I introduced CA to TPR as my new lover-to-be. This new relationship was to be understood as a positive career move, though for whom uncertain. Part of the deal on my side was an agreement to take on CA’s two sons in the twenties.

Having gone through a similar process with TPR’s sister S a couple of weeks before – she had also taken on a new man and his children – I foresaw a myriad of complications around future family gatherings at Christmas.