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“Just have fun,” said Tilly, ushering them out of the house.

The next hour was taken up with getting the kids dinner and getting them to actually eat it rather than talk through it. In the end, Tilly had to institute a no talking at the table rule, whichDash neatly avoided by simply getting out of his chair every time he had something to say.

By the time the doorbell rang, Tilly hadn’t had a second to be nervous about Sophie coming. Normally, she’d have been panicking by now, straightening cushions, brushing her teeth multiple times, wondering if she was going to make a good impression.

But she opened the door with spaghetti on her shirt and a lock of hair falling over one eye.

“Is that blood or ketchup?” Sophie asked, leaning in to see Tilly’s face better in the light.

“Ketchup,” Tilly said. “Probably.” She wiped her arm across her face. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” laughed Sophie. “I know Ag and Dash of old. They’re a handful.”

“What’s a handful?” Dash asked, strolling out of the kitchen with a large bottle of coke in both hands.

“You are,” said Sophie. “And I’ve got a feeling that you’re not supposed to have that.”

“I’m not going to drink it,” Dash said, as though the very thought of it was unbelievable. “I’m going to throw it out of the window upstairs ‘cos Ag says it’s going to explode.”

“It will explode,” said Ag, following her brother out of the kitchen. “Do you want to watch?”

Tilly shared a look with Sophie. “Um, that’s probably a mum and dad activity, so maybe wait until tomorrow?” she said. “Ag, why don’t you play your concert piece for Sophie? Soph’s in the choir, you know?”

“Yay,” Ag said. She took Sophie’s hand. “Come on. You can tell me about Billy. I mean, Ms. Brooke. She’s my piano teacher and your choir teacher.”

“Sorry,” Tilly said. “Let me just get Dash clean and I’ll be in to rescue you.”

“We’ll be fine,” Sophie said, laughing as Ag dragged her away.

DASH RAN DOWNSTAIRS in his pajamas, Tilly following him, hoping that Ag hadn’t talked Sophie to death.

“You’re going to sing for us,” Ag announced as Tilly went into the living room.

“We are?” asked Tilly.

“Hurray,” Dash said, bouncing on the couch.

“Sorry,” Sophie said. “But Ag insists on hearing it. Is it alright? I thought we could do with the practice, and Ag can play the accompaniment.”

“Fine by me,” Tilly said. “But Dash can only listen if he sits down quietly.”

The boy immediately crashed down onto the couch, crossed his legs and arms, and pressed his lips tightly closed.

“Are you ready?” Ag asked.

Tilly glanced at Sophie and shrugged. “I suppose.”

The first notes rang out from the piano and Tilly took a breath. She was a bit wobbly at first, but after a bar, Sophie joined in, and suddenly singing was easier than breathing. There was something about doing it together that just made it natural.

She edged closer to Sophie, wanting to hear better how their voices melded, and by the time the final note was hanging in the air, she was feeling a warm buzz.

“That was really good,” Ag said, closing the piano.

“Yeah, it was great,” agreed Dash. “You two should get married now.”

“What?” Tilly said at the same time as Sophie said, “Dash!”

“You can’t tell people to get married,” Ag told her brother.