I Was 29 and Single When I Fought to Keep Five Siblings Together. The Judge Asked Why, and My Answer Changed Everything.

After the children went to bed, Anna and I sat at the kitchen table with mugs of tea.

She traced one of the old dents in the wood.

‘You never told me how much it hurt that day,’ she said.

‘I didn’t think you needed to hear it.’

‘I was there.

I was seven.

I remember you chasing the car.’

I stared at her.