Present-giving was chaotic but lovely. Lily relished the fairy-tale Christmas sight of the acres of snow glittering outside and the sound of church bells drifting up from the town. Dugal and Keir tried simultaneously to rip into their presents and hand out other people’s – which they offered to share if edible. ‘Lego!’ one would yell.

‘Duplo!’ squealed the other.

‘Grand-Tubb, this is for you from Mummy!’

‘Grandma, here’s yours from us!’

Lily, laughing, let them hand out all of her gifts of pashminas, DVDs, vouchers and everything that had been easy to grab. For Dugal and Keir she’d bought matching Minions pyjamas and was gratified when they stripped off to wriggle straight into them. Baby Ainsley lay in a Moses basket on the floor, occasionally flailing his arms and mewling then flopping back into sleep. Like his brothers, he had Max’s sandy hair.

Everyone had managed a present for Lily, even at short notice: heavenly Swiss chocolate, a carved wooden box, perfume and, from Tubb and Janice, a pair of ski pants suitable for the depths of Swiss winter. ‘Janice was pretty sure of your size but we can exchange them if needs be,’ Tubb said gruffly. Then, looking awkward, he gave Lily a lilac envelope. Inside was a Christmas card and printed in gold foil on the front, Merry Christmas to my sister. Lily looked at it through a veil of tears, her chin wobbling.

‘Why are you making a silly face?’ demanded Keir, peering at her.

Dugal sighed at the stupidity of younger brothers. ‘She’s going to sneeze,’ he explained loftily.

Everybody laughed and Lily gave Tubb a hug – the first ever – and let a couple of her tears soak into his dressing gown. He and Garrick had had a long talk with her last night when they’d fetched her from the airport, clearing any lingering ill feeling as they explained their shock at Marvin’s past behaviour.

‘You see,’ Tubb had explained gently, ‘he was a very good dad, the kind who always came to football matches and knew how to fix broken kites. To realise that he’d had a secret affair was painful and we stupidly lashed out at you as the living proof of it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Garrick saw sense first and made me see what an unreasonable shit I was being in blaming you for keeping the secret for so long, I felt terrible. You must not have known what to do.’

It had been worth a flight to Switzerland just to hear that.

Garrick, Eleanor, Myla and Xander arrived and while the small children went wild again, Eleanor took her own opportunity to clear the air with Lily. ‘I’m sorry that I leapt to conclusions and was so unpleasant.’

‘None of us knew what was going on with the other,’ Lily had been quick to say. ‘Let’s put it behind us.’