"Everything OK at the hospital the other day? I've barely had the chance to speak to you at all."

Katy smiled and nodded at her mother, leaning back and running a hand over her bump. "All good."

"That's a relief after everything that's been going on around here." Ronnie patted her stomach affectionately. "Did you talk about the birth plan?"

"I mean, what is there to say? It's not the first time I've done this, is it? I just want them to give me all the drugs possible."

Ronnie snorted, before looking at her seriously. "We're aiming for a normal birth this time, right? No hiding in the back of vans and going into labour or nearly dying in the operating theatre, right?"

"I'll do my best." Katy assured her with a weak smile.

"So, how're things going round here? At least it's looking much more habitable."

"Mmm… well I've been on to some guys to come and sort the worst of the damage, the new sinks are being delivered today and the warehouse is rushing through the order on the spirits." Her daughter replied with a shrug. "Apparently they're rushed off their feet, but the Mitchell name carries a hell of a lot of weight."

"Have you seen Mum? She hasn't been around all afternoon and I was hoping she'd do a shift for me later."

"Not for a while, no." Katy shrugged again. "She did mention heading up west to do a bit of shopping."

"Typical." Ronnie huffed, glancing down at her phone. "I'll try calling her again. Take it easy, sweetheart, alright?"

Nodding and smiling as the older blonde headed away, her mobile already clamped to her ear as she pushed her way out of the R&R, Katy leant back in her seat. She ran a hand over her stomach again, deep in thought. Pulling out her phone, she chewed her lip and considered her next move.

"Ben? Are you busy?" She asked as soon as he answered the call.

"As I ever am."

"I need a favour."

"It's always favours with you, ain't it?" Her cousin teased.

Katy rolled her eyes. "I could say the same about you. We only ever seem to talk when one of us wants something."

"We should do something about that."

"Mmm… anyway, that favour?"

"What d'you need?" Ben asked, a hint of resignation in his voice.

"You got any cars that need taking to the crusher?"

There was a long pause as the young man clearly read the meaning behind her words. "When?"

"As soon as possible."

Ben let out a long sigh. "Tonight?"

"Perfect. There's a package I need to pick up in Balham on the way."

"You'll be the death of me."

Katy laughed. "Terrible choice of words, there, Benjamin. I'll see you at The Arches about seven?"

The rest of the day passed relatively normally. Katy dealt with a couple of hitches in the bar renovation, before heading to Walford Primary to pick up her daughters and Matthew. She resolutely avoided meeting Isaac's eyes, as she always did, especially when Sophie bent down to press a kiss to her protruding stomach when she greeted her mother.

"Are you at the R&R tonight?" Ruby asked, trailing along beside her mother as they walked back towards the Square.

Katy shook her head. "No, you know we can't open at the moment. But–"

"How long 'til you can? I want Tina to babysit again."

Rolling her eyes, not remotely offended because she knew that her friend was much more lenient with the girls and bedtimes than she was, Katy nudged her in the side. "As it happens, Tina's looking after you tonight because I have to pop out to see Granny for a bit."

"Really? Can we watch The Grinch and have hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows?"

"It's still November." Her mother pointed out. "But it is Friday, so you can stay up and watch a film. It's up to Tina about the hot chocolate."

"That'll be a yes, then." The nine-year-old informed her with a grin. "Tina loves hot chocolate as much as we do. She always has the most marshmallows. Last time, she fit twelve in her mouth."

"Did she?" Katy laughed, thoroughly unsurprised by the revelation. "I always knew she had a big gob."

"I like Tina."

"That's lucky seeing as you spend so much time with her."

"I like Tina too." Sophie piped up, appearing beside them suddenly. "She lets us eat chocolate at bedtime."

"Of course she does."

"Mr Baptiste used to let us, too." Jessica pointed out, popping up on her mother's other side. "But I don't like him anymore."

"He was only bothered about Mum." Ruby informed her younger sister with the air of someone much older than she was. "He had absolutely no interest in us. We were just Mum's baggage that he had to deal with."

"What?" Katy turned to the eldest of her girls with a frown. "Ruby? Who told you that?"

"I heard Granny telling Aunty Rox."

