My father was a single dad. He raised my siblings and I by himself. Reason was probably because almost each one of us had his/her own mother. We were 7. Dolling out all the affection in equal quantities was not easy I imagine. Coz I saw some of my sisters get by ignored. Anyway, I was lucky to be among the favorites but even then, there were things I could not get away with. But one day it happened. And since then, I had my father on a short leash.
He had two beds in his bedroom. The second bed was for each one of us to sleep in when we got sick so he could keep an eye on us, but he also used it as a ploy to throw us off when he brought a lady friend that stayed the night. Infact, in the morning, said lady friend would slide into second bed to make it all believable. Not that we believed it or anything, but he carried on the charade. And we played along.