Once dressed, she ran downstairs, hearing Josie’s high piping and Maria’s insistent cooing long before she caught Nico’s reassuring rumble. He looked up when she appeared and smiled. ‘Best breakfast. Porridge and milk? Or pastries and juice?’

‘Pastries and juice,’ she answered promptly.

‘Yay!’ shouted Josie.

Nico shook his head. ‘You people have no idea.’ But he put out pastries and poured juice.

Hannah fathomed out Lars’s coffee machine and made herself white and Nico black then picked up Maria, who could barely see over the table, and sat down with her on her lap. Maria slapped the table top and chortled as she tried to snag the biggest pastry for herself.

Nico sat down, plated the smallest pastry for the toddler and passed it across. ‘My plan’s to light my candles this morning while Dad sees the consultant. I’m hoping to visit him this afternoon.’

Hannah pushed her coffee aside so Maria couldn’t touch the steaming mug. ‘Light your candles?’

He wiped butter from Josie’s plate so it couldn’t transfer itself to her sleeve. ‘At the cemetery, for my grandparents and an assortment of relatives. Do you want to come? Josie always does so I’ll take Maria too.’

Josie backed him up, pastry flakes sticking to her cheeks. ‘It’s snowing again! Come with us, Hannah. It’ll be awesome.’ Her ponytail jiggled as if in emphasis.

Hannah smiled at her excited face. ‘Then I will.’

They finished breakfast while, beyond the window, the snow swirled like white bees swarming and banking in the wind. Josie was shouty with the thrill of it and Maria shouty because if her big sister shouted then shouting was obviously in.

Nico whizzed out to Kvantum supermarket to buy candles while Hannah got the girls to clean their teeth, visit the loo and wrap up in snowsuits, boots, gloves and hats. Maria was easily bored by the dressing process and tended to shed gloves and hat with a soft, ‘Noo.’

When Nico returned they set out, the snow squeaking beneath their boots on the pavements while cars sailed past with a muffled swish and the snow tried to immediately paint over the tracks. Snow made cotton wool of twiggy hedges or lay along tree branches like white snakes. Hannah lowered the flaps of her hat to cover her ears from the stinging flakes that flung themselves at her and the freezing air bit the back of her throat.

‘Cold!’ Maria kept squeaking, eyes dancing and cheeks pink. ‘Snow cold.’ Luckily, her mittens were waterproof because she plunged them into the white mounds at every opportunity. Hannah made a snowball and gave it to her to hurl at Nico. Maria managed to fling it behind herself and stamped on it instead. Nico threw his head back and laughed, his black woollen hat low over sparkling eyes.