‘Oh baby – Aisha – chill out, okay? Of course I wouldn’t leave you if you were actually in labour.’ He said it as though this was slightly funny. He reached for my hand.

My eyes burnt and my bottom lip trembled. I wondered if this was the kind of stress that could bring on contractions. ‘I just feel like you constantly put work ahead of me,’ I said, trying to stop my voice from wobbling.

‘Ahead of you and our baby, never,’ he said, sincerely enough to make me straighten a little. ‘Ahead of this group today, I’m afraid, yes. I’m as pissed off about it as you are, I promise, but this is my job – I’m doing this for you. We both knew what I was taking on and Peter wouldn’t be asking if he didn’t really need me.’ I said nothing. ‘Baby, we talked about this and how if I put the hours in now, I can be around for you in a few weeks’ time, when you’re really going to need me. You and our baby will need me. We discussed that, remember?’ He looked at me with those big green eyes. ‘Isn’t that what we agreed – I work my arse off now, so I can be around for as long as possible when it’s here?’

‘We still need you today,’ I replied, trying really hard not to cry. ‘I need you.’ I knew I was labouring the point, but I couldn’t help it, and stroked my bump for added effect. The thought of walking into the meeting alone again filled me with dread. It was just going to be so embarrassing having to explain why he wasn’t there for the second time.

‘I’m really sorry,’ he said, dropping my limp hand, because it clearly wasn’t going to show him any love right now, however hard he clasped it. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can – with any luck, it will be quick to sort out and I’ll get an Uber and come and join you for the afternoon. I’ll be thinking of you, you’re amazing, you don’t need me, you can do this.’ He lowered his face to my belly. ‘I love you and this little bean so much. I do, you know.’ Then he kissed me on the forehead and dashed off in the opposite direction to the one we were meant to be going in.

Fortunately I was one of the first to arrive at the group – only Helen and Ian had taken their seats – so I had a quiet word with Maggie.

‘Jason got called away for work suddenly. He’s a manager for the IT department of a bank – in the city,’ I said. ‘There was an emergency situation with their systems going down, something to do with a software update.’ I was babbling. ‘He’s the manager.’ I immediately felt silly for going into so much detail and feeling the need to repeat the manager part, in case she hadn’t heard, as if this somehow validated his absence. Who was I trying to kid? I just hoped he would be there next time.