‘It’s just the shock. Hey, I was the same when Jenna told me she was expecting Matthew. Come here.’ He gets to his feet, and pulls her up so that she’s standing against him, holding his gaze.

‘A baby,’ he says, beaming at her.

Reassured that he wants her to be happy, some of the coldness melts away. ‘Our baby,’ she tells him, hope beginning to hum inside her.

‘Promise me you’ll forget my reaction just now?’

‘It’s forgotten.’

‘This will turn out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to us,’ he says, with warm conviction. ‘Right?’

And she laughs away her fears and nods, inwardly turning away from the notion that he’s trying to persuade himself. She manages to convince herself that it is enough.

‘How long have you known?’ he asks, and she shrugs.

‘I began to wonder about two weeks ago. I finally did a test last weekend.’

‘Last weekend?’ He draws back and stares at her. ‘You kept it from me for a whole week?’

‘I was nervous about telling you. I wanted to wait for the right time.’

Her voice trembles and he seems to read within it the depth of her insecurity. He kisses her then and she feels reassured by his affection.

‘You mustn’t keep things to yourself,’ he says. ‘We’re together now. We’ve got to be able to tell each other things, right? No more secrets.’

Now is the moment, she thinks. The opening she’s been waiting for, the invitation she’s been dreading. This is when she should tell him. The secret buried so deep inside her that unearthing it would feel like an act of violence.

But then his right hand moves around her waist, coming to rest on her tummy. She feels the tentative pressure of it, the tender movement of his thumb across the surface of her skin. There is a queasy pleasure to the newness of this gesture. She is used to the weight of his arm around her shoulders, or the soft pressure of his hand around the curve of her bum, gestures that are sexual and proprietary by nature, but this is different. Tender in a way that makes her avoid his eyes.

She can’t tell him. Not now. She just wants to keep him there with his hand on her belly. She doesn’t want to break the spell.

But then he pulls away his hand abruptly, as if suddenly embarrassed by the intensity of his tenderness. And there is Matthew behind them at the door, his eyes casting from one to the other, suspicion on his face.

‘There’s a funny smell in my room,’ he says, his nose wrinkling with disgust.

Jake sighs with resignation, the moment over. He ruffles the boy’s hair, and says: ‘Come on. Let’s all go to Teddy’s for ice-cream.’