An hour passed, then two, and still no word. I just couldn’t wait any longer. I decided to take the pregnancy test on my own.

After drenching the stick and my hand in pee, I sat nervously on the closed toilet seat, my knickers still around my ankles, waiting for the result. I started trembling as one minute passed and the control line appeared. Then, slowly but surely, I watched in delight and disbelief as two clear blue lines came into view inside the ‘pregnant’ window.

‘Oh. My. God,’ I said slowly, out loud. ‘Oh my God. I’m pregnant!’ And I looked to the ceiling and personally thanked each of the three magpies that had brought me luck that Friday morning.

Finding out you are pregnant is one of the most defining moments in a woman’s life. The moment you realize that nothing will ever be the same again. And sharing that news has to be handled in the correct way. It was times like this that working from home as a freelancer was particularly hard because although I was glad not to have to contend with the claustrophobic, hot London Tube during rush hour each day, I was all on my own. The cosmos had shifted significantly, I was cradling an enormous secret in my abdomen, but I had no one to tell.

For a moment I was transported back to the times when Jason and I would meet after work when we lived in Hong Kong.

We’d had a small, but really cute one-bedroom apartment in Kowloon, high up on the twentieth floor and with a tiny balcony. The slightly batty porter, who had often been found talking to himself as he manned the security desk downstairs, had had a soft spot for me.

‘Mèilì, Lady Aisha!’ he would say –‘beautiful’ – when I walked past him most mornings, my arm interlocked with Jason’s as we’d head into the city, to our workplaces together.

‘Hey, she’s mine!’ Jason would joke in return, squeezing me tightly.

The thrill of seeing him waiting to surprise me at lunchtime outside my publishers’ building amongst the high rises of Central Hong Kong, looking handsome in his smart suit and attracting a few admiring glances from my colleagues – both male and female – had always lifted my spirits. After work we would meet for cocktails and dinner, or simply get on a tram, travel up to the Peak or explore a new area of the city, always holding hands. It had felt amazing to be on an adventure together…

I checked my phone again to see that Jason had still not responded, so I googled: ‘What should you do when you first find out you’re pregnant?’ and was confronted by a host of instructional lists telling me to work out the due date (20^th May), find a midwife and figure out my finances, all the while avoiding a host of food and drinks, including caffeine, soft cheese, raw fish and alcohol: four of my greatest pleasures in life. I suddenly hankered for a double espresso and a cream cheese and smoked salmon bagel.