‘I’ll still be working full-time; my income won’t change. So really, it’s entirely up to you, Jack, do whatever you like, whatever makes you happy.’

To him, this had all come out of the blue. The only Angie he had ever known was a workaholic who ran her life and her family with military precision. But she would show him, she’d show them all, that she really could find the perfect balance between the two – that she did deserve the title of Superwoman after all.

When she told the children she was planning on being around more, Indie and Benji barely responded. Ellie and Freddy, still wonderfully sweet and optimistic, jumped up and down with excitement at the prospect of their mum taking them to school. She hugged her younger two children tightly to her and prayed that they didn’t grow up too quickly.

In any event, a week later the company that Jack worked for had landed a contract to produce a major new documentary and they asked him to be on the team, which meant he’d be busy, so it had all worked out rather well. She put the prospect of Jack working and socialising away from home again to the back of her mind. He adores me, he adores our children, I have nothing to worry about, it’s all in my head, she told herself over and over again until she believed it.

Sophie was surprised when she saw Angie leaving the house with the kids. In the two years since they’d lived next door to each other she’d never seen her do a morning school run. But it was quickly replaced with delight at the prospect of seeing her. They had barely talked since the holiday and Sophie had been absolutely bursting to tell her the exciting news.

‘It’s so lovely to see you!’ she said to Angie when she finally caught up with her.

‘It’s my new school year’s resolution,’ Angie explained. ‘I’ve decided to work a bit more flexibly so that I can be more involved with the childcare.’

‘Good for you,’ Sophie said. ‘I’ve made a new school year’s resolution too!’

‘Oh yes, what’s that?’

‘I’m going to train as a swimming instructor.’

The seed had been planted in Greece. All the way home, Sophie had thought about how much she had enjoyed being back in the pool and the pleasure of doing something physical again. She had loved teaching Tom and Katie to swim and wondered, for the first time, whether she could make a living out of it. She’d competed at a high level when she was younger and had won a number of competitions which she knew would look good on applications. She had tentatively broached the idea with Alan, interested to see how it felt when she said it out loud, and in typical Alan style he had been great about it.

‘It sounds like an excellent idea, love,’ he said. ‘You’d be a brilliant teacher.’