I peered across and thought I could see Lin stood talking to an older man in a beige suit: probably the celebrant, as he then seemed to try to gather everyone together. There was a group of children of various ages and sizes yelling and chasing each other around the tree. One of them was probably Charlie, although I would be unlikely to spot him in a line-up; he was just a baby the last time I saw him. Then I noticed a fair-haired couple, with a little blonde girl toddling alongside them in a pretty dress and T-bar shoes – the mother looked pregnant. It was Helen, Ian and Maddie.

Back at the tree a crowd was gathering; Will and Christian plus their son Leo were easy to spot by their height and good looks. Leo was so tall, easily a head and shoulders on Albie. He was a stunning child with wild, curly hair. I strained to focus on some of the other faces.

Were Aisha and Jason there already? Where were they?

Without being conscious of it, my pace had slowed to little more than a crawl. Suddenly, Albie, who had been holding my hand and chattering non-stop about trains, stopped dead in his tracks.

‘Mama – look – ‘copter!’ he squealed, pointing to the sky above us.

‘Yes, darling, you’re right, a helicopter!’ I enthused, scooping him up.

I was glad to have a moment to stop, to collect myself.

I stole a moment to look across at the tree again, squinting as I tried to confirm the identity of more of the people gathering there. A few were hugging each other, and there were pats on the back and air kisses as they stood in groups of two or three to chat, the children playing around them. Many of them we didn’t know.

Then I spotted Aisha, it was definitely her. She was standing with Susie, and Jason was nearby, swinging Joni between his legs. They looked really happy.

Did we really want to go through with this?

Oscar seemed to read my mind. He touched my arm. ‘Oh no – the salad! We’ve left it in the car,’ he said. ‘I’ll dash back and—’

‘No point,’ I interjected. ‘I left it in the fridge. It felt too much, I’d feel embarrassed. The salad was a stupid idea, it reminds me too much of…’ My voice trailed off into nothingness. We both knew what I meant – the fact I’d been so keen to make an impression at The Baby Group. My mind went back to that first morning and the effort I had put into preparing that squash and pine nut salad; into all of those over-the-top salads for the group. It seemed ridiculous now.

‘Okay, deep breath time,’ he said, taking my hand firmly. ‘We can do this. We’re a great team.’

Oscar squeezed my fingers and the three of us strode towards the group, our wide steps belying the butterflies in my stomach. Albie ran ahead, not thinking of anything other than the fact he’d spotted a big pile of brightly coloured bunting to play with.