Tabby’s sleeping like a dream out here. No fucking wonder—she never takes a breather during the day. The slide I had added onto the catamaran is up there with the best purchases I’ve made. She must have done a hundred slides into the sea this morning. But it’s all good, because when she’s asleep, I can make love to my girlfriend as I gaze at the stars and thank them over and over for the incredible richness of my life.

This evening is just another blissfully chilled-out night as far as my girls are concerned. But for me, it’s a big one. We’re sitting out on the deck in our swimwear. We’ll shower later, but we’ve promised Tabs a sunset swim before we get cleaned up. Tabby’s wearing a sweet little custard-yellow skirt over her swimsuit, while her beautiful mother has wrapped a sarong we bought on one of the islands around herself and tied it behind her neck. Her blonde hair cascades in salty waves over shoulders that are bare and sun-kissed. She’s never looked so stunning as she does here, carefree and tanned and utterly at ease.

Despite the fact that we’re enjoying the view from a multi-million-pound catamaran, we’re doing a pretty good job of demonstrating that the best things in life are free. Light beers—Orangina for Tabs—and crisps on deck as we watch the sky grow prettily pink is all we need to take the edge off as our chef prepares fish tacos below deck. It’s a regular family moment, and it feels real enough for me to reach under the cushioned bench for the small bag I stashed earlier.

I adjust my baseball cap self-consciously. ‘I wanted to talk to you both about something.’

They both look at me. Marlowe brushes her fingertips over the sand that’s dried on my shoulder. ‘What is it, honey?’

‘Well, I wanted to say’—I clear my throat—‘how much it means to me to have you both here. We’ve made a lot of memories already, and I can’t wait to make more. And it feels like we’re a proper… family, you know? Especially now that we’re all living together properly.’

Tabby beams at me. I wink at her before catching Marlowe’s eye. Thrilled as she seems with our new home, I know that giving up her independence to move her and her daughter in with me wasn’t a straightforward decision for her. I’m painfully conscious that they’ve let me into their little family unit, that I’m a third wheel among two people with a stronger bond than any I’ve seen. That’s why it was important for us all to move into a new home: neutral territory.