Then she straightens and pulls me into a quick, firm hug.
“How areyou?” she asks quietly.
“Better,” I admit. “Just… tired.”
“That’s allowed,” she says, squeezing my shoulder.
Then she turns to Ava and gives her a brief, warm hug too. Not awkward. Not formal. Just included.
“Thank you again,” she says. “For staying with him.”
Ava looks slightly embarrassed by the attention.
“He wasn’t going to be on his own,” she says softly.
Mum nods like that confirms exactly what she already thinks.
“Well,” she says briskly, already moving towards the kitchen, “I’ve got him now.”
She gestures vaguely towards the stairs.
“You two. Bed.”
“We’re fine,” I start automatically.
She gives me a look I have known since childhood.
“Jack.”
Right.
I surrender.
“You look exhausted,” she adds. “Both of you. Go and sleep before you fall over. Lunch will be ready when you wake up.”
Alfie looks up from his comic.
“Do you have to fly back to your football game?”
There is something careful in the question.
“No,” I say, crouching beside him. “No more flying today. Ava and I are just going to have a nap before lunch. Is that okay?”
He considers this like it is an important negotiation.
“Okay.”
I press a kiss to the top of his head.
“I love you, mate.”
“Love you, Dad.”
Then, almost immediately:
“Granny? Can I have a hot chocolate?”
From the kitchen comes, “After you’ve had some water first.”
