Within three days, Jack’s decision about when to take his Maternity Support Leave was made for him, when Maggie went into labour. She waddled up and down the kitchen, stopping every ten minutes or so with her palms on the cool fake-marble worktop and her forehead on the back of her hands. Whenever this pause occurred, Penny rubbed circles into the small of Maggie’s back and both women breathed noisily as they waited in horrible anticipation for the building pain to peak and then left Maggie alone for another ten minutes. The women were like a finely tuned partnership – both knowing exactly what to do, when, and for how long.

Jack stood in the kitchen doorway with a birthing bag in one hand and the car keys in the other, waiting for the signal. After two hours, Maggie said she was ready to go to hospital.

*

In the delivery room, Jack knew the nurse’s chant of ‘breathe, breathe’ wasn’t for his benefit, but it was working, so he went with it. He was completely out of his comfort zone and, worse than that, had no idea what his purpose was in this room – he wanted, needed, to be in control, but he was a million miles away from that. He was annoyed with himself for being this useless. This is why expectant dads are told to stand at the head of the bed and hold the mum’s hand: it’s to keep them out of the way! he thought to himself.

Maggie, on the other hand, was being wonderful and strong. She didn’t seem to be frightened, and calmly did exactly what she was told, when she was told. As Jack watched her prepare to push out the baby’s head, his mind raced. He’d witnessed many a police officer run towards danger in the name of the Job, but he’d never seen anyone face this degree of pain, with such unfaltering bravery. Maggie had no choice, of course, he knew that, but still – the pride he felt at this moment for his amazing wife swelled in his chest and ended as tears.

Maggie caught sight of Jack’s face. ‘What the fuck are you crying for?!’ she screamed. Her scream turned into a grunt of pain, then back into a scream. Then a higher-pitched, gurgling scream joined hers and it took Jack a few seconds to realise that his baby had arrived.