‘Jesus, Sal, stop being ridiculous.’

A moment of silence envelops us. Both of us nervous, neither of us knowing what to do next.

‘But what if they come back, Tom?’

I wonder why they were in our garden? I’m wide awake, the peace the night sky had offered me earlier, now replaced with fear. Tom eventually speaks.

‘Maybe it was just some drifter, Sal, I’ll go out and check.’

Tom goes to leave the room so I follow him. He turns around. ‘You stay here, Sal, get back into bed. I’ll make sure the door is locked.’

‘But…’

‘Just go back to bed. I’ll take care of it now.’

The words hang in the air as I get back into bed. I’ll take care of it now, Big Bad Tom coming to save the day. Well, it’s a bit late. What if the intruder had a knife? I could have been killed. Stabbed to death in my own back garden with Tom sleeping through my cries for help.

The night continues to tease. More twisting and turning beneath the sheets. Until eventually I hear the pitter patter of tiny feet cross the wooden floorboards. Aaron is the first to rise every morning. Since the boys moved into their own beds, Aaron makes his way into our room the moment the sun threatens to rise. He can sense the world stirring.

His little face arrives into view, moving close to mine to see if I’m awake. Then he reaches his warm hand out and places it on my face. What a lovely way to wake up, if only it was two hours later.

‘Hi, baby,’ I whisper, reaching out and lifting him in between myself and Tom. Tom is blissfully unaware of the extra person in the bed. The rhythm of his breathing doesn’t alter and his body doesn’t move. My near-death experience didn’t shave any slumber from his sleep.

Praying Aaron falls back asleep, I wrap my arms around the small bundle. Sometimes I’m lucky and he drops back off, giving me another hour of rest under the duvet. But other times he just lies there, wide awake, staring into my eyes, pulling them open if I dare close them.

Thankfully, this time Aaron turns away from me, allowing me to pull him close to my body. Within a few minutes I hear his resting breath take him off to sleep. But I’m unable to join him. My mind works hard flicking through the events of the past two days. The photograph. Tom’s denial. The accident. My dad showing up out of the blue.