Not in the best of moods anyway, Frankie decided to be brutally honest for once. ‘I’m really sorry, Kerry, but everytime I see you it just brings all the bad stuff back to me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that you still have your boys, but seeing them upsets me too much. It reminds me of Georgie and Harry, and whenever I see you, I think of Jed and Sammy as well. I wish I didn’t, but I do, mate.’

Kerry put the bottle of wine on the side and stared at Frankie. The hurt expression in her eyes was clear to see and Frankie felt awful when tears started to stream down Kerry’s face. ‘I’m really sorry you feel that way, Frankie, and to say you’ve hurt me is an understatement. I shall leave you in peace now, and I won’t contact you any more. If we can’t be friends that see one another, there’s no point in us staying in touch at all.’

‘I don’t want us to lose touch completely. You’ll always be my friend and I can never thank you enough for all the stuff you said at my trial. Please let’s not fall out over this,’ Frankie begged.

Kerry picked up her car keys and walked towards the front door. She had come here today to find out what the hell was going on and now she had, it was time to leave.

‘Good luck with the rest of your life, Frankie. With an attitude like yours, you’re gonna need it.’

‘Are you OK, sweet child?’ Babs asked as the front door slammed. She had been in the living room and had heard every word of the conversation.

Frankie shrugged. ‘I’m a bit sad, but I’ll be OK. I hate being reminded of Jed and Sammy, so a clean break is best all round, I suppose.’

Babs had always liked Kerry and didn’t agree at all with the way Frankie had just treated the poor girl. Deciding to keep her thoughts to herself for now, she smiled. ‘Shall we have a glass of wine and cheer ourselves up?’

Frankie grinned. ‘Yeah, sod it. Why not?’

Knowing that Georgie and Harry’s birthdays usually turned into a melancholy piss-up, Eddie got Stuart to pick him and the kids up in his motor.

‘Why you not drive, Dad? You gonna get drunk?’ Aaron asked bluntly.

‘I can’t get drunk while I’m looking after yous two, but I shall have a few, boy,’ Eddie replied. Since Georgie and Harry had been abducted, he and Frankie had always spent their birthdays together and got rat-arsed. Christmas Day was the same; without the alcohol they just couldn’t cope on these sad occasions.

‘What’s in the bag?’ Eddie asked, pointing at the pink gift bag that was sitting in the footwell next to his legs.