When Ronnie emerged from her bedroom the next morning (it might aswell have been 'their' bedroom, since both she and Danielle were occupying the bed due to Danielle's current condition) she looked like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. Danielle had gotten up early to make them some breakfast, and was just getting ready to dish it out when Ronnie entered.

Rubbing her eyes, Ronnie smiled when she noticed the food. "You shouldn't have done this," she said jokily, "I'm the mum, I'm the one who's meant to cook things."

"And we both know how that usually turns out," Danielle said with a cheeky grin. Ronnie seemed so used to Danielle badmouthing her cooking that she just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," Danielle continued, "I just wanted to let you lie in. But it doesn't look like it did you much good."

Ronnie sighed, "I just kept thinking about her, and about today. Being introduced to these kids.."

"Don't worry about it, it'll be fine," Danielle reassured her, setting the plates down on the table.

"Since I was just a kid, it's just been me and Roxy," Ronnie said, looking thoughtful as she spoke, "I always looked after her because she was like my kid sister. When Mum left, I was fifteen and she was eleven. I was the one who was there for her after that; I did all the cooking and most of the cleaning. Dad didn't do much of anything."

"I grew up with someone like that," Danielle said, thinking of her brother, well, adoptive brother. "He's older than me. He used to look out for me and take care of me. Then once he hit eighteen he was always out partying with his friends." She started to poke at her bacon, "Then it was just me, really. He moved away from Telford over a year ago so we haven't talked in a long time."

"You care about him," Ronnie said casually. It was a statement, not a question.

Danielle nodded vigorously, "Of course. I grew up with him, even if we're not related, I still love him as if he was my own brother."

Ronnie smiled and Danielle was once again jealous of how beautiful her mother was, even after a long night of no sleep.

"Roxy isn't just my sister, she's my best friend," Ronnie went on, and then she frowned. "I just don't want her to forget how much I care about her. She's such a naive girl and I don't want Mum to take advantage of her naivety. And.. and I suppose I also don't want these kids to start to mean more to her than I do."

"Ronnie!" Danielle exclaimed, so shocked at her mother's words that she almost knocked over her glass of milk, "I mean.. Mum, you know that will never happen. Roxy loves you to bits. I've never seen two sisters who have a bond as strong as yours."

Ronnie didn't look convinced. "You say that now, but what if those kids are little angels or something? I'm sure Roxy would prefer them to her sister the ice queen," she chuckled and took a sip from her glass of milk. Danielle shook her head and frowned, not amused.

"Shut up," Danielle snapped, "You're amazing, Mum, and Roxy knows it just aswell as I do."

Ronnie looked taken aback, "God, I wish you were a bit younger so I could smack you for talking to me like that."

Danielle laughed, "Yeah, but the good thing is I'm old enough to smack you, so watch it."

"If you insist," Ronnie sighed, "I just think.."

"No!" Danielle cut in, "Don't say another word."

"But--"

"I said, not another word," Danielle interjected quickly, raising a hand for silence as soon as Ronnie opened her mouth again. "Now, go and get ready. Roxy phoned me just before you got up to find out whether we were still going over to the Vic this morning, I told her we'd be there by eleven."

"And that's..." Ronnie glanced at the clock and her eyes widened, "That's in half an hour! Dani, you should have woke me up sooner!"

"Don't worry, that's plenty of time for you to get ready," Danielle pointed towards the bathroom, "Now, go! We can't be late, can we?"

"You're a cheeky madame, did you know that?" Ronnie answered, not sounding too bothered.

"And that's why you love me," Danielle reminded her, not looking up from the magazine she had started to read.

"Oh yes, I forgot," Ronnie muttered, and then she had disappeared into the bathroom.

Danielle was suddenly surprised at how firm she was being with her mother. She didn't want to be kicked out of the flat just days after they'd been reunited, so she decided to tone it down a bit. It just angered her when Ronnie put herself down, like she usually always did.

Just twenty minutes later, Ronnie was showered and ready to go. Danielle decided to apologize for her behaviour before, but was surprised by Ronnie's reaction to her apology.

"You're only trying to help," she said, not sounding bothered about it at all, "I value your opinion, Dani. God knows it's better than mine."

They arrived at the Vic under ten minutes later, to find Roxy already waiting for them by the bar. "Ronnie, Dani," she greeted them, glancing at Ronnie warily.

"I'm sorry about last night, Rox," Ronnie said apologetically to her, "I was just stressed out. I'm so sorry."

Roxy grinned, "It's fine, Ronnie. Look, Mum doesn't blame you for acting the way you did, all right? She's just trying to make things right now, though, so just be nice today, yeah?"

Ronnie nodded, but Danielle could see that it was going to take all her mother's energy for her to 'be nice' to the woman who walked out on her when she was just a kid. Still, Danielle had faith in her mother and knew she'd come through it all right.

