It’s ten to twelve and me and Ben are still in our pyjamas, sitting on the sofa playing the new edition of Mario Kart. It was a present for Alexander, but he’s busy with the very large amount of toy tractors that people gave him.

Ben’s adoption parents got me a new laptop and Ben a new phone – things we both asked for. They don’t really do surprise presents. And while Ben and I have never really tried too hard with presents before now, this year I got him a Bluetooth speaker for his bedroom and he got me a laptop case with Colours of you on it. I think we both know each other better than we thought we did.

‘Is it me or is this version way harder than the old one?’ I ask Ben.

He attempts to swerve Baby Mario around a corner but ends up driving off a cliff instead. ‘It really is. I used to actually be good at this.’

I drive Bowser directly into a tree and fall into last place. ‘D’you think we should try Rainbow Road?’

‘I dunno. I don’t think my self-esteem can take the hit.’

‘Wow.’

He snorts. ‘Too real?’

I smirk. ‘Maybe.’

‘Kids?’ Mayres wanders into the room. She’s got her Christmas dress on – a purple thing that’s actually quite nice – and her hair curled. She always makes us dress up nice for Christmas, as if we’re supposed to do something other than slob on the sofa for twelve hours. She raises her eyebrows at us. ‘You going to get dressed soon?’

Ben says nothing, so I say, ‘Yep, in a minute.’

‘Don’t be too long. Everyone’s arriving in half an hour.’

‘Yeah, we’re just gonna finish this level.’