Stressed-out Santa sorted, I gave myself the rest of Friday off to try to write a birth plan and work out how to bring a better contribution for lunch than the previous times. I knew better than to try to compete with Lucy, so I decided to make something simple. We had a couple of overripe bananas to use up, so banana bread it was. How hard could it be? Easier than bruschetta, I hoped.

It had started out well, and for a brief while I had visions of myself whipping up cakes and cookies regularly, the baby snoozing contentedly in a rocker beside me, a cute dusting of flour on both of our noses. It all started to go wrong after I took a call from my editor while I was halfway through measuring the flour, and then couldn’t remember whether I’d already added baking powder, so decided to assume I had, rather than risk too much. Then the consistency of the batter seemed too thick, so I added a healthy glug of milk. Mum was never a stickler for following recipes to the letter either, I told myself.

The resulting cake was more of a dense banana-flavoured scone. That wouldn’t have happened to my mum. But in the absence of any desire to bake the bloody thing again (besides, there were no bananas or eggs left), I decided some creamy icing would improve things, and it wasn’t as if badly made banana bread had ever had an adverse effect on an unborn baby. To the best of my knowledge, anyway. Probably best not to google it though.

My excitement must have been contagious as Jason was seemingly enthusiastic about coming to this Baby Group at last. Because of the last disaster, he’d sought permission from Peter to have the whole weekend off – whatever IT malfunction occurred. I think having me telling him that that if he didn’t come to this one, it was grounds for divorce, the message had finally sunk in. At this stage in my pregnancy, with hormones raging, I had only been half-joking.

Saturday 8^th May

Jason and I were the first couple to arrive at the church hall the following morning. After placing the cake on the lunch table, displayed on the fanciest plate I could find, and confident that the icing actually made it look quite tempting, we took our seats opposite Maggie. She greeted us warmly, seeming as relieved as I was that Jason had actually come today.

Helen and Ian arrived and took their seats in the same spot as always, directly next to Maggie, like the teacher’s pets. They greeted me warmly and even Ian showed enthusiasm at meeting the ‘infamous’ Jason.

Next came Susie and Lin, who entered hand in hand. There was something about them that reminded me of Russian dolls, with their bobs and classic pear-shape bodies. Even though she wasn’t carrying the baby, Lin seemed to waddle sympathetically and be a completely proportionate version of Susie. They also greeted us like old friends. It felt nice to feel such familiarity amongst us already. They all made an effort with Jason, which I appreciated.