Charlie wanders over with his hands full of mugs of hot chocolate. He puts them down on the table and squeezes my shoulder. “Seems like this is the time for hot chocolate,” he says with his special warm smile that always, without fail, makes me happy. I look up at him and something in his face lets me know that he understands my quietness, that I’m not alone. And some of my ennui slides away. It never stays long when Charlie is around.

He puts my mum’s mug in front of her and hugs her, murmuring something softly into her ear. She smiles radiantly, looking at Charlie as if he hangs the moon. It’s a Lebedinsky family trait.

I squeeze his hand in thanks and pull him to sit at the table. “Don’t sit over there,” I grumble. “You belong here.” He grins and slides into the chair next to me.

An hour later we climb into the car and I suppress the urge to heave a sigh of relief. The first few minutes of the drive home is silent, but I know Charlie won’t be able to keep that up for long. Sure enough, he stirs as we pull up to some traffic lights.

“So, how do you feel?” he asks. It’s a quiet question, but I hear his expectation that I’ll answer him honestly.

I stare straight ahead. “About what? Climate change, the ups and downs of the royal family?”

“No silly, much more important. What do you think about your mum getting married?”

I shrug. “I’m fine. Why?” I give in and look to my side to find him eyeing me knowingly.

“I hope you don’t think that you’re going to lose her, Misha. She’ll still be your mum.”

“Charlie, are you under the impression that I’m seven? Of course I know that.”

He nods. “Hmm, and what about the bit about her taking another man’s name? Are you okay with that too?” I can’t help my flinch this time, and he immediately grabs my hand, squeezing it tightly. “Misha, it’s perfectly okay to feel sad about that,” he says softly. “I know it feels like she’s letting go of your dad, but it’s just a name at the end of the day. She’ll always have your dad in her heart just the way you and the girls do. Nothing and nobody will ever change that.”

I sigh, looking down at the clasp of our hands before bringing them up and kissing his fingers. “I know,” I say quietly. “It was just a bit of a shock at first. It threw me and sort of reinforced the fact that I’m the last Mr Lebedinsky. Made me feel a bit sad.”