Running up the steps he pushed open the door, ready to greet his mother, but the words never came as he took in how different the kitchen was.

‘Bob!’ Peggy leapt from her kitchen chair and threw her arms round him. ‘Oh, Bob, it’s so lovely to have you home, even if it is just for a little while.’

He was in a daze as he hugged her and let her fuss over him. Charlie had warned him in a letter that he wouldn’t recognise the place – and he didn’t – but it was the change in his mother that was so startling. Her soft curves had gone and she seemed thinner and much smaller than he remembered. And there was a brisk efficiency about her that hadn’t been there before, which revealed itself in the way she took his coat to dry by the fire, put on the kettle and pressed him into a chair. She was also very smartly dressed, even though it was the middle of the afternoon – and he found that a bit shocking.

‘Cordelia will be down in a minute.’ Peggy gazed at him adoringly. ‘My goodness, Bob, I thought Charlie looked like your father, but you … You’re the very image of him.’

‘That’s what Stan said, and I’ll take it as a compliment.’ He grinned at her. ‘I thought I was in the wrong house at first. You have been busy, Mum. Is the rest of the place this posh?’

‘It’s all lovely and clean and fresh,’ she replied, quickly filling the teapot and giving it a good stir. ‘I was fed up with how dreary it looked, and now I’m earning good money, I decided to spend a bit of it on doing up the place. I do hope you like it, Bob,’ she said anxiously.

‘Having a downstairs toilet is definitely a bonus,’ he replied. ‘I always hated having to go outside at night. And this kitchen looks really nice, and much bigger than I remember. I’m glad you kept the chairs, though.’

‘I didn’t want to,’ she admitted, ‘but everyone made so much fuss, I didn’t have the heart to chuck them out.’

‘Well, well, well,’ said Cordelia, coming into the room with Daisy. ‘Look who’s here, and isn’t he handsome, Daisy?’

Daisy stared at Bob in confusion. ‘Charlie?’

Bob laughed and squatted down in front of her. ‘Hello, Daisy. I’m your big brother Bob,’ he said. ‘And I’ve come to spend Christmas with you.’

‘Bob,’ she said solemnly, her big brown eyes wide with interest as she regarded him. ‘I’m four now,’ she said proudly. ‘How old are you?’

‘I’m eighteen,’ he replied

Daisy frowned. ‘That’s old,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘But Gangan’s eighty-one, and that’s really, really old.’

‘Daisy!’ admonished Peggy. ‘That’s enough.’

Bob laughed, turned to Cordelia and gave her a gentle hug. ‘You’re looking very well for someone who’s really, really old,’ he teased, although she wasn’t really, and he suspected she might have recently been crying. ‘It’s good to see some things haven’t changed round here,’ he added with a wink at his mother.