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But when she opened the door, she found Tom. “Bit early, sorry! Rup was asleep in the car, so we just packed up and left. Zora!”

“Come in,” Coralie said. “She’s got Hannah over.”

“Thanks, it’s okay. We’re in a rush.”

“I’ll shut the door at least.”

Tom stepped inside. “Sorry, yes.”

“It’s freezing. Adam! Tom’s here for Zora.”

“Get Brexit done,” Daniel boomed from the kitchen.

“Well, indeed.” Tom was once again an MP, having run for Eastbourne again a few weeks earlier and unexpectedly won, swept in on a tide of Boris.

“Tom, you’re too early,” Anne called from the sitting room.

“Oh, hello, Tom,” Sally said sweetly.

“Hello to you , Sally. Merry Christmas. Hello, Hannah—Merry Christmas.”

Hannah was carrying her things down the stairs. “Oh, I thought it was my dad. We don’t do Christmas! But thanks.”

“ Happy Holidays ,” Tom said in an American accent. “Zora!”

“I’m not coming!” Zora shouted.

Tom pretended he hadn’t heard. “Mum and Rup are in the car. We’re a little bit worried about traffic.”

“Well, I’m a little bit not coming .” Zora sat on the stairs with a bump. Hannah glanced back and sat down too.

“I see,” Tom said. “We shall, we shall not be moved. Extinction Rebellion in the house. Gluing yourself to the banister.”

“But seriously,” Daniel said. “Tom? Zora’s got a performance to do on the keyboard.”

It was “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. She’d taught herself to play it from a YouTube tutorial. Only Daniel and Barbie had seen it so far. Coralie had heard her singing in the shower in a surprisingly clear and tuneful voice.

“Tom doesn’t give a shit,” Zora said.

“Zora!” At the top of the stairs, Adam’s legs appeared.

“Don’t worry, I can handle it, I’m a big boy,” Tom said. “Happy birthday, Adam. Look, Zora, I’m really sorry about being early. Do you want me to get Rup in from the car, and Marina? We can all watch your song.”

“I’m not doing my stupid song!” Zora’s lip was trembling. It was a tantrum she never threw as a child. “I don’t want to go to stupid Sevenoaks!”

Holding Sally’s hand in the hall, Florence gazed up at Zora in surprise.

“I see.” Tom realized the limit of his authority. “I’ll fetch Marina.”

The hall filled with frigid air as Tom opened the door, then slammed it.

“Zora, sweetheart,” Coralie began.

Upstairs, there was a long wail. Max had woken up. “Thanks, Tom,” Adam muttered.

“I’ll get him.” Daniel slipped up past the girls toward the bedroom. He didn’t like to be around conflict, even of a restrained and English kind.

Another knock on the front door. Coralie swung it open, expecting Tom.

“Dad!” Hannah said.

But Hannah’s dad was looking out toward Wilton Way, where Tom was carrying a drowsy Rup and frowning. “Oh look, it’s Mr. Brexit!” Hannah’s dad said. “Boris’s boy in Camden. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“Politely,” Tom said rudely, “give me a break.”

“You give us a break.” Anne popped out of the sitting room. “You should be ashamed of what you’ve done.”

“What, exactly?” Tom said. “I didn’t vote for Brexit, but the majority of people did; certainly, some fifty-seven percent of Eastbourne. It’s called democracy.”

At least three people made a disgusted sound: Anne, Adam, and Hannah’s dad.

“You voted for it this time,” Anne said. “Waving through the withdrawal agreement…Shameful, Tom. Why are you in this con man’s government? No one forced you to be an MP.”

“She’s not wrong.” Marina was on the doorstep. “Hi, Jonathan.”

Hannah’s dad raised his hand in greeting. “Hannah? Time to go, sweetheart. We’ll leave these guys to their important Christmas ritual of having a huge argument.”

“We’re not having an argument,” Tom said stiffly.

“All righty!” Jonathan gave another little wave. “Hannah, say ‘Thanks for having me.’?”

“Thanks for having me,” Hannah said in a robot voice.

Rup had wriggled to the ground and slipped into the front hall. Marina and Tom were still shivering on the doorstep. “It would be great if you could come inside,” Coralie said. “Our central heating’s not very good.”

Marina swept in and sat in front of Zora on the stairs.

“Wrennie, Rupey.” Sally led them back toward the kitchen. “Shall we cut up some carrots for the reindeer?”

Adam sat down on the step behind Zora. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

Zora laid her head on his knee and burst into tears.

“I don’t want to go to Sevenoaks; it’s so far, and so boring, and I can’t even walk to the shops.

Tom’s dad makes me call him Mr. Dunlop, like we’re people from the olden days!

They use the same cutting board and serving spoons for my food and the meat.

And last time I went, Tom said we were going to move there! ”

Everyone turned to stare at Tom. “I said I wouldn’t mind sending Rup to school there,” he said. “For secondary! He’s only just started primary!”

