Finally, the Christmas holidays rolled around. Michael sat on Eddie's lap, listening intently to him. "So on Tuesday you're having Christmas Day with Mummy, and then on Wednesday, you're having another Christmas Day with Daddy and Rachel. How does that sound, eh, two Christmases?"

They were sitting on the chair beside the Christmas tree. Rachel had never really seen the point in having a Christmas tree before, but Eddie persuaded her that they should, for Michael's benefit. She had to admit that now it was up, she did kind of like it. With Eddie here, Christmas did seem different, nicer. She actually did have something to celebrate for the first time she could even remember. "Let me get a photo of you two," she said, taking his phone from the coffee table.

She checked the photo and made a decision. She attached the photo to a text message and began writing. "What are you doing?" Eddie asked.

"Oh I'm just writing a text," she replied, "I'm not going to send it, but I'm getting it ready in case you want to."

After an uncomfortable few minutes, Rachel returned his phone to him and he read:

To: John Lawson

"I'm sorry. You were right. But I am no longer being an idiot. Hope you are OK. Would love to hear from you. E."

For a moment he was affronted. But with Michael on his lap, he did not want to start an argument. He intended to delete it, but he paused long enough to think again. Before he could talk himself out of it, he hit send.

It was less than a minute before his phone rang. Eddie looked at it as if it were a live grenade. Rachel lifted Michael off his lap, saying, "come on Michael, let's you and me find a game to play," leaving Eddie no choice but to answer it.

After an hour, she settled Michael watching television, and went upstairs to check on Eddie. She found him sitting on the edge of the bed, his face blotchy and red. It was clear he had been crying. "Oh no, what have I done?" thought Rachel. "Are you OK?" she asked, slightly nervous of what the answer would be. Perhaps John had still been angry. Rachel knew how much Eddie loved John, and how much John's opinion mattered to him. If John had been unkind, she knew it would hurt Eddie. Perhaps she had completely misjudged this situation and made things worse.

"Yeah," he replied, "it was great to hear his voice again."

"What did you talk about?" she probed.

"Well, first we both just burst into tears for a bit," he said. "Then we talked for a bit, but then he had to go because his baby woke up and started crying. So we hung up and then I burst into tears again."

"Sorry," he added, "How embarrassing. I just need to pull myself together and I'll be down in a minute."

Rachel rubbed his back, relieved it had gone better than she feared. "He's got a baby?" she asked, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah, a little boy," Eddie replied.

"That's lovely," Rachel replied, "how old is he?"

"He's six months. He's called Jack. Jack Edward. He sounds great."

Rachel knew it would mean a lot to Eddie that John named his baby after him. She was just relieved it had turned out well. For a moment she thought she might have meddled one step too far, again. She thought about the little boy alone downstairs and knew that she needed to get back to him until Eddie was ready to join them again. "Take your time," she told him, "Michael's got Bob The Builder on the TV. Reminds him of you apparently. He'll be happy for hours!"