The family used to go on camping and caravan holidays regularly when the kids were small, but since all three had gone to University, Dave and Maggie had taken the opportunity to see a bit more of the world. Spain and the Med, Italy, France and further afield - California and Florida.
Now though, as the eldest, Tom, was nearing graduation there was a rare chance for all three to spend a week away again with Mum and Dad. A caravan had been booked on the coast for Dave and Maggie to share, while Tom and Peter, the youngest, would share one tent and Lucy would sleep in another.
At the last minute Lucy had a hitch in her travel plans from the North-West, so Dave and Peter drove up to collect her, while Maggie and Tom set off for the caravan park where they would spend the first night setting things up and getting ready for the others to arrive.
It was late afternoon when they got there and while Maggie busied herself tidying up the caravan and making them both beans on toast, Tom managed to put up the tent he and Peter would be spending the rest of the week in.
"I'll sleep out here tonight Mum, give you some privacy," declared.
"You don't have to dear," replied Maggie, “there’s plenty of room in here till your Dad arrives."
"No, it's OK, I'll let you relax, while I warm up the sleeping bags!"
They took a stroll round the campsite after supper and Tom pecked his Mum dutifully on the cheek before settling into his canvas domain.
They both fell asleep very quickly and both slept soundly until Tom woke at around half-past three in the morning, desperately needing to pee.
He rubbed his eyes and cursed under his breath that he had to leave the warmth of his sleeping bag. Stepping out of the tent, he realised that he was not sure of his bearings and didn't know where the campsite toilet block was.
Anxious about waking his mother, he fumbled in his tent for the spare caravan key she had given him and trying to make as little noise as possible, left his tent, zipping it up behind him and opened the caravan door. As he went through that process he recalled with a wince just how loud tent zips sounded across a campsite at night.
Inside the caravan loo, he emptied his bladder into the chemical toilet and flushed it. Fortunately, that was an almost silent action, but as he went to open the caravan door and step out into the chill night air again, his mother spoke.
"Hey, since you've woken me, you might as well stay. It must be freezing out there," she said, turning on a small light by the side of her bed.
"Actually, it's not too bad once you're in the sleeping bag," he replied, "but it is pretty chilly outside just now."
She looked up and squinted at him through the dim light. She lifted the quilt and smiled at him.
"Come on,” she said, "it will be just like old times - you and your Mum. But don't tell the others, they'll be jealous."
Both of them chuckled as Tom climbed in alongside his mother, kissed her forehead and turned off the light. They snuggled down, back to back and were again both asleep in minutes.
An hour had passed when Tom woke again. As his brain got to grips with where he was and who he was with he realised that his mother had shifted position in her sleep and it had woken him.
