My heart sank. While it might not be The Ritz and still needed a lot of improvement, I’d worked hard to make the place feel warm and welcoming.

‘Can we go for a swim?’ Payton asked, thankfully less concerned about her accommodation, as she and Charlie rolled around on the floor reuniting.

‘What’s the wi-fi password?’ Sax had already dropped onto the sofa and was opening up his laptop.

‘I don’t have internet yet, but there’s plenty to do up here. A few days disconnected from devices won’t kill you.’

‘Are you fucking kidding me? What kind of backwater place has no wi-fi?’

‘Excuse me?’ I felt my cheeks heat as I glanced in embarrassment at Hayley and Wei who had delivered my delightful children only five minutes ago.

He shrugged. ‘What?’

‘I won’t have you speaking that way in my house. You’re not too old for me to wash your mouth out with soap.’

‘Sorry,’ he said, in that tone kids use when they don’t actually mean it. Where was my beautiful, polite son?

I took a deep breath as Hayley and Wei retreated down the short hallway to take a look around, no doubt trying to make themselves scarce.

‘Sax says the f-word all the time now,’ Payton tattled. ‘He thinks it makes him cool. Dad doesn’t tell him off, but I guess that would be the pot calling the kettle black because he swears more than a pilot.’

‘I think you mean pir—’ I went to correct her, but Saxon shouted over the top of me.

‘What would you know? No one even says cool anymore!’

‘They do so,’ she shouted back. ‘Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool!’

A sharp pain shot through my head. I raised my eyebrows, my hand and my voice all at once. ‘That’s quite enough you two!’

Due to their different genders and almost five-year age gap, they’d never been what you’d call close, but they didn’t fight much either. I didn’t like this development any more than I liked Saxon’s new vocabulary and I planned to nip them both in the bud.

‘I’ve missed you guys like crazy and I want us to have a good week, so enough with the mean stuff, okay? Yes, we can go swimming, Payton, but first we’re going to have a nice lunch with Aunty Hayley and Wei, then go for a walk so I can show you all round the Point before they have to drive home.’

Saxon rolled his eyes, snapped his laptop shut and flopped back against the couch as if his life was over.

‘But when can we go swimming?’ This from Payton, obviously.