‘Just give him a bit longer,’ she kept saying, her own nerves in shreds, seeing Norm’s disapproving expression and with the memory of Robbie’s tearful, betrayed-looking face.

At last, they’d be able to creep into bed, terrified of waking him.

Norm, who was looking forward to good times with his wife and had not grown used to life with a child in any form, kept suggesting they go out.

‘We could go out for a dance,’ he’d say. Or another night, ‘Come on – let’s go to the pictures tonight.’

Neither time had they made it, because Em didn’t feel she could leave until Robbie was settled, and it all took so long that it was too late by then.

‘I’m sorry, Norm,’ she’d whispered the night before, when they were finally curled up in bed together. ‘I know it’s not how things should be. Just give us a bit of time.’

‘Don’t worry, love.’ Norm cuddled her, but she heard his stifled sigh. ‘There’s no rush. We’ve got our lives in front of us, haven’t we? Anyroad, when we get to my mom and dad’s he can have a proper bed of his own. It’ll all be different, you’ll see.’

Em’s heart shrivelled at this. She was dreading moving out to the Stapletons’, even though she quite liked Norm’s mom and dad. But Em, who struggled with any kind of change, had got very settled in her routines in her own family’s house over the past years, with her mom always there. She knew it would upset Robbie too, and she was chilled by the way Norm spoke about moving over there, as if that would put him in charge of everything. There was an ‘and then we’ll see an end to all this nonsense’ tone to his voice.

Reaching Mr Perry’s, she tried to put these gloomy thoughts of out her mind. It was early days. Things weren’t easy for anyone. There were rumours about some of the other men who’d come home, the state some of them were in, and she counted herself lucky in that. Their first week together had contained extremes of great anger and frustration, but also great tenderness between them.

I must look on the bright side, she thought.

‘Morning, Mr Perry!’ she called out cheerfully, finding him outside, still setting up. The summer veg were coming in now, so the place was not so bare.

‘Morning, bab!’ Mr Perry touched an imaginary hat. ‘’Nother fine one!’ She expected him to add, ‘And you’re a sight for sore eyes.’ But just for once, he didn’t.

There was so much to have to get used to that week. Em could see that Norm was restless, having to adapt to civilian life, to rationing and shortages and restrictions. Norm kept a lot of his feelings to himself, but she noticed changes both in him and in herself that they were having to get used to.

For a start, Norm was bossier than he’d used to be: more commanding. Even though he’d only been promoted to Corporal in the RAF, he had had people to order about. There was more confidence in the way he expressed his opinions, both about Robbie and things outside.