‘They worked so hard, we didn’t go out together as a family very much, so it was a really special day. I shouldn’t complain, we were comfortable. I always had new clothes and plenty to eat. We lived here in this beautiful house. Dad’s antique shop was thriving by then and Mum had opened the cafe, so she was working long hours too. I’d always hoped for a brother or sister, but Mum didn’t want any more children. She wanted to concentrate on building her business. Dad of course wanted loads of children, so it became a real bone of contention between them. After he died, Mum said that when they first got married, he’d expected her to stay at home, but she fought hard against it. He thought it made him look impotent only having one child.’

‘I hope you don’t think I’ve pushed you into giving up work.’

‘Not at all, I needed a change. It was time to sell the cafe and move on. I’m looking forward to being a full-time mum.’

‘You’re going to be great. And I promise you one or two children is enough for me.’ He laughed. ‘I doubt if my parents went on to have any more kids. I’m not even that interested.’

‘Maybe you’ll want to find out one day.’

He shrugged. ‘Possibly when I’m old and grey. Anyway, enough about that. I hereby declare that we’re officially reinstating Christmas as of today.’ A smile passed over Maddy’s lips, but it was going to take a lot more than that to cheer her up. It was pretty much her whole childhood memories in that box.

‘We should do that sometime, go and see a show. It’s been too many years since I’ve done anything like that.’ She reached up and threaded the Father Christmas decoration on a branch.

‘We will, we’ll do everything with our son or daughter: panto, sledging, Father Christmas’s grotto, ice-skating, you name it.’ He stood behind her and kissed her neck. All the things he’d dreamed of doing as a child too.

‘Look at this one!’ she said, taking out a wooden snowman. ‘This was my favourite.’ She kissed it and cradled it in her hands. ‘Oh, why did Dad have to ruin everything?’ She sighed and dropped the snowman back in its bed of tissue paper.

He gently pulled her round so she was facing him. ‘Tell me what you mean, what did he do?’ He took her cold hands and warmed them between his.

She looked away for a long moment before her eyes flashed back at him. ‘My dad died of a heart attack in bed with another woman – our bitch of a neighbour at number twelve.’