Falling pregnant had been a lot to get my head around. Only Katie knew what I had been going through and she’d even offered to be there when I told my parents that the IVF had been successful, although I’d chosen to do it on my own and had ended up telling Mum on the phone. My parents were conflicted in their emotions – on the one hand thrilled at the prospect of becoming grandparents at last, but on the other, tinged with the sadness of this substandard set up. I could practically hear my mother’s mind ticking over as she tried to fathom how she would explain this to friends at dinner parties. It was almost amusing.

One evening, about three weeks after I had the IVF, Oscar had offered to come round. I had been feeling a little low that day and did what I often did when I was feeling vulnerable – called him. I hadn’t been in the office for a few days, claiming to be ‘working from home’. I almost wanted to wrap myself up in cotton wool in those critical early weeks. Oscar and I weren’t together, and he didn’t yet know I was pregnant, but even hearing his voice on the phone was a huge comfort…

‘Everything all right?’ he asked urgently, the moment I answered the front door.

‘Yes,’ I sighed, ‘everything’s fine. Come in.’

We were sat on my sofa having just ordered a Thai takeaway. My mind was ticking over as Oscar was flicking through Netflix, trying to find a series someone had been raving about, but he couldn’t remember the name of. He gave up, moved to the coffee table and set about opening the bottle of red wine he had brought round. When he passed a glass to me, I knew I couldn’t keep the secret any longer. I just blurted it out.

‘Afraid I’m not drinking,’ I said, pushing it away. ‘I’m pregnant.’

He looked at me in shock. To be fair, it was a huge bombshell – both the pregnancy and the fact I wasn’t drinking wine. His eyes widened. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, Oscar, I am. I’m just a few weeks gone, so it’s still very early days.’

A moment passed. ‘Wow, Lucy, this is big news.’

I smiled weakly.

‘I had no idea you were so keen… still so keen to get pregnant.’ He said it slowly, still processing my news.

‘I’m 38, with no baby-daddy prospects,’ I said measuredly. ‘Of course I want children – a child. You know this Oscar. But I didn’t think it was going to happen any time soon, so I had to go for it. I froze some of my eggs and I had IVF. It appears to have worked.’

I said it in a matter-of-fact way on purpose, wanting to make light of it. Even though there was nothing light about it at all.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

‘Okay, so far,’ I said, ‘A bit more tired than usual, perhaps.’