Alexi sighs and loses the last of his non-existent patience, hauling the lid off rather than answering me and pulling the box closer to the table's edge. His impulsive streak would be almost adorable if he weren’t such a stroppy git with it sometimes. Ruining his own surprise.

From my vantage point, it looks empty, so I screw up my face and lean forward to scrutinise the contents, warily edging nearer in case it’s some jack-in-the-box waving around someone’s ring finger or some ...