Sean had been working extra hours all through December. The firm had just secured a big contract and it was all hands on deck. He was crazy busy and would sometimes go days without seeing Elspeth or me. His behaviour started to change too. He became irritable and would lose his temper at the slightest thing. I would wake up in the night and find his side of the bed empty. In the morning he’d tell me that he’d got in late and gone to sleep in the spare room as he didn’t want to wake me. I know I should have taken more notice of these things, should have talked to him, but I was busy with Elspeth. We had a packed timetable of school events: the Nativity play, the carol concert, Christmas parties to attend and Secret Santa gifts to buy. And I guess, if I’m honest with myself, I didn’t want to acknowledge that there might be a problem. But then it all came to a head on Christmas Eve. Sean was meant to have finished work on the 23rd but he got a call late that evening from his boss asking if he could go in the next day. I begged him not to, reminded him that we were supposed to be going to the pantomime in Lewes on Christmas Eve, that Elspeth would be devastated if he didn’t come with us. He assured me that he would only be going into the office for a couple of hours and that he would be home in time for the show. But by 3 p.m. the following day he still hadn’t come home. I called his mobile but it rang out. I sent him text messages but got no reply. In the end I called his office. The receptionist answered and when I asked to speak to Sean she said that he hadn’t been in that day, that his department was closed for Christmas and there was only a skeleton staff working. I didn’t know what to think so I tried to put it out of my mind. I took Elspeth to the pantomime, then came home, put her to bed and started wrapping Christmas presents. Sean got home at midnight. When I confronted him he told me that he’d been working at his boss’s house in Richmond and that the whole team had been there. ‘Phone him if you don’t believe me,’ he’d yelled. I didn’t think his boss would relish a phone call at midnight on Christmas Eve so I did what I always did and left it to fester inside me. The next day, Sean and I watched as Elspeth opened her presents, we ate turkey and Christmas pudding, drank champagne and watched the Queen’s speech. That Christmas holiday Sean never left our sides. We went for long walks on the Downs, had lunch at the village pub, played board games. Sean and I even made love again for the first time in months. He told me he loved me and that he was sorry. So by the time he went back to work a week later, the whole Christmas Eve incident had been forgotten. Or rather, I chose to forget.