She trots after Jason, still clutching Marcel, and curls up next to him, her chin perched on his shoulder as she keeps looking at him adoringly. "You'd be with me even if we didn't go anywhere," she sighs, letting her dog rest in her lap. "We couldn't spend Christmas apart."

Her gifts for Ben have already begun to accumulate at his new home, hundreds of shiny baubles and toys for him to play with, sweets for him to eat. A six foot tall stuffed bear with chinchilla fur for his bedroom. She sees no reason that relocation should put any damper on his holidays, regardless of his actual awareness of them. Surely the caretakers are decorating and making sure he knows what's going on.

"It's going to be so lovely."