‘Sure. Sorry. See you then,’ he said, and set off again on his skateboard.

I went home and told Sasha that I was going to Exeter with Izzy on Saturday, and she nodded without really listening. She was texting Jai, judging by the annoyance on her face. I started chopping vegetables for a stir-fry and waited until Sasha threw the phone down (carefully, on to a sofa cushion) and said, ‘Bastard!’

‘What?’ I said as mildly as I could.

‘He wants to be in the baby’s life. But not. And then he does. And then he doesn’t. He’ll support us financially, but not if we’re already OK for cash. I’ve never asked him for anything because it’s my decision to go through with this, but if he could stop changing his fucking mind that would be just GREAT.’

‘He’s an idiot.’ I shook a load of salt into the rice pan. I was still a bit exhilarated. I had turned down Jack because I loved Joe. If you squinted and made everything so blurry that you couldn’t see the inconvenient parts, my relationship with Joe was going incredibly well.

‘He’s just so annoying,’ said Sasha. ‘I’ve been kind of assuming that when he meets an actual baby that’s half made of him he’ll want to be a dad because that’s quite a thing.’

She sighed. ‘But then again he’s nineteen. I do know we were just messing around and we didn’t plan anything. This baby is my lifeline, not his. I don’t want him to marry me! I don’t even want him to be my boyfriend. I just want him to step up the tiniest bit for the baby’s sake. But he hasn’t told his parents. Can you imagine, Mermaid? I’m nearly six months’ pregnant, my mum’s dead, my dad’s left and I live with my little sister who cooks every night because she’s an angel, and we are fucking managing. And then there’s poor little Jai, who has both parents and several siblings, and none of them know that he’s going to be a dad. Given that all the money he earns comes from a summer holiday job selling ice cream, I don’t know how he’s planning to support us if he is, and I don’t care! I just want him to be there emotionally. I hate it that I have to be the one comforting him.’

She burst into noisy tears, and I turned the gas down and hugged her. I said soothing things without knowing if they were true or not. I told her that he certainly would come round, that it was one thing to freak out at an idea. ‘But you can’t freak out at an actual human,’ I said. ‘You’re right. When he sees his son, everything will change.’