"Listen… Granny says things sometimes without engaging her brain." The young woman told her children quickly. "She just says the first thing that pops into her head. Isaac might have found it difficult to say and do the right things sometimes, but that doesn't mean he didn't try."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Whatever… I'm glad you dumped his ass. He's a loser. We don't need him."

Shaking her head slightly, Katy allowed the twins to take hold of her hands and followed Ruby and Matthew as they led the way back towards the Square. She mentally made a note to speak to her grandmother about checking there were no flapping ears around before talking about things the children shouldn't hear, before realising that she should probably let things settle a bit more before berating the older woman.

Ushering the four children into the house, catching sight of her father crossing the Square and calling over to see whether Amy and Ricky wanted to come over for tea, Katy leant against the pillar and waited for him to ascend his own steps. Jack shrugged, informing his eldest daughter that Amy had hit the terrible teens a year early and their brother seemed to be following suit. Laughing, Katy jokily rescinded her offer, before telling her father to let her know if they were coming as soon as he managed to get a straight answer out of them.

In the end, they decided against joining the younger children. Ronnie arrived soon after to pick up her son and so, by the time seven o'clock arrived, Katy left Tina and her daughters snuggled up on the sofa in front of Netflix and headed out to meet her cousin at the garage. There was barely anyone out and about on the Square, much to her relief, as she paced impatiently outside The Arches and waited for Ben to appear.

"Alright?"

"Yeah, you're late."

"Had some stuff to sort." Ben informed her, motioning towards the car he'd got hold of to fit her purposes. "Balham, then?"

"Yeah. Stanridge Estate."

"Has this package got a name?"

"Jason Williams."

Ben furrowed his eyebrows, indicating and turning onto the main road. "Who?"

"The complete scumbag who trashed my bar."

"You know it was him?"

"Yeah. I knew him back in Wales… he was beating up his girlfriend so I helped her get away… then she went back to him. She's left him again and he reckoned it was my fault."

"So you killed him?" Ben arched an eyebrow at her, thinking that the reaction was a little extreme, even for his unpredictable cousin.

"He was making threats… I know him. He meant it. It would have come down to him or me, so I made sure it was him."

"How'd you do it?"

"I nicked a gun from that warehouse job we did." Katy told him with a shrug. "When we made a break for it from the office, I grabbed one of their guns. If they were to find Jason, the bullet would match that gun… they think Danny Hardcastle did the warehouse, right? Jason's got links to a guy who knows Hardcastle…"

"God, you're devious." Ben shook his head. "You're a Mitchell through and through, ain't ya?"

"Apparently so."

"Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you."

"Ben… you've been on the wrong side of me many times." Katy pointed out with a shrug. "Difference is, I know you'd never actually hurt my family."

As they drew up outside the tower block Katy had directed her cousin towards on the Stanridge Estate, the young man glanced sideways and watched her carefully. There was a flicker of something on her face, but it was soon replaced by a blank, closed expression. Her hand closed around the door handle and she stepped outside into the crisp night air.

"How are we going to do this?"

"It's dead around here." She pointed out, rolling her eyes at Ben's snort of amusement at her choice of words. "We just need to get him out and down to the car, like we did before."

"Yeah… how are we going to get back from the yard?"

"Gran's gonna come and get us."

"I'm sorry? Glenda?"

"Yep. Then she's taking us to a bar for a drink."

"Right… why?"

Katy shot him a look. "Market research, Ben. I'm renovating the R&R after the break in and you're my gay cousin. Who else would I take along to give me their opinion? Besides, it's on me to say thanks for your help."

As she started walking towards the building, he watched her thoughtfully. Ben genuinely couldn't tell whether Katy was setting up an alibi for them, or whether she was being completely serious about wanting to go out afterwards to conduct some market research. There was something about the casual way she'd said it that made him think the latter was the case. He knew that most people wrote Katy off as just another gobby, Mitchell single mother, not considering that she might be capable of more than the rest of them put together. That was not an assumption he'd be making ever again.

"Oi? Dan, you coming?" She called over her shoulder, realising that he wasn't with her.

Ben frowned for a moment, before realising that she was hardly stupid enough to use his real name. Sure enough, a couple of lads wandered through the door ahead of her, barely shooting them a second glance.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, Nat."