You'd been before, but just for the odd weekend. We used to collect you after school on a Friday. You'd stay on a blow-up air bed on the floor of my study. The first time you came you asked if you were allowed to read the books and if it was OK to play my CDs. Sometimes you'd spend an hour or two in there on your own, just enjoying not having to share a room with three younger siblings. If you put something down, it was still there later. Nothing that you cared about ever got stepped on in our house.
You came out with me to the corner shop on Saturdays while Brian produced huge breakfast fry-ups. I kept buying the Guardian and you kept growing up, moving from comics to Doctor Who Magazine, then the NME.
Then one night last autumn you just turned up. I was catching up on paper work when the doorbell rang. There you were, standing on the step with a trolley case behind you and a duffel bag over your shoulder, the bag that belonged to me that your mum took when she left home. This time, you'd come to stay. I can understand why you did it. It's not that you don't love your mum or the little ones – I think you've just had enough of not having enough. Not enough space, not enough privacy, not enough peace. You had exams and wanted to study. If you hadn't got out then you might never have got out.
We've made lots of mistakes since then. Brian and I have never even had a hamster to care for, let alone a 15-year-old. I know I overreacted when you hairdyed the bath, but I hope I made up for it by teaching you to bake bread, and we were all amazed when I came to see Oasis with you.
I've moved my study into the spare bedroom. We took you to Ikea and bought you a sofa bed. The books and music in there are yours now.
It's easy to see what's going to happen next. The deal I made with you and your mum was that you could stay until you'd done the exams, but you've done brilliantly well. I can hardly send you back if you're planning to sit A-levels. That's two more years, but going to university was the best thing I ever did and I want you to have a chance to do it too.
I want you to know how proud I am to be your aunt and how glad I am that you turned up on our doorstep that November night.
Your aunt