I waited until they had all sat down at the table with their coffee before I called my wife’s cell.

“It’s your father!”

She touched the screen.

“Hello dear, how are you this fine morning? I’ve got you on speaker so the girls can hear you too.”

“Great, thank you, Cynthia. Actually, never been better. Good morning to you, Susan and Helen. Susan, will you please go collect the three envelopes just inside the apartment door?”

My elder daughter looked mystified; even more so when she saw the three large legal envelopes on the floor. She took them back into the kitchen.

“There’s one addressed to each of us. Dad, what are these, and how did they get here?”

“Oh, I put them there a while ago, after the last guy left, eight of them, wasn’t it? It’s all pretty self-explanatory. You’ve been served. So long!”

I ended the call and switched off the phone. I still had the cameras and the microphones, so I was able to enjoy the expressions on their faces as they gasped in amazement and then ripped open their envelopes.

They’d taken their meal ticket for granted for so long that they were in for some very nasty surprises.