Twenty minutes later, Glenda arrived. The Vic was already packed full of people, but Danielle had heard her granddmother's booming voice from the back of the bar. She craned her neck and glanced over the heads of certain regulars who usually inhabited the pub on a regular basis, and saw Glenda standing near the door with two very awkward looking teenagers. Suddenly, Danielle was afraid to approach them. She tried to calm herself down, and looked over at her mother, who was glued to the spot. She was staring over at Glenda and the kids curiously, looking like she was debating with herself whether to go over and talk to them. Finally, Danielle could stand it no longer and she gave Ronnie a firm nudge, which sent her mother into action straight away.

Ronnie walked, almost robotically, over to Glenda. She stopped infront of her. "Mum.. I'm sorry about--"

"Ronnie, it's fine," Glenda said quickly, looking equally uncomfortable.

Danielle edged closer and watched Ronnie glance at the teenagers by Glenda's side.

"Ronnie, any chance we can go through to the back? It's packed out here," Glenda enquired, and Ronnie gave a stiff nod before leading them into the back. Danielle followed, along with Roxy, who was the only person who looked remotely comfortable with what was going on.

Once they were safely upstairs in the living room, away from all the chatter downstairs, Danielle closed the door and sat in the far corner, not wanting to get in the way. Ronnie seemed to be doing her very best to not look at either Glenda or her children. It was understandable; Ronnie was an icy person, and welcoming a brother and another sister into her life wasn't going to be an easy thing to do.

Danielle looked at the girl, who couldn't have been much younger than she was. The girl had long, dark brown hair, but was the image of Ronnie. They both had several of the same features, especially the girl's eyes, which were just like Ronnie's. The boy didn't look much like Ronnie or Roxy, or even Glenda. He too had dark hair, cut short. He looked around Danielle's age, maybe younger.

"This," Glenda moved behind the boy and planted her hands on his shoulders, "is Alex. And this," she walked over to the petite girl, "is Lauren. Alex is eighteen, and Lauren is sixteen."

Danielle noticed Roxy arrange her expression into one of puzzlement when Glenda said this. She looked at Ronnie, who was still showing no signs of emotion.

Glenda turned her attention to the children. "These are your sisters, Veronica and Roxanne."

The kids seemed to survey not only Ronnie and Roxy but also Danielle herself.

"Nice to meet you," Ronnie said tensely. She seemed to be focused on the girl.

"Mum," Roxy piped up suddenly, making everyone jump, "Can I have a quick word?"

Glenda nodded and followed Roxy out of the room. They left an uncomfortable silence behind them.

-

Roxy's stomach had lurched when she'd heard her mother say that Lauren was sixteen. She was positive that Glenda had told her over the phone that Lauren was only twelve years old. And so, Roxy had led Glenda out into the hall to talk to her in private, away from Danielle and Ronnie.

"Okay, fess up," Roxy said irritably, hands on her hips.

Glenda looked startled, "What are you on about?"

"You, telling me that Lauren was twelve!" Roxy hissed, glancing around to check whether Tracy or Phil or somebody else was around. "She's sixteen! Did her age just slip your mind or something?"

Glenda flushed, "I'm sorry.. I must have been distracted. She's sixteen, not twelve."

"Mum, is there something you want to tell me?" Roxy asked, eyeing her mother suspiciously.

"Well.." Glenda sighed, and took a deep breath, "Look, Roxy, if I tell you this now, you've got to promise not to tell Ronnie, not yet anyway. She's already having to deal with me coming back and she doesn't need more on her plate."

Roxy agreed to keep whatever was troubling her mother secret from Ronnie. It would be difficult, however. She and Ronnie usually shared everything with eachother. Still, she'd do her best. "So, what is it? What's wrong with you?" she asked, and then held her breath.

"Alzheimer's is what's wrong with me," Glenda muttered, shivering after she said it, "I was diagnosed with the early stage just under three years ago. I haven't got a lot of time left, Roxy."

Roxy felt like she needed to sit down, but instead she swayed slightly on the spot, trying to take it in.

"You.. is this why.. is this why you came back?" she asked hoarsely, feeling faint.

Glenda nodded slowly, "I needed to make things right. You're my girls, you and Ronnie. I never stopped loving you both, and I missed you both every single day when I was in Australia. And plus.." she looked fearful, "I.. I need to know that my kids will be looked after when I'm.. gone."

"What about Sydney?" Roxy asked, and she suddenly found herself wondering why she and the kids had moved back to England. She'd have thought that the kids would prefer to stay in Australia.

"Sydney.." Glenda suddenly shook with rage, "He's nothing to us. This last year has been hell, Roxy. He's become an alcoholic, after losing his job. He started to take it out on me, and then on the kids. Well, that was the last straw. I don't want him anywhere near them ever again."

"All right, all right," Roxy spoke soothingly, trying to calm her down, "Just.. hey, Mum, breathe, all right? Calm down."

"Sorry," Glenda sighed, and the shaking ceased, "It's just... hard. Some days I wake up and I don't know where the hell I am, Rox. Sometimes I can't even remember my kid's names, or even that I have kids! I knew I had to get here before I forgot everything. I'm sorry about this, Roxy."

"Don't be.." Roxy replied slowly, "Come on, let's get back in there. We can talk about this later, all right?"

But Roxy wondered how she would beable to keep this from Ronnie, and most of all, what Ronnie's reaction would be when she finally found out.