Preparations

Luca and Eben came over for tea, and to stay the night (as Josh and Ruth had been invited to a friend's birthday party). I opted for a very straightforward tea -  fishfingers and boiled potatoes - with some concessions to healthy eating in the form of raw carrots and cucumber (which both boys really like). 
Doing bedtime without Richard here meant some nifty footwork; usually we each read to one of the boys, as Luca needs to get to sleep earlier than Eben does.
Anyway, it all worked out fine. Both boys enjoyed their usual lively bathtime. Then Eben read by himself, while I settled Luca down. Luca was very tired, but absolutely opposed to admitting anything of the sort. "I don't want to go to sleep! I want to be awake!" he said, struggling to keep his eyes open. After a couple of bedtime stories, that was that - fast asleep. I am well-practised in the art of dialling down the tone and pace of story-reading, making the transition from interesting Nana to soporific Nana. 
Eben and I then read together for a while, and had some quiet times for a chat too. "Do you and Richard work?" he asked, at one point. I explained that we didn't have jobs any more, though we'd been at work till a few years ago. "So how do you get any money?" he asked. I explained about pensions, as best I could, and about money being saved up for those during the years of work. I wondered if this all sounded a bit vague, but he seemed to feel it made sense.