A/N: Hi guys! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and sticking with this!
Just a quick head's up that updates might be even more few and far between for a while (I know, you're used to that!) because being a teacher of small children at the moment is absolutely bonkers. Between teaching the children in school face-to-face, live lessons and monitoring for those who are learning remotely as well as planning/preparing/recording videos/answering emails and everything else we have to do, it's literally been a case of work, attempt to sleep, repeat this week.
I will do my best to update when I can, but I can't make any promises when/how often that will be. Please bear with me!
I hope everyone is safe and well!
Katy had been less than impressed when Jack announced that his plans had changed and he, Amy and Ricky were spending Christmas with Denise and the Truemans. She demanded to know why he thought that spending the day with his ex-girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend was preferable to spending it with his actual family. Jack had rolled his eyes and told her that he wanted to show Denise some support considering it was Raymond's first Christmas with them.
The kitchen was a hive of activity at Number 28 as Glenda and Ronnie both tried to take charge of the cooking. Roxy made absolutely no attempt to help and Katy soon got bored of having them looking over her shoulders whenever she did anything. Instead, she dropped onto the sofa with her aunt and watched as the children caused chaos with the sea of wrapping paper and all of their new toys.
"Looks like you've finally managed to beat the kittens as best present they've ever been given." Roxy muttered, pointing towards the PS5 that had a gift tag that made it very clear that it was from Katy and had nothing to do with Santa at all.
"I dunno… they'll soon get bored of the PlayStation." Her niece admitted with a shrug. "Those cats are always going to be under my feet."
"And you love them."
"Yeah, maybe they've grown on me." Katy chuckled. "But never tell anyone I said that."
"Who are you texting every three seconds?" Roxy asked a couple of minutes later, her eyebrow rising as she caught sight of the younger blonde grinning at her phone. "Someone you need to tell Aunty Rox about?"
"It's just Tina… Christmas with Gray is just as fun as you'd imagine, apparently."
"I still don't get why she moved in with him."
"Me either… she said something about thinking it was for the best. I reckon Gray thought she'd have more chance of people believing she was innocent if she wasn't living with a load of Mitchells."
"Well that's bollocks. Who in their right mind would think Tina was capable of that, anyway?"
"Tell me about it…" Katy sighed, distracted as her phone screen lit up again. She laughed softly and tapped back a response, causing her aunt to nudge her with her elbow. "Oh, she was just saying that they bulked out the veg with potato waffles and Gray was really pissed off about it."
"Is Tina coming over later?"
Katy shrugged. "Probably not… but we're finally opening up the R&R tonight, so hopefully she'll be there."
"Your grand re-opening is on Christmas Day?"
"We need the money, Rox." Her niece pointed out. "Besides, after a day in with their families everyone wants a drink with their mates, don't they?"
"Oi, you two lazy bums!" Ronnie called from the kitchen. "Get the kids to the table."
"You heard the woman." Roxy said, standing up and ushering the children towards the dining table. "Let's go."
They settled themselves in their places, the women laughing as it took the twins several attempts to pull their crackers and, when they did manage, the plastic frog toy flew across the room and landed in the jug of gravy that Glenda was carrying. The older blonde rolled her eyes and set it down in the centre of the table, retrieving the floating toy and handing it to her great-granddaughter. Jessica grinned and licked it clean, earning herself several groans and a raised eyebrow from her mother.
The rest of the day was just as relaxed. Phil and the others called round later on – Lexi eager to show off her new bike – to drop off their presents and have a drink with the older members of the family. None of the Mitchells were particularly keen to go over to the Vic, recent events and distant memories preventing them feeling too comfortable there at the moment. Ben and Callum promised they were planning to head over to R&R for the re-opening later on, before they left.
Amy and Ricky appeared just before teatime, muttering about Denise's ex-husband and Jack staying to help sort something out. The women exchanged a look; particularly at the expression on Ronnie's face and the way she slammed her way into the kitchen to put the kettle on. Katy's siblings immediately took control of the PS5, setting it up and bickering over who would get the first go.
Katy was relieved when she had to say goodbye and head over to the bar ready to open up. She smiled warmly at the staff who were waiting outside for her, apologising for keeping them waiting and thanking them for coming in. None of them minded working on Christmas night, grateful that they were finally in a position to open up again and that their jobs were safe.
As soon as the customers started arriving they didn't stop. Katy was relieved that the bar was rammed far earlier than it normally would have been. She beamed at Kathy as the blonde popped in to see how the evening was going, assuring her that things were looking up for them both.
