When she sensed I was looking at her, Lucy quickly averted her eyes. ‘Your photo frames,’ she remarked. She seemed startled I’d noticed her looking. ‘They’re so pretty. I love all the different styles.’

I smiled awkwardly. ‘Thanks. Although I’m sure they’ll all be full of baby photos before long.’

‘I expect so – mine too. You make a gorgeous couple,’ she added, studying our wedding photo, which stood pride of place in the centre of the shelf above the football one.

‘Are you married?’ I asked, keen to move the attention off myself.

For a moment she seemed surprised by such a forthright question.

‘No,’ she said. ‘Not out of choice, but Oscar was married before. He’s in no hurry to…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,’ I added. With my right hand I picked up two mugs from the table by their handles and they clanked together loudly. ‘Photos don’t ever tell the whole story though, do they?’ I muttered, trying to make her feel better. ‘Deep down I’m terrified about how Jason is going to cope with a baby.’ I stopped myself, fearing this was too deep for what had been such a fun evening.

She looked concerned. ‘I’m sorry – are you going through a rough patch?’

‘A bit – I mean, no, not really. It’s nothing.’

‘Because, it’s okay if you are— Do you want to talk?’

‘We’re fine, I meant how we will cope. You know, on a practical level. I had no idea what “weaning” actually meant before tonight – I thought it was something to do with mopping up wee!’ I cut her off, keen to lighten the conversation.

Lucy giggled, and I felt pleased to have won her around again. ‘Don’t,’ she said, ‘I once googled “weaning” only to wish I hadn’t. Who knew that grapes were a potential death trap? And that there can be terrifying allergic reactions to strawberries?’

‘Not to mention that, according to Mila, it can take just a few seconds for your baby to choke to death on a raisin,’ I added. ‘Let’s hope that “how to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre” is on the agenda for the next meeting, shall we?’ We both chuckled.

‘Knowing Maggie, she’ll have us paired up and practising it in no time,’ Lucy laughed.

‘I wouldn’t put it past her,’ I said. ‘But perhaps we should all add “do a Baby First-Aid Course”, to our already extensive to-do lists. If I’d have known it was all this complicated, I might have put it off for a bit longer!’

Lucy smiled, as that last flippant comment hung in the air between us for a moment. The length of time taken to get pregnant could be a contentious issue, I knew that, and I sensed I had hit a raw nerve when Lucy didn’t offer any response.

We both busied ourselves by taking out the last bits to the kitchen. When I had stacked the dishwasher, I glanced at my phone and noticed Jason had texted: