Yvonne comes out of the shower as Lewis wakes up. He stretches and knocks the lamp off the bedside unit, sending a cloud of dust over the pillow. Work has been non-stop recently so when she has time off she doesn’t want to spend any of it cleaning; she just wants to be with him. She leans over to kiss him, adjusting the lamp he put back on the unit.

‘Control freak,’ he says.

‘Do you want a coffee?’

He shakes his head and lies back down. He’s been so quiet the last few days. It feels like there’s nothing she can do to bring him out of his shell, to get him talking.

‘Is this too fancy for a picnic?’ she asks holding up a floral dress, the one she wore when they went to Kew Gardens last month; that day was perfect and he kept going on about how beautiful she looked, but today he hardly even looks up.

‘No. It’s great,’ he says.

For Yvonne, Emma moving away represents a kind of freedom, some distance from the dwindling friendship that’s doing no one any good. But for Lewis, it means losing his son. He’d been so casual about it at first, discussing Emma’s move back to Kenya like she was going for a short holiday. But as it’s got closer and closer it’s like he’s starting to realise this is real and his only child is going to live in another part of the world.

She sits next to him on the bed. She wants to tell him that it’ll be better this way, so much better. Emma will be happier, supported by her family, which in turn will be good for Kiama. Being out there will give him a greater quality of life, and he’ll be able to have the kind of idyllic childhood Emma had, one of living in a privileged little bubble. And of course, for Yvonne and Lewis the move means they can start coming clean, telling their families. It will be out in the open and they can move forward.

Lewis stares up at the ceiling and as much as she wants to lie down with him, to hold him, she knows she can’t; what good will come from her wallowing in thoughts of missing Emma and Kiama too? She needs to be strong today, for herself and for Lewis.

‘We said we’d go out for breakfast,’ she squeezes his leg, ‘come on, get up. Please, it’ll do you good to get out.’

He pulls himself to sitting and leans forward, but then drops his head in his hands. He stays like this and she puts a hand on his back then removes it. ‘Lewis?’

‘Okay, okay, I’m up.’