We small-talked for a few moments about how much TV she’d been binge-watching during her enforced bed rest and how she’d almost drowned in tissues.

‘Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’ll be back to work on Monday,’ she said eventually.

‘Are you sure? You don’t want to rush back to work. I don’t mind covering a little longer—we don’t want you to overdo it or risk passing on your flu to the clients.’

‘Oh, no, I’m fine,’ Kristen said, and I resisted the urge to beg her to pretend not to be. ‘The doctor said I’m definitely no longer contagious and if I’m stuck in my unit any longer, I’ll be homicidal.’

My grip tightened around the phone. While I couldn’t begrudge Kristen feeling better, I’d loved my week working full-time in the clinic.

I drove Payton to school in the mornings and Adrian arranged for his babysitter to pick her up in the afternoons so I could do a full day, which I’d not done in the past. Payton had started talking to me again Tuesday night—she’d never win a silence competition. I’d thought she might be annoyed at the fact I wasn’t going to be there in the afternoons, but she barely batted an eyelid.

She liked hanging out with Topaz and when I’d met the girl myself, I could easily see why. Although the terms ‘emo’ and ‘goth’ came to mind whenever I saw her, she was much more than her appearance. I discovered she was studying child psychology at university and also played chess professionally. Every day Topaz encouraged Payton to do her spelling, maths and reading homework and then she’d kick the ball outside with her or try and teach her a few chess moves.

I’d be lying if I said that seeing my husband on a daily basis wasn’t a big part of the appeal of working right now. It reminded me of the old days when we were young and broke and doing everything we could to build the business together. Best of all, it had helped eradicate the tension that had festered between us since we’d embarked on nest parenting. We’d even shared lunch a couple of times, discussing crazy clients, the kids, and all sorts of other things while we ate. Nothing gave me a bigger buzz than when Adrian smiled or laughed at something I said.