Darcy comes carefully down the stairs one at a time, concentrating on each step. Then she lifts her head, sees Liberty and her bandmates and says, ‘You mustn’t wear double denim.’

Everyone laughs, except Freddy, who’s wearing double denim.

Liberty takes Darcy’s hand. ‘Have you seen the garden?’

Darcy squints at the sunshine, and takes a long time to scan the new, open front lawn and street.

‘Yes.’

‘Do you like the change?’

‘I can see the postbox.’

‘Yes. And you’ll be able to see me coming home,’ says Liberty. ‘So you don’t need to worry anymore.’

‘So we all like the change, right?’ I say.

‘I love it.’ Liberty gives me a hug tight enough for me to feel her bones. ‘You’re the best, Mama. Thank you.’

‘What about your exam results then, Libs?’ Nick asks. ‘Good news?’

‘I did okay,’ says Liberty. More hair flicking.

Freddy shows beautiful white teeth. ‘We all got As across the board, Mrs Armstrong.’ His smile falters. ‘Except for one C in my case. Home Economics. The teacher warned me soufflés are tricky under exam conditions. I should have listened.’

‘Well done all of you. Wow. That’s amazing.’ I grin at Liberty. ‘How did I get the honour of regular dinners with a girl genius and her genius friends, huh? Lucky me.’

‘The food looks wonderful, Mrs Armstrong,’ says Freddy. ‘Thank you for all your hard work.’

‘Yes, thank you, Mrs Armstrong and Mr Armstrong,’ says Abi.

They’re such good kids. I can’t think why I was so afraid of Liberty hanging out with them.

‘I hope you’re hungry,’ I say. ‘And everything is vegan. Plant-based. Nick and I have been obsessively checking supermarket labels.’

‘Plant-based?’ Liberty’s eyes widen. ‘As in plants cruelly ripped out of the ground? I’m not up for torturing vegetables anymore, Mum. I’ve decided to only eat foods that have fallen naturally to the ground. Fruit, basically.’

I stare at her. ‘But … I bought this vegan cheese and shredded two knuckles grating it over the salad. Do you know how hard it is to prepare rubber cheese?’

Liberty and her bandmates snigger. Nick is laughing too. Darcy watches everyone’s faces closely, completely confused.

‘Oh, right.’ I put a hand to my cheek. ‘It’s a hilarious joke. Very funny.’

Liberty throws a long arm around my shoulder. ‘I have to tease you sometimes, Mama. Or you’d take life too seriously. Thank you for the dinner. It looks amazing. And thank you for taking the fences down.’

‘It’s okay,’ I say. ‘It was hard. It’s made me realize you’ll leave me one day.’ My lip starts to wobble and I feel hot tears welling up.

‘But not today.’ Liberty squeezes my shoulder. She shakes her head at her friends. ‘Parents. They’re so emotional, aren’t they? Must be the hormones. Hey, Mum – what time is Cannon getting here?’