Boxing Day started slowly. Ronnie brought Katy coffee in bed, settling herself against the pillows and demanding to know all about the evening before. Her daughter laughed and told her, in detail about how it had gone. Ronnie smiled at the relief that was evident in Katy's eyes as she explained how much of a success re-opening her bar had been.
They headed to the park after lunch, Matthew and the twins running off immediately to play and Ruby settling herself on the bench and tapping away at her phone. Katy shook her head as she watched her, hating the fact that she was already so dependent on the device. She knew that trying to separate her from it would cause a scene, however, so she let it slide.
"Hey, Shirley." Ronnie called out, spotting the blonde stalking through the park.
When the older woman completely blanked them, continuing her fast-faced stroll around the corner and out of sight, the two Mitchells turned to look at each other curiously. Neither of them spoke for a moment, wary of saying too much with the little girl sitting beside them, before Katy offered to buy her mother a coffee and nodded her head towards the kiosk.
"That was strange."
"Mmm…" Ronnie acknowledged, before shrugging. "But it is Shirley and there is a lot going on with the Carters at the moment."
"I know Tina's having a tough time, but that's not going to go anywhere. It's Tina."
"There's Linda and Max, too."
"I'm sorry, what?" Katy's eyebrows almost shot off the top of her head.
"Jack told me they're having an affair. Linda's planning on leaving Mick to be with him."
"Is she completely mental? She's leaving Mick for Uncle Max?"
"Like you can judge."
Her daughter frowned deeply. "We don't talk about that."
"Have you spoken to Tina today? I can tell you're missing her."
Katy shrugged. "She said that Shirley had given her a necklace with her name on it and she loved it, but she's being a bit strange. She's freaking out about this witness that's come forward."
"D'you want to go and see her? I'll watch the girls."
Sighing, the younger woman shook her head, handing over a note to the man in the kiosk and carrying half the takeaway cups back to the table where Ruby was still glued to her phone. She called Matthew and the twins over, handing them a cup of hot chocolate and ordering them to sit still so they didn't spill it.
"Katy… if you want to go and see Tina…"
"There's no point." She held up her phone and sighed deeply. "She's already said she'd not in the mood for company at the moment."
Ronnie looked at her for a moment, pursing her lips as she rested the plastic lid of her coffee cup against them thoughtfully. She examined her daughter closely, watching Katy fuss over Jessica as she attempted to take the lid off her cup and ended up almost tipping the entire contents down herself. The younger blonde glanced up, narrowing her eyes slightly as she caught her mother staring her, before shrugging and looking away.
When the children started to complain that it was getting cold, the two women gathered them up and headed for home. There was no discussion about what was going to happen, with Ronnie and Matthew following Katy and the girls into her house. Katy started on dinner while her mother consented to play – and spectacularly lose – one of the children's new games. She looked helplessly at her daughter when Katy reappeared; making the younger blonde laugh before she told them that dinner was ready and there was a stampede for the table.
"Let's hope tonight's just as good as last night." Ronnie said, leaning against the doorframe and watching Katy get ready for work.
"Mmm… we could do with a few nights like last night to get us back on track."
"Are you in until closing?"
Katy shook her head. "Nah, it's Kathy's turn. Hopefully I won't be too late tonight."
The lights were already on in the bar when the young woman arrived and she smiled at the barmaids who were setting up, before heading up to the office quickly. She pottered around doing a couple of jobs until she heard things starting to get busy and made her way down to help out behind the bar.
"You OK if I head off?" Katy asked as Kathy smiled distractedly at her.
"There's something I need to do really quickly. Family stuff… I'll literally be five minutes." The older woman told her apologetically. "I really need to do it tonight."
"No problem…" Katy nodded in understanding. "Go and do whatever it is. It'll be fine until you get back."
Promising to come back as soon as she could – muttering something about needing to speak to Sharon about a solicitor – the older woman patted her arm distractedly and left.
"Sasha?" Katy called, attracting the attention of the barmaid serving alongside her. "Will you be OK if I get going? Kathy should be back soon, anyway."
"Yeah, course. Do what you've gotta do, boss."
Smiling, the blonde nodded and headed out of the bar. She strode along Bridge Street and crossed the gardens quickly, letting herself into the house and smiling at her mother's confused face. Hearing that Katy wanted to read the children their bedtime story, Ronnie smiled warmly and headed back into the living room with her glass of wine. Katy distinctly heard her father's voice and her mother laughing, shaking her head fondly as she ascended the stairs.