“We would never make you leave school or move,” Marina said firmly.

“I’m always moving,” Zora sobbed. “I’ve always got a bag packed. Got your bag, poppet? I’m sick of it! I want to be in charge of who I’m with and where I go.”

“But we all want you,” Coralie said. “We’d all keep you with us all the time, if we could.”

“It’s true,” Marina said. “We share you so it’s fair.”

“Fair for you ,” Zora said. “Anyway, you don’t want me! You all have new children, your real children, and I’m just boring old leftovers in the fridge.”

Marina and Adam closed over Zora like a clamshell.

Coralie looked at Tom. “Let’s have a cup of tea.”

···

In the playpen, Florence and Rup wriggled on their backs, pretending to be babies. Tom slumped at the kitchen table.

“Has it been very tiring in the Parliament?” Sally asked.

“He’s been an MP again for two weeks,” Anne scoffed.

“Anne, it’s none of your business,” Tom said, “but when they asked me to run again in Eastbourne, I thought I was going to lose. My seat was so marginal, why would I think I’d win?

I was doing Conservative HQ a favor. And—shoot me if you wish—I didn’t think Jeremy Corbyn could be trusted with public money and the nuclear deterrent.

Is Boris perfect? No, but he’s better than the alternative.

It’s very tiring, yes, even after two weeks, and Marina’s furious, and everyone hates me. ”

“You’re playing with fire putting a known liar in as leader. Boris lied his way to Brexit, and he lied his way to Number Ten,” Anne said. “Twice.”

Tom raised his hands. “I give up.”

“You seem to expect to be comfortable everywhere you go,” Anne said. “But the things you do and say have consequences, for the nation generally, and for you and for your family. And when that impacts Zora, that means my family.”

“For—” Tom pushed his chair back. “For heaven’s sake, Anne!”

Anne sat impassive as Tom stormed out of the room.

Coralie looked over at Tom’s son, giggling in the playpen. “Maybe Rup belongs to us now.”

“Don’t be silly, Coralie.”

“Tom’s out in the car.” Marina came in looking stunned. “And Zora wants to change her surname to Amin.”

“Good,” Anne said. “I don’t care. Whiteman was never my name. She should!”

“Marina?” Coralie said. “What’s happening with Zora?”

“We’re letting her choose where to be, at least for tonight and tomorrow.”

Anne shot out into the hallway, presumably to make her case.

Rup wouldn’t leave the playpen until Coralie gave Marina a mince pie to use as bait. “Embarrassing to give him a bribe,” Marina said.

“I want a bribe,” Florence cried, so Coralie gave her one too.

Finally, Marina and Rup left. Sally and Florence left. Alone for the first time in the entire day, Coralie lowered her head to the table. That was where Daniel found her when he came in with Max.

“Are you dead?”

“No, unfortunately.” Coralie sighed. “Hello, Maxi! Hello, Moo!” Max leaned out of Daniel’s arms and into Coralie’s. “Was that the first time you’ve had Max alone?”

“It was. It was crazy.”

“What was crazy about it?”

“I lay on the bed next to him and watched him. He wasn’t crying or anything. He was looking at me, looking at my mouth, my eyes, my whole face. I gave him Brown Bear, which you have in your bed still, like a loser.”

“You’re the loser,” she said automatically.

“And it was crazy to see him study it, look at Brown Bear’s fur, his eyes…”

“Why was it crazy?”

“I never realized babies had a mind . That time worked on them, the same way it works on us. He was conscious. The seconds ticked by, the same for him as for me.”

Coralie stared at him, puzzled.

“She’s staying,” Anne announced from the door. “Zora’s staying with us!”

In the pantry, there was a rustling noise. “Oh no,” Coralie said.

A small brown shape was at the playpen, the table, the sink, then under the fridge. Coralie screamed.

Adam poked his head in. “What’s going on?”

“We’re extremely excited to have Zora,” Anne said.

“Yes,” Coralie said. “Exactly!”

···

Daniel baked the leftover pasta and lentil Bolognese with béchamel.

“Isn’t it awful about the bushfires?” Sally said halfway through dinner.

Under the table, Coralie crossed her fingers, hoping that would be the end of it.

“Five million hectares,” Anne said. “Nine people dead.”

Coralie’s Instagram had been full of Australian friends wearing surgical masks to go to work.

The smoke was so bad you couldn’t see the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In Canberra, Elspeth couldn’t sleep—during the bushfires of 2003, her childhood horse had died in its stable, trapped.

Sometimes Coralie thought of koalas, stuck in burning trees.

She thought of a giant scoreboard, measuring parts per million of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

What would Maxi’s life be like? Would Australia even exist?

“Climate Change and the End of Australia”: There’d been a piece about it in Rolling Stone . “Yes…” She trailed off. “Not good.”

“All that smoke is like a packet of cigarettes a day,” Anne said. “For the lungs. And you can see it in placentas. Climate change, of course.”

Everyone murmured their agreement.