‘Paternity leave. Your fatherly right?’ Maggie repeated, unamused. ‘I was just wondering if you’re planning to…’

‘Use it? Oh right, yes, of course,’ he stammered. ‘I’d – we’d – be mad not to. Free holiday! We can’t wait.’ He squeezed my hand.

‘Free. Holiday.’ Maggie repeated the words slowly under her breath, a wry smile dancing on her lips. ‘Let’s see about that. Do feel free to take your coat off, Jason, you look like you’re about to go somewhere.’ It was obvious she hadn’t particularly warmed to him, especially after his disappearing act last week.

I glanced across at the rest of the group, clocking that Ian seemed to find Jason’s response amusing. Maggie noticed this too and folded her arms; she had a strong matron game going on this evening.

‘On the subject of paternity leave – I hope you’ve told your employers? Remember, guys, you should have told your work place if you intend to take a week or two of paternity leave – or shared maternity leave,’ she added, glancing at Susie and Lin. ‘I hope you’ve all got this in place. How many weeks along are you now?’ Maggie continued, looking at Jason, who turned to me, searchingly. If this was an exam, he had failed miserably.

‘Thirty-eight weeks and six days,’ I answered on his behalf, feeling annoyed. ‘It’s okay, Jason let his work know a while ago.’

‘The guys never remember the weeks, do they!’ Maggie chuckled, slightly pityingly, trying to make light of something that was important – and should have been important to Jason, considering I was this close to full term.

‘Well, it’s hard to remember yourself half the time,’ I added, defending Jason, despite this being a complete lie.

Lin coughed loudly, suggesting she had never forgotten a single day during Susie’s pregnancy.

I had never lost track of my dates and I’d bet the other pregnant women in this room hadn’t either. The whole of my pregnancy had been punctuated by important dates and significant numbers: dates of doctor and hospital appointments, numbers of weeks plus days, heart rates, blood pressure, my increasing weight, the circumference of my belly and, of course, the all-important due date.

Susie and Lin smiled at me in sync. I wasn’t sure if they were smiling in solidarity or with sympathy because they could see I was flustered that Jason and I weren’t exactly gelling this evening.

Once Will and Christian had arrived, Maggie muttered, ‘Still waiting on Lucy and Oscar,’ and pulled out her phone from the Eighties-style corduroy jacket on the back of her chair.

‘A-ha,’ she said reading a message. ‘Lucy won’t be joining us unfortunately; she’s not feeling up to it. Hopefully she’s okay. Not a problem folks, let’s get started.’ She rubbed her hands together.

I felt a little disappointed. I’d miss Lucy this evening. We’d become good friends. I sent her a quick message:

Me: Hey, Maggie said you’re not feeling great. Hope everything’s ok?

I waited for a minute but she didn’t reply.