Making her way down the steps into the main room of Ruby's, Katy rummaged in her bag for her phone. She glanced up, catching sight of Mick sitting at one of the tables with someone who looked a lot like Frankie. She paused for a moment, wondering what he could possibly have to talk to the young woman about, briefly considering the possibility that he might have been fighting Tina's corner.

"Sweetie? You ready?" Ronnie called, approaching her daughter and smiling warmly at her as she jumped a little.

"Uh, yeah, sorry." The younger woman smiled back, not sure why stopping her mother noticing the pair sitting a little way off seemed quite so important. Something about it just didn't seem right. She hurried to catch up with Ronnie as she strode towards the tube station. "I'm ready. You?"

"Yeah, the only thing I need to buy is a new pair of trainers for Matthew. I swear your brother's feet are growing at an unnatural rate. This is his second pair of trainers since they went back to school."

"We should probably do that first, then?" Katy suggested, still a little distracted as they headed through the barriers at the station and up the steps. She glanced sideways at her mother underneath her fringe as Ronnie led the way along the platform to the waiting train. "I wouldn't mind popping into that new baby shop… see what brands they stock and that…"

Ronnie turned to look at her in amusement. "Why? The girls are getting a little old for…" As the smile dropped from her mother's face as she understood what Katy was trying to tell her, the young woman swallowed thickly and looked away. "You're pregnant?"

"Mum, I…" She clenched her fist at the disbelieving tone the question was posed in. "I never planned for…"

"You're actually…?" Taking a step closer to her daughter, Ronnie laid her hand hesitantly on Katy's stomach. "I thought you couldn't…"

"Me too." Katy half-laughed. "Apparently my body chose not to adhere to the rules of science." She placed her hand over her mother's. "I'm not sure who the father is."

Ronnie's eyes shot up to meet hers and she frowned lightly. "Tyler?"

"Yep."

"You're an idiot."

"I know." Katy agreed easily. "But me and Isaac are over anyway, so even when he finds out I cheated on him it's not going to ruin anything."

"You don't have to sabotage your relationships before they start going wrong, you know?" The older Mitchell said, pushing her arm through her daughter's and pulling her gently off the train as they reached the High Street.

"I didn't do it on purpose. I'm just… shit at relationships."

"You just haven't found the right person, yet." Ronnie told her, sending the young woman a soft smile.

"That's what Tina said."

Ronnie furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully, watching Katy carefully for a moment. Then she shrugged and smiled again. "So when are you due?"

"That I'm not sure."

"Sorry?"

"Dr Matharu told me I was pregnant at my appointment, but I was too shocked to ask any of the important questions." The young woman admitted. "I haven't actually got round to making an appointment, yet."

"Your oncology appointment? That was… that was over a month ago?"

"I know!" Katy held up her hands defensively at the accusatory tone in her mother's voice. "I didn't get my head around it until a couple of days ago… I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it."

"You weren't going to…?"

"I considered it." She admitted, knowing what Ronnie was asking. "Then I realised I could never have gone through with it. I'd never have forgiven myself."

With a sigh, Ronnie wrapped her in a tight hug, stroking a hand through her hair and pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"Are you going to Chantelle's funeral?"

Katy shook her head, draining her cup of coffee and glancing at her friend with a weak smile. "No. I imagine it'll be pretty horrendous, though."

"Mmmm…" Tina agreed, turning and leaning against the counters, drying her hands on the tea towel. "Where are you off to dressed like that, then?"

"The court for Whit's trial." She sighed and glanced at the clock. "I'm meeting Sonia outside in five minutes."

"I…"

"What?"

"I couldn't help noticing Nick was in your office again." Tina said, looking a little awkward.

"So? He works for me? That's not unusual, is it?"

"Yeah, but… he's in your office a lot." The brunette pointed out, still sounding a little uncertain about what she was saying. "Like, a lot. When he's not in your office he's staring at you."

Katy rolled her eyes. "Now you're being overdramatic."

"Is there something going on between you?"

"What? No!" She laughed, shaking her head. "No way. Don't you think I've got enough going on with Tyler and Isaac?"

"And Graham."

"Graham is long gone." Katy snapped. "Nick isn't in the picture… he never was. He works for me; that's all."

Tina held up her hands in defence. "OK, OK…"

"Honestly, T… I don't need any other blokes in my life at the moment. I'm just waiting for the right moment to get rid of the one I've got."

