‘And where’s Dad?’

I’m not about to tell her that I abandoned him in McDonalds, walked out and left him with his new son, the stalker.

‘He’s following, he had something to do.’

‘Is he bringing the food?’

‘I don’t know, Amber. Look, sit down, love, something has come up. I need to talk to you. I just need to check on the boys first.’

I’m all jittery walking in to where Cian and Aaron are engrossed in their play. Their little faces light up on seeing me and they run to hug me, then immediately return to their toys.

Hoping I might get at least five minutes with Amber before the boys interrupt us, I return to the kitchen to where Amber is sitting on the counter top.

‘What happened?’ Her eyes are wide with interest.

‘It’s about Kenny.’

She moves forward slightly, swinging her skinny legs. ‘What about him?’

‘Well, apparently you have already met him.’

‘No, I haven’t,’ she shouts, jumping off the counter and heading for the door.

‘Amber, wait, listen to me, this is important.’

She stops, turning to look at me with tears in her eyes. ‘But you said I met him and I…’

‘You did meet him, Amber, you just didn’t know it was him.’

‘What—’ she breaks off. Amber is digesting what I’ve told her.

‘Yes, he says he met you and your friends. He didn’t tell you who he was. Your dad knows more. He’ll be here soon.’

‘But—’

‘I know, love… it’s unbelievable.’

Amber’s mouth is open and I can see her trying to compute what has happened. Suddenly she pulls the phone from her pocket and swipes down the screen.

‘Is that him?’ she says showing me a picture of Kenny.

‘Yes—’

‘I just thought there was something funny about him, he kept asking me questions, not like normal questions about me, he seemed more interested in my family…’ She looks back at the screen. ‘Fucking hell, is he my brother?’

‘Half-brother, Amber, half-brother.’

‘Oh God, this is shit.’

I can think of a lot of worse things to call the situation. ‘How did he contact you?’

‘Facebook.’

When her initial shock subsides, Amber tells me how she received a message on Facebook from Kenny asking her to friend him. Nothing unusual there, especially as he played rugby for St Vincent’s, which is the same team that Sarah’s unreliable boyfriend plays for. They met at one of the matches that Sarah dragged her along to. Kenny messaged her a few times on Facebook and Amber thought maybe he fancied her. She cringes when she says this. ‘Uh, my brother.’