“Wait,” says Stu, putting his hand on mine. I turn to him. “Can I drive?” he asks.

“Go for it,” I reply, and we get out to switch seats.

All the way home I watch him, little by little seeing the tension seep out of him the farther we get away from the prison. Still, he seems different, more stoic and thoughtful somehow. I mean, being put away would change anyone, no matter how strong they are going in. I wonder what it’s like to be all caged up like that, stuck looking at the same dumbfuck faces every day. That fate was almost mine, and I’m resolved to do everything in my power to make life better for my brother from here on out.

By the time we arrive at the house, Stu almost looks like his old self again. We step in the front door and everyone’s waiting in the kitchen, shouting “welcome home” and blowing on party whistles. Stu shakes his head, but I know he’s secretly loving it.

Karla steps up and gives him a hug, and he seems to sink into the touch. It doesn’t make me jealous, far from it. He hasn’t smelled a women in over two years, so I understand that he can’t help absorbing her softness. She smiles when she catches my eye, letting go of Stu and moving across the room to greet me.

I love her punch-to-the-gut beautiful smiles, love her bright blue eyes and sexy red hair. I love her body, love how everything about her seems like it was made for me. But most of all I want that for my brother. After everything he’s been through, I want him to find a woman who grabs his heart by the balls and shows him what it feels like to truly love someone.

“You look gorgeous,” I tell her, laying a quick kiss on her mouth while my hand slips down to cup her arse.

“Oh, but you’re prettier,” she teases me, giving my lip a saucy little bite. For a second I consider dragging her upstairs for a quickie, but then I remind myself that today isn’t about me and my horndog needs. Today is about Stu.

Letting go of my perfect, tough, kickass police sergeant wife, I head to the fridge and pull out the ingredients I prepared earlier. I’m cooking Stu an Angus steak with all the trimmings.

“Fuck yes,” he says when he sees what I’m making, clapping me round the shoulder and knocking back a slug of the beer Sophie handed him the moment he stepped through the door.

Karla goes to sit at the table, in between Liam and Trev. She smiles at them both as she pulls Billie up onto her lap. The kid’s been living with us full time ever since Karla helped Sophie foster her. She affectionately pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear and asks Liam how he’s getting on at the police academy, then questions Trev on his latest adrenaline-junkie endeavour.

Stu sits on the other side of the table, beside Sophie, content to listen to the conversation flow around him. It’s like a strike to the chest, seeing Karla surrounded by all my family. They’re her family now. And she doesn’t even realise it, but she’s become like a mother to all of them, looking out for their welfare, giving them help when it’s needed.

I’d always done it alone, but now I have someone to hold my hand and shoulder some of the burden. She’ll never have my kids. I know that and I hate it, but it doesn’t take away even an ounce of the love I have for her. In fact, it only makes me love her more. Because she’s made my brothers her sons, Sophie her daughter, and bettered all our lives in the process.

The world isn’t blue, isn’t lonely any more, and though I was supposed to be the thief, she was the one who stole my heart.

End.