"Does it not scare you?" Chloe asks out of nowhere; forgetting that although her mum has many talents, mind reading is not one of them.

"Does what not scare me?"

"That his kids don't have their mum, that they, especially the girls, will probably end up looking to you for guidance and stuff."

"Did I do such a terrible job with you I should be worried about messing Evie and Ella up?"

"You know that's not what I meant."

"I guess it did at first, a bit, but no not now. I've always known what he was looking for in a relationship, we spoke about that long before anything happened. He wanted someone else to appreciate the things his kids do that are maybe lost on him a bit. So it's always been at the back of my mind, and he puts his kids before anything so we wouldn't have lasted this long if I was scared of his Fletchlings."

"Fletchlings?"

"It's what he calls them, I rolled my eyes too at first but now I've found myself calling them that unironically."

"Oh dear, if you're adopting all their nicknames you're in deeper than I thought. Have any of them called you mum yet?"

"Chloe."

"Oh my god they have!"

"Ella did when she was half asleep once, it's not funny! It traumatised Fletch; he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Evie wasn't impressed either, I think she'll be the hardest to win round, which makes sense obviously, she remembers her mum the most. I don't want her thinking I'm trying to replace her."

"She likes you more than you think she does."

"And what gives you that impression?"

"I found her in pulses the other day, face like thunder. So I thought I'd be a good step daughter-"

"Steady on!"

"and help Fletch out. We got talking and you came up. She was asking me all sorts of questions about you and my childhood, a few awkward paternity questions thrown in but I managed to steer the conversation quickly back to my lovely mum."

"I'm sorry I should've told Fletch to warn them not to ask you that,"

"Mum it's fine, you can't protect me forever. Anyway I handled it surprisingly well, brushed it right off. But then she started telling me about her mum. You're similar in a lot of ways," panic flashes across Ange's face so she quickly continues, "and very different in others, don't worry you're not a carbon copy replacement. But while you're not her mum, obviously, she looks up to you."

"What gives you that impression?"

"It's the way she talks about you, even when she's irritated that you're taking up some of her dad's time it's clear that she admires you. Honestly I think if she answered the question 'what do you want to be when you're older' her answer would be you."

"Now that might be going a bit far," Ange laughs, brushing off the comment as untrue. If it was true it would be too big a compliment and Ange has never been good at accepting compliments.

"I know, I know. But she's had to grow up pretty quickly to look after her younger siblings but she has ambitions and goals for her life. She wants to go to med school and become a doctor, apparently Serena used to let her practice suturing on pieces of fruit in her office. But I think the fact that you're a single mum, who had to be responsible from very young, and a successful doctor makes you next to god in her mind."

She can't pretend she isn't touched, and it's the reminder she needs not to get discouraged next time her boyfriend's eldest gives her a hard time.