‘I love you,’ he said.

She kissed him and stood up, unhooking a black coat from the end of the bannister, before stooping to pick up the shoulder bag and slip her feet into Nicky’s heels. ‘Thanks again, Edie. There are Wotsits and wine in the kitchen if you fancy them. You’ve got my number. Any worries at all, just call me.’

‘We’ll be fine,’ I smiled, as she opened the front door. ‘Have a great evening. Relax and enjoy.’

‘I’ll try!’ she called, pulling the door shut behind her.

I looked down at Harry, who was now staring with some concern at my head.

‘Everything OK?’ I asked.

‘Is that your towel?’

‘Yes,’ I said, bemused for a moment, before recalling his planned Christmas gift to me.

‘But I really do need a new one. This one’s so old.’

He nodded. ‘We can’t set it on fire with matches because that would burn the house down. But we can put it in the bin,’ he offered helpfully.

‘Well,’ I said, placing a hand to my mouth in order to indicate thought, ‘what I might do is put it in the bin when I get home, because it’s keeping my wet hair out of my eyes at the moment.’

‘OK,’ he said acceptingly, taking my hand and leading me into the kitchen. ‘Now, let’s get Wotsits and watch Megamind.’

‘This is Ron’s other favourite bit!’ said Harry, pointing at the screen with one hand and cramming Wotsits into his mouth with the other. ‘Ha! Ha! Ha!’ He laughed explosively, sending a geyser of orange crumbs over both my white bathrobe and the sofa.

I laughed along, while dusting off my robe and acknowledging Megamind to be a genuinely entertaining movie. I had been a little sceptical at Harry’s repeated claim that it was Ron’s favourite film in the whole world, but by the time we were twenty minutes in, I could easily believe that, even if Megamind didn’t quite top, say, Saving Private Ryan, Moonlight or The Theory of Everything for Cameron, it could certainly be up there.

‘Do you think Ron will mind that we’ve started watching the movie without him?’ I asked, reaching into the large communal bowl of Wotsits which sat on the sofa between us.

Harry shook his head. ‘He knows all the words off by heart.’

‘That’s good.’

He gazed at the screen.

‘What’s your favourite part?’ I asked.

‘I like it when Megamind flies on his motorbike. But I don’t like it when he’s in school,’ he murmured, standing up to retrieve his glass of water from the large coffee table in front of us.

‘Because he’s sad at school?’

‘The others don’t pick him to play and won’t be his friend,’ he said, sitting back down, ‘and that’s not kind.’