It was Cain Dingle (Jeff Hordley)’s 50th birthday in Monday night’s Emmerdale, but he wasn’t having the best of times. For one thing his wife Moira (Natalie J Robb) was still in hospital after getting an infection as she recovered from brain surgery.

For another thing there was his guilty conscience for cheating on her with his sister-in-law Ruby Fox-Miligan (Beth Cordingly) during said surgery. He also had the extra work of the farm on top of a busy time at the garage to worry about.

After cupcakes and candles with Chas (Lucy Pargeter), Kyle (Huey Quinn) and Isaac (Bobby Dunsmuir) in the morning, Cain headed off for work as usual, where he soon had a visitor. His best mate Liam Cavanagh (Jonny McPherson) hadn’t forgotten Cain’s birthday and presented him with some cans of beer.

This is a tradition with Cain and Liam that started when Liam was in the depths of grief after his daughter’s murder.

Cain offered him a can of beer and sat in silent companionship with him, which was exactly what Liam needed at the time. The two have been unlikely but genuine friends ever since. 

As Cain accepted the gift and Liam said they should get together for a drink, Cain said when Moira was better they could get together as a foursome – revealing that he knows about Liam’s relationship with Chas.

Liam was a bit hesitant at this, because he wasn’t sure how Cain would react to the idea of him being with his sister. It quickly became clear that, luckily for Liam, Cain didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, he approved, telling Liam that Chas had ‘done worse’ in the past (which is something of an understatement). 

Then, Cain shook the GP’s hand and officially welcomed him to the family – meaning that Liam is an honorary Dingle, which is brilliant news.  

Liam cemented the new bond by offering to help Cain out later with the farm’s meat delivery, even though he wasn’t sure he’d ever packed a sausage before. Cain turned down this tempting offer of help. 

Liam had been quite relieved when Cain didn’t feel the need to give him a lecture about treating Chas right, because he already trusted that he would. It was a different story later, when Cain talked to his sister about her new relationship.

He was a bit cross that Chas had told Liam that he was struggling, even though he said he ‘couldn’t be happier’ about the relationship.

But he had a word of warning for Chas as he revealed he’s more worried about Liam getting hurt by her than the other way round. ‘You know he’s been hurt before,’ he told her. ‘Be kind.’

Cain’s protectiveness towards Liam is an adorable thing and hopefully Chas will keep his words in mind, because having Liam as part of the Dingles is the best birthday present he could have had.