They curled up on Maria’s bed facing the window so they could see the tiny flakes dancing and floating on the air as he read them One Snowy Night and they enjoyed the kindness of Percy the Park Keeper. Maria fell asleep and Josie decided she’d get into her own bed with her Pokémon magazine rather than return downstairs.

Back in the kitchen alone, Nico got himself a beer and made the first phone call. ‘Hej, Mamma.’

Carina apparently read his voice. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Wrong’s not the right word.’ He laid out the Maria situation. ‘As we’re supposed to be staying with you I should have checked it was OK before I booked her flight but I couldn’t risk all the seats being sold.’ He didn’t suggest he stay with Lars instead because she might take offence and Lars’s house was no bigger than hers.

‘It changes things,’ Carina observed.

Nico wasn’t fooled by her neutral tone. ‘How much do you mind?’

She made a musing sound. ‘Is “mind” the right word? I would say I’m wary.’

He considered. ‘Wary I’m being taken for a mug?’

A pause. ‘Not only that.’

His eyes were tired and dry. He rubbed them, gazing around Honeybun Cottage’s sitting room. As it was so small and was the route between the kitchen and the foot of the stairs he’d stuck the sofa and TV in there and that was all. He tended to divide his time between kitchen and his bedroom. It was surprisingly restful to live in a compact house and here he didn’t need room for Emelie and sometimes Tilly. His place in Islington was more than twice the size and much more than twice the hassle.

Swivelling to lie down with his feet on the sofa arm, he asked, ‘So what are you wary of?’

She sighed. ‘Is she a nice little girl?’

‘Yes,’ he assured her. ‘You needn’t worry that I’ll bring some awful imp into your house. She’s as little trouble as a two-year-old can be. She’s cute.’ His mother loved small children.

After a short silence, Carina said, ‘If you’re OK with the situation then I am too.’ Nico couldn’t get her to say more and finally ended the call, still wondering.

He got another beer before he telephoned his dad. Lars wouldn’t be difficult but Nico felt he needed the pick-me-up. He was tired. Strained. His mind kept straying to Hannah but he had to make sure everything was OK surrounding Maria.

Poor little Maria. His heart shifted uncomfortably. She’d come into the world by accident and nobody had made adequate provision for her care. Many kids resulting from contraception failure were born to parents who forgot the pregnancy had been a shock in the joy of the child’s arrival. But some …

Some kids were never welcome.