Callie had screamed at both Tara and Mimi. Why do you have to be so embarrassing? Why can’t you be more normal? You guys looked so stupid. Lovely things like that. Mimi had wanted to strangle her for hurting her sister’s feelings so badly, but at the same time, she remembered the pain that came with embarrassment in high school. Callie had a really great group of friends, so it wouldn’t have been one of them picking on her, it would have been someone outside of her circle who’d decided to be nasty. Why did some kids have to be such arseholes?

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Pete standing in the doorway. ‘Twins are both changed and I put them in their rockers,’ he said. ‘Want me to see if I can tame the beast?’

‘Oh God, yes.’

‘Damn, I was hoping you’d tell me I could take over here.’

As though in response, Tara burrowed her head further into Mimi’s lap.

‘Nope, this one is all mine. Good luck.’

Pete gave a look of mournful resignation and headed off.

‘Should we FaceTime Nan and Pop?’ Mimi tried once he was gone. ‘See if they’ve had any snow yet? Apparently, they’ve had an early cold front come through and they’re predicting a proper white Christmas for once. Should be the right time to call London.’

Tara shook her head. ‘Not right now,’ she said. ‘Can we talk to them later?’

‘Sure. Tell you what,’ said Mimi, ‘you can share some of my secret ice cream after dinner tonight and we can call them then.’

Tara sat up and looked at her. ‘You have secret ice cream?’ she asked.

‘Yep, I keep it hidden under the peas. No one ever looks there.’

‘Are you going to share it with Callie as well?’

‘Nope. Just you and me.’

Tara smiled. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘But can I still cry a bit more?’

‘Sure, if you still need to cry, that’s fine by me.’

Tara returned her head to Mimi’s lap.

*

Pete pulled back the covers and climbed into bed. ‘You know Tara told me about your secret ice cream stash when I said good night to her earlier?’

‘One second,’ said Mimi, staring at her phone, ‘I just have to finish watching this video of a donkey helping a flock of ducks cross a road.’

‘Facebook is a magical place.’

Mimi finished the video and put her phone down on her bedside table. ‘That sneaky little thing. She was supposed to keep that to herself.’

‘You’re a good mum,’ he said. ‘I could tell she was very proud of knowing something that I didn’t know.’

Mimi screwed up her face. ‘I don’t feel like a good mum. I feel like a shit mum. You at least got Callie talking to you. She still wouldn’t even let me into her room tonight.’