Katy's due date came and went and there was no sign of the baby making an appearance. She got grouchier by the day, doing anything she could to try and bring on labour. Her family were doing their best to keep her calm and not wind her up any more than she already was. It was a full time job considering she was losing her temper at the tiniest things.
With other things occupying her mind, she had completely given up on speaking to Tyler about the baby. She decided that if he couldn't be bothered to get in touch with her then she wasn't going to go out of her way to speak to him. The closer she got to giving birth, the less patience she had with the idea of trying to keep him informed.
"Tina… this is about the twenty thousandth message I've left you and I should probably be taking the hint." Katy sighed down the phone. She paced backwards and forwards along the landing, running a hand over her stomach and breathing deeply. "Either you're dead or you really don't want to talk to me… so much so that you'd prefer everyone to think you're dead. I'm not sure which is worse." Wincing as a twinge rippled through her, she shook her head. "But I can't give up on you… I just can't. That DS McKay said I'd know when it's time to let go and… I don't think it is. I… shit!"
Eyes widening, Katy felt a popping sensation and a gush as her waters broke. Letting out a breath between her clenched teeth, she placed one palm flat on the wall beside her and leant heavily against it. Sucking in her breath again, she rode out a contraction, her mobile clutched tightly in her hand.
"My waters just broke. The baby's coming, T…" She gasped as soon as she was over the worst of it. "I need you… please, Tina. Stop ignoring me."
"Katy?" Ronnie ran up the stairs, wrapping an arm around her daughter and rubbing soothing circled on her back and glancing over her shoulder. "Mum? Can you grab her hospital bag? Rox… you'll need to stay with the kids. Come on… lets get going."
"It's fine. I'm fine."
"Yeah, whatever… come on."
"No, no, no." Katy shook her head. "I need to… I need to speak to Ruby and the twins. If something goes wrong…"
Ronnie exhaled sharply, her mind turning over what she meant, before nodding and helped her down the stairs into the living room. She called Jack and told him what was happening, asking him to bring their granddaughters home straight away. Without arguing, Ronnie heard him shouting up the stairs and knew that they would be back in a matter of minutes. Assuring her daughter that they'd be there, Ronnie grabbed the hospital bag off her mother and headed out to get the car.
"Mummy?" Ruby and the twins came racing through the door that their grandmother had left open.
"Is it the baby?"
"Is it coming?"
"Are you going to hospital?"
Agreeing with all of their assumptions, Katy kissed them all quickly, before holding on to her eldest daughter's hand tightly. "I'm sorry I got cross with you. You know we're a team, you and me, right?"
"I know." Ruby nodded and smiled. "I love you."
"I love you, too, baby."
Smiling at her, Katy finally consented to let her mother take her to hospital. The car journey was tense and Ronnie was starting to get concerned about whether they'd actually make it in time before the baby made an appearance. She adored the younger blonde, but she had no intention of delivering her baby.
Finally, though, she parked up and helped her daughter into the reception area. Seeing what was happening immediately, a nurse propelled Katy into a wheelchair and started towards the maternity department.
"Mum!" Katy ground out, reaching blindly for her mother. Ronnie grabbed her hand, holding on tightly. "Don't leave me."
"I'm going nowhere, sweetie." Ronnie promised, squeezing her fingers and following quickly. "I'm right here."
Despite how quickly her labour had started, complications meant that it wasn't as straightforward as they'd been hoping. The baby, it turned out, was facing upward instead of downward and, after failing to manually change his position, they decided to perform a caesarean delivery. Ronnie was terrified, remembering how her daughter's two previous labours had gone, but worked hard to keep her expression under control and not scare Katy anymore than she already was.
Finally, though, the baby was delivered and checked over while Katy was taken away to recover from her ordeal. Ronnie went with her, holding her hand until a nurse appeared with a plastic crib and asked whether she wanted to hold her grandson. The blonde nodded enthusiastically, holding out her arms and cradling the little boy against her. It was immediately obvious who the father was and she let out a small sigh, not entirely sure whether she was relieved or not.
"Katy… sweetheart?" She murmured, settling on the side of the bed and stroking her daughter's hair away from her face. "Wake up, darling."
