‘You don’t get to choose though, do you?’ Yvonne wants another wine, no, more than that. ‘I can’t believe you slept with them both unprotected.’

‘I know you’re too perfect to understand, but sometimes people do get carried away. Geoff knows I’m pregnant. So does Lewis. You think either one of them has made any effort with me? Called me? Asked how I’m feeling?’

‘You can’t expect them both to hang around you waiting for the birth. This is life-changing for them as well.’

‘You’re taking their side?’

‘No.’ But she is, of course she is; Lewis looked terrified at the prospect of becoming a dad.

‘Why are you mad at me?’ Emma asks.

‘I’m not.’ But she is, she’s raging and she can’t tell Emma why, she will never be able to tell Emma why.

‘I know having a pregnant friend doesn’t fit into your new lifestyle, Yvonne. But you could at least support me a little bit.’ Emma puts her coat on, doing up the top three buttons, leaving her stomach sticking out. ‘I can’t believe you’re being so judgemental about this. You’re meant to be my friend yet you’re looking down at me because you’d never do something as stupid as sleep with two guys within a month of each other.’

‘I’m not judging you. Em, please, sit down. We all make mistakes, I’ve made mistakes. If you knew—’ She could tell her right now, she could blurt the whole sorry thing out and then it would be done.

‘I’m about to have a son and I can’t have someone around who’s going to look at him like he’s a mistake.’ Emma shakes her head and walks off.

Yvonne stands on the street across from the flat Emma had moved to last month. The whole journey over she has thought of only one thing, what the baby will look like. It’s stupid, but she wishes she could see Kiama alone first, at least then she wouldn’t have to hide her shock at realising he’s Lewis’s or her relief that he’s Geoff’s.

Her phone rings and she answers immediately, glad of a distraction, especially from Claude.

‘Hey, Sis. You at Mum’s?’

‘Mum’s? No, I’m in north London.’

‘Shit. I’ve locked myself out of the house.’

It’s taken her almost an hour to get to this spot, but that includes walking at a slower than usual pace due to carrying the giant bean casserole her mum palmed off on her as she was leaving. And also Yvonne’s been dragging her feet; of course she knows she should visit Emma and the baby, but there’s also a part of her which is not quite ready to confront it.

‘I could come back if you’re really stuck, but it’ll take me a while.’