‘Sorry, Mum.’

Angie put the mugs down and looked at her daughter. ‘Me too.’

They smiled tentatively at each other. It was a ceasefire, for now. At least Angie was reassured by the fact that Indie had apologised. To her it confirmed that not only did Indie regret her outburst but that her daughter’s words hadn’t been meant, that they had purely been said in the heat of the moment. It wasn’t until a couple of days later that she learned the truth. Jack, seeing how upset Angie was after the row and putting two and two together, had ordered Indie to apologise upon pain of having her phone confiscated for the rest of the holiday.

On the ferry, as they made their way to the next island, she stood on the deck, closed her eyes, breathed in the warm salty air and tried to relax. She felt a presence beside her and looked over to see Jack standing next to her. He put his hand in hers.

‘I am happy, Angie. Very happy,’ he had said.

She had smiled. At least one of them was.

Angie had returned from holiday determined to make a change. She couldn’t go on like this any longer. She’d arranged a meeting with her superior at work and told him that she wanted to work more flexibly. From September, she said, she would be coming in later and working from home a couple of days a week if she wasn’t in court. She could see the surprise on his face but he agreed, realising that, as with all things Angie, it was a statement not a request. As she left the meeting, she suspected that she had just blown her chance of becoming partner, but it was the sacrifice she had to make. She needed her career, but she needed her family to need her too.

For how could she blame the children for loving Jack more than her when he was the one who was always there for them, mopping up their tears, making their dinner, sharing laughs with them? And how could she blame Jack for feeling neglected when she was never around for him? She was going to make herself indispensable to her family again, she vowed. Once her mind was made up, she was certain that this was finally the solution to all her problems.

But Jack had seemed put out when she first told him of her plans and she realised how much he enjoyed being a part-time stay-at-home dad, and how much pleasure he took in being the one that the children turned to. She had, perhaps naively, assumed he’d be delighted by her change of priorities, but it quickly became evident that she’d misjudged him.

‘I’m not trying to oust you, Jack,’ she said. ‘But you and the children are what matter the most to me and I feel like I’m missing out.’

‘So, do I have to up my hours at work again?’ Jack was petulant.