"Excuse me?"

Both women's eyes opened comically widely at the sound of Isaac's voice from the doorway. Slowly, they both turned to face him, seeing the man standing with his arms folded and scowling at Katy. Tina mumbled some excuse or other, before ducking past him and disappearing upstairs out of sight.

"Isaac… I'm sorry you heard that." Katy told him softly. "I was waiting for the right moment. I didn't want to upset you but… you've got to understand? You must know that this isn't working."

"So you've been talking to Tina about our relationship instead of me?" He demanded, taking a couple of steps towards her. Katy remained sitting on her chair at the table, watching him with an arched eyebrow. "Who else have you been talking to about us?"

"No one." Katy rolled her eyes. "Isaac, can you please just sit down so we can talk about this?"

"What is there to talk about? You've obviously made your mind up about this. Clearly I don't get a say in it."

"You really think there's something worth saving here?" The blonde asked, shaking her head. "You and me? We don't work, do we? We just… we're different. We're far too different. We want different things. If we stay together we'll just end up making each other miserable. More miserable than I think we both already are."

"Seems pretty clear the decision has already been made." Isaac snapped. "I'll pick up my stuff later."

As he turned and slammed his way out of the house, Katy simply sat and watched. Then, one hand resting lightly on her stomach, she swilled out her coffee mug and placed it on the draining board. She exhaled deeply, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment and feeling as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"You alright, babe?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Katy agreed, turning and smiling at her. "It's over… done."

"As simple as that?"

"Simple as that." The blonde agreed with a shrug. "There was no point dragging it out, was there? We both knew where it was heading and he didn't even put up any sort of fight – apart from being pissed off that I've spoken to you about it first."

"You sure you're OK?"

"Absolutely fine."

"Did you tell him about the baby?"

Katy shook her head. "I… no. I mean, I didn't want to tell him that I'm pregnant, but that it might not be his, before I ended things with him. I didn't want him to think that I was ending things because I want to get back together with Tyler or anything…"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I mean, I have to; even Isaac is gonna notice before too long."

"You got a plan?"

Katy sighed and shook her head. "No."

Tina nodded slowly, before pulling the younger woman into a tight hug. The blonde buried her head in her friend's shoulder for a moment, before pulling back and smiling weakly.

"I'd better get going. I'll get the Spanish Inquisition from Sonia if I don't hurry up."

"Alright… take it easy, yeah."

"I'm not the one facing a murder charge." Katy pointed out with a weak smile.

Grabbing her bag and jacket, she headed quickly out of the house. Sonia frowned at her, immediately pointing out that she was late, before almost pushing her cousin into the back of the waiting cab and directing the driving towards the court. Katy sat in silence, listening as the older woman chatted non-stop about where they were going, speculating on what might happen and what might be said. She was hoping beyond hope that things went in her best friend's favour; that the judge and jury would see sense and realise that Whitney wasn't to blame for what had happened.

"I'll get these." Katy said, smiling and holding out her bankcard in Tracey's direction and smiling weakly.

Karen shook her head. "No… I'm getting for everyone."

As she motioned over her shoulder at the table where her family were sitting, the younger blonde shrugged. "Doesn't matter; I'm still getting them."

"Thank you."

"Don't be silly." Katy smiled again, nodding at Tracey as she asked whether the Mitchell wanted her usual. She caught herself quickly and called after the barmaid. "No, sorry, Trace… I need to get going."

"So…?" Karen frowned in confusion, motioning towards the drinks.

"I just wanted to come and see how you are after today. I know how hard it must be. I just wanted to show my support."

"Thanks… I appreciate it."

"Gray was at Whitney's trial." Katy said softly, wondering whether the older woman knew. "He kicked off… he's probably done a lot of damage to her case." She saw the expression on Karen's face and winced. "Sorry… that was… that was insensitive."

"No, I… he should have been at Chantelle's funeral. He let her down when she… he should have been there."

"Maybe he couldn't face it?" Katy suggested, giving him the benefit of the doubt. Her words stuck in her throat as she remembered what he'd done that afternoon. "At least you and Mitch and the others were there. I'd have come if…"

"I understand. It's family, isn't it?"

Smiling softly at her, the younger woman reached out and squeezed her arm sympathetically before turning and walking quickly out of the pub without looking back. She paused in the doorway, taking a deep breath and letting her eyes slip closed for a moment as she collected herself. Then, painting on a smile, Katy made her way home.