That evening as Kathy was tucking the children into bed, Thomas surprised her when he asked suddenly, ‘That man, Ben, Mummy … the one that took us away. He told us he was our daddy, but you told us that our first daddy was dead.’

Kathy swallowed, trying hard to keep calm. Thankfully the twins appeared to be unscathed by the whole episode and within a couple of days of returning home they had not mentioned Ben at all. But now it was apparent that he was still very much on their minds.

‘I never actually said that your daddy was dead,’ she began haltingly, knowing that now was the time for honesty. The children had a right to know the truth. ‘I said that he couldn’t be with us because he had had to go away.’

‘But we thought that meant he had died,’ Thomas answered innocently.

Kathy sighed. ‘Ben was your daddy,’ she told them, as they stared at her with wide eyes. ‘But he went away long before you and Daisy were born, and he didn’t even know about you till he came back.’

‘But why did he go away?’ Thomas persisted and Kathy licked her lips.

‘Because he didn’t love me,’ she forced herself to say and now Thomas frowned.

‘But we love you … and he told me and Daisy that he loved us! He could be very kind sometimes when he wasn’t being strange.’

She nodded. ‘And I believe he did love you. He wasn’t a bad man, not really. But the thing is … your daddy wasn’t well, up here.’ She tapped her head. ‘He was in another war a long time ago and he saw lots of nasty things that made him poorly.’

‘Is that why he said strange things and had nightmares?’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I’m sure it is. So, you see he wished you and Daisy no harm when he took you away. And I’m sure he would never have hurt you. But he is in heaven now.’

‘So, he has died now?’

A nod from Kathy confirmed his question and he stared off into space for a time before asking, ‘How did he die?’

Kathy’s breath caught in her throat as she thought of the best way to answer. She didn’t want the children to know that Ben had taken his own life. It might prey on their minds and make them think that they had somehow been the cause of it.

‘Unfortunately, he fell into the water and drowned when he was down at the docks,’ she answered eventually.

‘Oh, so it wasn’t our fault for running away from him then?’

‘Not at all.’

‘And he can’t come back from heaven and take us away again?’

‘No, he can’t.’

Thomas snuggled down into his bed and once again Kathy was shocked at how accepting children could be.