"Oh, I like this one!" Edwina exclaimed, "Tommy looks so casual and happy and you look simply stunning! Baby bump and all. But what was so funny?"

Barbara looked at the photo. "Oh that. It was my only night on the red carpet. It was a lot of fun. Tommy decided to make me feel more comfortable by abandoning his suit and tie while I had decided I had better make more effort as Lady A, so I frocked up. I thought all black was slimming with those two growing so fast in me but Tommy was in all black too. I thought we looked a little Addams Family but the photographer told me I was the sexiest woman he had see all night. I thought Tommy would say something cutting or unpleasant because he can get a little possessive at times but he told him 'I know, and I'm the one who gets to take her home. Then he paused deliberately. The implication was clear."

Edwina roared laughing. "And the evidence was right there that he does!"

"Ed! You're as bad as him. I was shocked at my husband saying such a thing and that's the exact moment the photographer snapped us - Tommy looking pleased with himself and me looking shocked, in an amused way."

Both women turned to look at Tommy who tried to look indignant. "I like people thinking I have a sexy wife. Just as long as thinking is all they do. Remember what Grandma Alice used to say..."

"You can get your appetite anywhere, so long as you eat at home," the three of them said in unison then laughed. The two sleepy boys in Tommy's arms looked up at him. Barbra smiled at her men, all with identical locks of hair hanging over their left eyes.

"Well it was the ITV British Soap Awards and there were all sorts of dishy stars around. A woman has to look her best...just in case you find a better restaurant," Barbara joked and smiled at her husband's raised eyebrow.

"Soap awards?"

"It was Winston's fault. He works with us and he was dating a screenwriter. She was up for an award for a sequence of episodes in Long Lusty Nights that she based on our relationship; you know handsome lord of the manor falls hopelessly in love with his employee who wants nothing to do with him until he slowly wins her over. It's the stuff cheap romance novels and soaps lap up."

Edwina laughed. "Was it accurate?"

"Not really, their female lead was far too compliant to ever be Mummy," Tommy said as he playfully ruffled his yawning sons' hair.

"And the lord was far too up himself...well actually they got him pretty right," Barbara joked.

"I must look for it on re-runs. I'd be interested to see your unconventional relationship portrayed."

"We're quite conventional, aren't we my love?" Tommy said with an undertone that amused his aunt.

"Did she win?"

Barbara smiled sadly. "Yes actually but then she dumped Winston for a fellow she met that night. He was devastated. We felt bad for him."

Tommy looked over at Barbara and winked. "Good job too or goodness knows what intimate secrets of our lives would have ended up on TV!"

"Well Winston has a good eye for detail, even details you don't think he sees. Lord Timmy Asherby kissed Beryl Hanson just like you kiss me."

Tommy blushed slightly. "And how is that?" he asked in a low voice.

"The way you run your hand over my neck and...yes, well Ed you get the picture. Come on you three. Say good night to Aunt Ed and Daddy."

"I can take them," Tommy said glad Barbara had changed the subject, "stay there while you're comfortable. Come on boys, clean your teeth and into bed."

"Will you read to us Daddy?"

"Yes, a quick story." He scooped his daughter up and quickly kissed Barbara with the kiss he used to promise something more intimate later. "Back before you know it."

Barbara watched her husband leave the room. "He's excellent with them. I don't think I could cope with four if he wasn't prepared to help."

"So are you sending him for the snip after this one?"

"No, I don't like that idea! Best not tamper with the plumbing, at least not peer of the realm plumbing. Look here's one you'll like."

"Oh, how adorable. Tommy was always more of a dog man!"

They looked at the picture of him lying on the floor photobombing Marmalade, their ginger tabby. Barbara thought he looked young and carefree with his arms folded casually as he lay on his stomach behind the dresser, peeking around over the head of a sombre looking Marmalade He had lost some weight for their wedding and it made him look much younger. The tight black tee shirt showed off the definition in his arms and with the big watch she had given him as a wedding present he looked trendy, not a word she would normally have used about Tommy.

She smiled wickedly at the memory. "I had simply been trying to get a decent photo of Marmalade, the cat he bought me for company after I had given up work waiting for the boys to arrive. I was about six months gone. I was prostrate on the tiled floor of the London townhouse where the cat was sleeping under a set of drawers. It had taken me ages to lie down comfortably and was I making meowing sounds so the uncooperative cat would look at my phone when Tommy had crawled around the corner meowing in response. I managed one decent shot before we dissolved into laughter and the cat stalked off haughtily. I don't think it liked being upstaged. Tommy had kept meowing as he crawled across the kitchen to me and well...let's just say that he can be a very passionate man."

Ed raised her hand. "Okay! There are some things I don't need to know about my nephew," she said in faux horror.

"And I'm supposed to be a lady now, so I would never tell. If you flick a few pages on there is another one that will amuse you."