

"That was a long time ago, Katy…"

"But you and Dad belong together. You've been on and off so many time that you–"

"So have you and Tyler." Ronnie pointed out bluntly. "What makes me and Jack different from you two?"

Katy smiled wryly. "You still love each other."

"And you and Tyler don't?"

"No." She shook her head and smiled. "It's just… easy and familiar and comfortable, but it's not love. It's not as scary as letting someone new in, because I can predict Tyler. I know that he's gonna get cold feet and run at the first sign of things getting tough. It's what he does."

"That's not fair."

"No, I know… and it's not all his fault." Katy admitted. "But it shows that whatever we had, it wasn't real enough for him to grow up and stick around."

"And you think that what me and Jack have is?"

Sighing, her daughter drained her coffee and gathered her things to leave. "I guess we'll find out."

"When will Dad be here?" Ruby demanded, moving to peer through the front window onto the Square.

"I don't know, OK?" Katy replied. "He said about two, alright?"

"But what time is the flight? What if we're late?"

"I'm sure he'll be here in plenty of time."

"Did you tell him what time to come?" The eight-year-old demanded. "Did you say he could only come just in time to get us?"

"Of course I didn't. He told me what time he'd be here."

"I bet you did! You don't want us to go on holiday with Dad and Alicia."

"That's rubbish!" Her mother snapped, running a hand through her hair. "If I didn't want you to go, you wouldn't be going, aright?"

"You're so mean to Dad!"

"Ruby, you're giving me a headache, so cut it out."

Moving to stand in front of his girlfriend as Ruby stared at her, clearly offended by her tone, Isaac rubbed her upper arms soothingly. "You wanna leave them with me?"

She exhaled sharply and shook her head. "I wanna be here when they go."

"You sure?"

"Yeah… I can't let them go off for a week without saying goodbye, can I?"

"Right… well you wanna go and put the kettle on before you fall out with Ruby before she goes?" Isaac suggested, sending her a meaningful look. "You don't wanna send her off with her dad in a bad mood, slagging you off, do you?"

Katy clenched her jaw and nodded sharply, heading out to the back of the house and leaning heavily against the counters. She let her eyes slip closed as she thought about the truth of what Isaac had just said. Katy wasn't entirely sure when and why Ruby had started to blame her for everything and put Tyler on some sort of pedestal, but she didn't like it at all.

Briefly wondering whether she and Ronnie would have gone through the same struggle if she'd grown up knowing her parents, Katy set about making the tea. She handed a mug over to Isaac, sending him a weak smile, before dropping onto the sofa and turning on the TV. She ignored Ruby's impatient pacing for a while, before suggesting that she sat down and waited instead.

"Ruby… you don't really think I'd stop you seeing your dad, do you?" She asked after a moment or two. When her daughter just shrugged, not meeting her eyes, Katy sighed. "I wouldn't do that, sweetie. I know you love him and I wouldn't ever do anything to hurt you. You must know that?"

"What if I wanted to go and live with him?"

"I…"

"Mila lives with her dad."

"I know, I…" Katy flicked her nail against the handle of her mug agitatedly, forcing herself to stay calm. "Why do you want to go and live with him?"

"I don't really, I just wanted to know what you'd say. You won't even let us go to his flat!"

"It's not that I won't let you." Her mother informed her, clenching her free hand into a fist. "Of course I would let you. But Dad and I have agreed that until he finds a better house sleepovers aren't the best idea."

"Why can't we have a sleepover with him here?"

"That's not going to happen, Rubes." Katy replied firmly.

"But that's not fair!"

"It's perfectly fair. This is my house and as soon as he finds somewhere else, you can–"

"They're here." Isaac interrupted apologetically, spotting the car pulling up outside.

Before Katy could say anything, her eldest daughter had raced to open the front door, beaming at Tyler as he climbed out of the driver's side and leant on the roof, grinning back. Barely sparing her mother a second glance, not even responding to Katy's goodbye, Ruby slid into the back seat already chattering excitedly to her dad's girlfriend.

"Everything OK?" Tyler asked, turning to look at his ex once their bags had been loaded into the boot and the twins had been secured into the back. "You and Ruby fallen out or something?"

Forcing herself to laugh lightly, she shook her head. "Oh, you know Ruby… eight going on eighteen. She didn't get her own way and now I'm enemy number one."

"I'm sure she'll come round before we even get to the airport." Tyler assured her, reaching out and rubbing her arm. "I'll get her to phone you when we land."

"Thanks, Tyler."

"No problem."

He smiled at her again, before moving round the car towards the driver's side once more. Katy moved backwards to stand beside Isaac, smiling at him as he looped his arm around her shoulders.

"Have a good time."

"Thanks… see you in a week."

Waving them off, Katy turned to look at her boyfriend, arching an eyebrow at the expression on his face. Isaac chuckled, leaning in and kissing her quickly, before heading up the steps and waiting for her in the doorway. As he beckoned her towards him, a broad grin on his face, Katy laughed and followed him inside quickly.