Over time, she and Alan had got used to being alone again, just the two of them. For so long their lives, their whole existence, had been centred around the children. She hadn’t known what to expect when they left home, fearing perhaps that she and Alan would have run out of things to say to each other. They had been through so much to stay together that she couldn’t bear the thought of them falling at the final hurdle. She had been relieved to discover that they enjoyed each other’s company more than ever. He still made her laugh, even after all this time.

They were trying to be more spontaneous, even if that just meant going to the cinema at the last minute or choosing dinner out rather than a takeaway. They’d booked a four-week trip to New Zealand over the winter. Sophie had always dreamed of going there and Ellie had been sending her tips and advice. They were going to stay with her and Chrissie for a few days in Auckland. She couldn’t wait. And then after that it was straight back to intense coaching ahead of the British Swimming Trials, into which she was entering a couple of her junior swimmers. There was always something going on and that was just how she liked it.

‘Where’s this damn champagne?’ Angie demanded. She raised her voice and called out, ‘Stop gossiping in the kitchen, you lot, we’re thirsty.’

They all appeared together, five out of the six kids, and started dishing out glasses to everyone. Angie, Jack and Sophie took their champagne and held it up.

‘To Freddy and Katie,’ they said in unison.

They all drank up and a second bottle appeared soon after. By the time the third one had come out, it was established that no one would be driving home that evening. By the fourth, someone had found a Latin music playlist and put it on at full blast so that Katie could prepare for her imminent departure to South America, and Jack was trying to teach Sophie salsa moves.

‘How do you know how to do this?’ Sophie asked as he spun her around, having a flashback to when they had gone to the barn dance and made a hash of the moves.

‘Janine made me go to lessons for six months,’ he said.

‘Who’s Janine?’ Sophie was puzzled.

‘What’s-her-face,’ Indie shouted over the music to her.

‘Oh! I don’t think I ever actually knew her real name.’

Jack glared at her. ‘Nice, Sophie. Nice,’ he said.

Laughing, she pulled him towards her. To her left she saw Freddy and Katie talking quietly in the corner. To her right Indie was dancing with Tom, thrusting her hips towards him while he stared down at her in stunned awe, like a man who had just won the lottery. All of his friends would know about this tomorrow, she suspected, as well as possibly all of the internet. Benji was on the phone talking to his latest girlfriend and trying to explain that he couldn’t make it round to hers after all as he had got blotto with his mother and father.