When Katy blinked and shifted, Ronnie beamed at her, twisting slightly so that she could see her baby. Katy smiled and pulled herself to sit up against the pillows. She winced at the tugging sensation on her stitches when she moved, but ignored it as Ronnie placed her son in her arms.
"He's absolutely perfect…"
"He is." Ronnie agreed, leaning into her and stroking her index finger softly down his cheek. "Have you thought of any names? Or do you need to discuss it with Isaac first?"
Katy looked at her sharply for a second, before sighing and realising that her mother wasn't stupid and it was entirely obvious who the father was. "At least I don't have to speak to Tyler after all, I suppose."
"Katy…"
"But no, Isaac has no interest in the baby – naming him or otherwise. Sheree and Patrick want to be involved, I think, but not Isaac."
"So…?"
"Freddie." She said softly, gazing down at her son. "Freddie James Mitchell."
"It suits him." Ronnie smiled as the baby yawned widely. He blinked at them a couple of times, his blue eyes visible for a moment before they closed again. "Hello, Freddie."
Both women glanced up at a soft tap on the door, wondering who had come to visit. Ronnie assumed that it was either her sister, mother or Jack and stood quickly, moving to let them in. She froze, her mouth dropping open as she realised who was standing out in the hospital corridor, looking sheepish.
"What are you doing here?" She gasped. "What…? How…?"
Tina smiled weakly. "I got Katy's message… the baby?"
Pausing for a long moment, Ronnie considered her next move. She thought about refusing to let the brunette into the room. Then she realised that Katy wouldn't forgive her if she did that and reluctantly stood aside. Hesitating, Ronnie closed the door and headed away down the corridor to phone the rest of the family and tell them that they could visit whenever they wanted to.
"Mum, who–?"
Katy trailed off as she realised who was standing uneasily at the foot of her bed. Her mouth dropped open and she just stared at Tina as the brunette waited for the younger woman to say something. When it became obvious that Katy didn't know what to say, she cleared her throat nervously.
"If you want me to go, I'll go."
"No!" She looked panicked at the suggestion. "You… you came back."
"You said you needed me… you hadn't given up on me."
"Never."
"Katy, I… I'm so sorry." Tina apologised, dropping her chin slightly and avoiding her eyes. "I didn't… I thought I was protecting you. Gray said–"
"I don't care what Gray said or threatened or… I can deal with Gray." Katy shook her head vehemently. "Just… please tell me you're not leaving again."
"If you want me to stay, I'll stay."
"I do."
"Then I'll stay." Tina promised.
She took a couple of tentative steps towards the bed, her eyes fixed on the younger woman's. When Katy smiled at her Tina settled herself beside her on the bed, careful to leave a gap between them. Rolling her eyes, the blonde shifted so that she was pressed against her, before dropping her eyes to the baby in her arms.
"Tina, meet Freddie. Freddie, this is Tina. We like her… a lot."
Tina grinned down at the baby. "Hi, Freddie."
Looking sideways she caught Katy's eye and smiled. Hesitantly she leant in, waiting for the younger woman to close the gap between them and kiss her softly. Tina's eyes slipped closed and she lifted one hand to cup Katy's jaw, holding her in place as they kissed.
Before they knew it, Ronnie had appeared with Roxy and Glenda in tow and there were explanations and slightly awkward conversations to be had. It was a relief when Jack turned up with the children who were eager to meet the new baby. None of them seemed particularly fazed by Tina's presence in the room, although they were undeniably happy to see her.
The next day, mother and son were discharged. Tina, who had charmed her way into staying at the hospital overnight, called a cab and helped Katy to gather up their things, before watching as the blonde settled her baby son into the car seat Jack had dropped off for them that morning. Smiling, Tina wrapped her arm around Katy's waist and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Her heart felt like it was going to burst in her chest when Katy turned to thread a hand into her hair and kiss her properly.
As they rounded the Square and the door of Number 28 opened, Katy sighed happily. Her smile widened as she watched her parents, aunt and grandmother ushering Ruby, the twins, Matthew, Amy and Ricky out onto the steps, pointing out the car as it drew to a halt beside the curb.
She looked down at the face of her sleeping son. "Welcome to Albert Square, Freddie. Welcome home."
A/N: That's it! The end.
Katy's lucky I decided to give her a happy ending... it nearly ended differently!
Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following - it's been one hell of a journey!
