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Thursday and Friday were spent writing reports. Charlie kept his weight off his leg as instructed, and let Eddy drive him home at the end of the day.

Outside, the air was warm and soft, smelling of summer after all the rain. Charlie took the time to check his weather app. It was going to get hot again, but not tonight. He wasn’t in a rush to get back. The last three days with just the two of them had reminded Charlie of how much he loved Tom, and how comfortable they were without two teenage girls in the house.

At home there was an ominous hush. No loud music, no TV noise, though the lights were on. Maybe they’d stayed in London.

“Tom?” he called.

The living room door opened, and Ziggy put her head out. “You’re back,” she said. “We’ve been waiting.”

“We made you something,” Amelie’s voice said from the living room. “Let him in for God’s sake, Zig.”

Ziggy waved him in and stood aside. On the coffee table stood a cake stand, and on the cake stand was a collection of the stickiest, most over the top cupcakes Charlie had ever seen. There were blue ones with silver balls on top, pink ones with coconut sprinkles, and chocolate with chocolate shavings. Which is to say, white icing with dark chocolate shavings and dark chocolate icing with white chocolate shavings. Each was contained in a 1960s style paper case decorated with peace signs and happy faces.

“All for you,” Amelie said.

“Because we haven’t been very nice, and it’s not your fault.” Ziggy said.

In the corner of the room, Charlie saw his husband holding a sketchbook and pencil, trying to conceal a grin behind his beard.

“We are going to be much better from now on,” Ziggy said.

“So, we made some cake to prove it. Dad said cupcakes with lots of icing were your favourite, and we found a recipe online. Mum video called as well, gotta be honest.”

Charlie swallowed. “They look fantastic, thank you so much,” he said. “But if you don’t mind, I’ll get changed out of my suit before I try one.”

The twins smiled identical smiles, like two teenage angels. Tom was looking hard at his book.

Charlie went upstairs to the bedroom he shared with Tom, carefully removed his suit and hung it up, before dressing in lovely soft and battered jeans and an equally vintage T shirt. The cakes looked over the top, even for a sugar addict like him. But he was going to eat them in the same spirit in which they had been made: the spirit of making amends. Amelie and Ziggy were teenagers, and he remembered how hard it was to be that age, how the world didn’t understand, and most of all how your parents didn’t understand. He was one of the grown-ups, and he was going to behave like one. If the girls could make him cakes to say sorry, he could make an effort in return.

He dropped his phone on the bed, wondering whether to stick it in his pocket, or leave it here to charge. Leave it here , he thought, because I’ve done enough for this week, and surely Llanfair will get a bit of peace? If it rings, I’ll pretend I can’t hear it.

The charger should have been plugged in to the socket by his bedside table. Except it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. In its place was a smear of blue icing.

This was going to be a very long year.