After helping to wash dishes at his house, Alex gave me a lift over to my parents’ for Christmas dinner where I got to inflict my family on him. Dad brought him out for a full tour of the garden and his green house while Mum and my sister Claire quizzed me about Alex’s family and we nibbled from a cheeseboard while waiting for the roast dinner to cook. I struggled to eat much after the huge cooked breakfast earlier in the day, but it’s our family’s tradition so I couldn’t skip it.

“Your family really sing carols around the piano?” This intrigued Claire whose love of music veers more towards death metal than “Ding Dong Merrily on High”.

“Yeah, they do,” I replied. “It was fun. None of them were showing off, they just like to sing. Lau...

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