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Contents ( 106)
  1. Also by Rosie Nixon
  2. Copyright
  3. Note to Readers
  4. Contents
  5. Chapter One
  6. Aisha
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Aisha
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Lucy
  11. Chapter Four
  12. Aisha
  13. Chapter Five
  14. Lucy
  15. Chapter Six
  16. Aisha
  17. Chapter Seven
  18. Lucy
  19. Chapter Eight
  20. Aisha
  21. Chapter Nine
  22. Lucy
  23. Chapter Ten
  24. Aisha
  25. Chapter Eleven
  26. Lucy
  27. Chapter Twelve
  28. Aisha
  29. Chapter Thirteen
  30. Lucy
  31. Chapter Fourteen
  32. Aisha
  33. Chapter Fifteen
  34. Aisha
  35. Chapter Sixteen
  36. Lucy
  37. Chapter Seventeen
  38. Aisha
  39. Chapter Eighteen
  40. Lucy
  41. Chapter Nineteen
  42. Aisha
  43. Chapter Twenty
  44. Aisha
  45. Chapter Twenty-One
  46. Lucy
  47. Chapter Twenty-Two
  48. Aisha
  49. Chapter Twenty-Three
  50. Lucy
  51. Chapter Twenty-Four
  52. Aisha
  53. Chapter Twenty-Five
  54. Lucy
  55. Chapter Twenty-Six
  56. Lucy
  57. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  58. Aisha
  59. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  60. Aisha
  61. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  62. Lucy
  63. Chapter Thirty
  64. Aisha
  65. Chapter Thirty-One
  66. Aisha
  67. Chapter Thirty-Two
  68. Lucy
  69. Chapter Thirty-Three
  70. Aisha
  71. Chapter Thirty-Four
  72. Lucy
  73. Chapter Thirty-Five
  74. Lucy
  75. Chapter Thirty-Six
  76. Aisha
  77. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  78. Lucy
  79. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  80. Aisha
  81. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  82. Lucy
  83. Chapter Forty
  84. Aisha
  85. Chapter Forty-One
  86. Lucy
  87. Chapter Forty-Two
  88. Aisha
  89. Chapter Forty-Three
  90. Lucy
  91. Chapter Forty-Four
  92. Aisha
  93. Chapter Forty-Five
  94. Aisha
  95. Chapter Forty-Six
  96. Aisha
  97. Chapter Forty-Seven
  98. Lucy
  99. Chapter Forty-Eight
  100. Aisha
  101. Chapter Forty-Nine
  102. Lucy
  103. Chapter Fifty
  104. Aisha
  105. Acknowledgements
  106. About the Publisher

Then moments later, my phone lit up again.

Will: It’s so great to hear from you. Count us in! xx

Helen: Aaaah, our babies are all ONE now! Hope everyone’s well. Maddie is keeping us busy! We would love to join you. Ian and I are back to together btw :-) See you on the 30th. Hx

I looked at my online calendar – Oscar and I had no plans on 30th September, the weekend before my forty-first birthday. I hadn’t yet thought about what I might do for it. I hadn’t been in the mood to celebrate my fortieth last year, so Oscar had loosely mentioned that maybe we would make up for it this year. Perhaps we would end up going away, but for now, the date looked free.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Aisha

Friday, 30th September

As we neared the gathering, my heart started to pound. The spot they had chosen for the ceremony was only a stone’s throw from the bandstand on the Common, the place Jason chose to deliver the news, so the thought of coming back here had initially made a chill run up my spine. But I had wanted to come; to not let a bad memory beat me. I – we – had moved on.

Now we were here, though, I started having doubts.

‘Do you think this is a good idea, Jason?’ I asked, a lump in my throat. I was pretty sure Lucy and Oscar wouldn’t turn up, but it wasn’t unthinkable. Granted almost a year had gone past since it all came out, but I still felt queasy at the thought of coming face-to-face with them, especially with Lucy.

Although still some distance from us, the group was easy to spot: there was bunting hung on the lower branches, and a trestle table covered in a white cloth had been set up to one side. There were glasses and ice buckets on it, plus a large cake.

When we arrived, there was no sign of Lucy and Oscar. Susie and Lin greeted us with warm hugs like the old friends I supposed we now were. It was really lovely catching up with the others and seeing their not-so-little ‘babies’ again. We immediately began swapping stories about our children’s first words, going back to work and how we were all adapting to a new lifestyle as parents.

But in a quiet moment later on, Susie pulled me to one side and examined my face carefully.

‘Is everything okay?’ she asked.

I had withdrawn from the WhatsApp group after that dreadful time, yet something made me unable to leave it completely, and I took an interest from afar in the occasional conversation about nursery places, first steps, first haircuts and moans about missing pelvic floors; they made for amusing anecdotes from time to time.

Of course Lucy stayed mute on the group too, although I noticed she hadn’t exited it either. I had only told Susie what happened, when she had private messaged me, sensing something might be up because of my lack of communication. Of course she was floored when she heard.