Cindy waited for Lauren to stop fussing and gave her a hug. Lauren, aware she might not smell that great, broke away quickly and stepped back. Now that she looked properly at Cindy she was stunned at the sight of her; Cindy was neatly dressed, her post-baby bump only just visible beneath a floaty vest. She was wearing full make-up and strappy sandals with heels.

“Wow,” said Lauren, combing her hair with her fingers, “you look amazing. It’s really good to see you.” She glanced down at the baby. “Both of you. Isn’t she adorable?”

Cindy’s baby was sleeping soundly in the car seat, which she placed next to the Moses basket holding the twins, on the floor.

“Sorry to drop round like this,” said Cindy, “but me and Rosa were getting a bit worried about you.”

“Worried about me?” Lauren tried an offhand laugh that fell rather flat. She knew how it must look, how unwashed she was, how the house was a complete tip.

“Yes. Rosa set up that message group called Baby News, but you never put anything on it. You did see that she had the baby, the day after we came to see you?”

The time had all been sucked away. While she was in them, those hours that she fed to her babies went slower than they ought to, but then the days, the precious days flicked by as quick as streetlights on the motorway.

“I did see that, I think. Such good news. Have you visited them?” The other women’s babies were vague to Lauren, conceptual. She knew of them, but there was no space in her heart to wonder, or to care. About this she felt guilty. Her capacity to feel guilt was apparently unimpaired, possibly infinite.

“Don’t you read the posts? We’ve met up twice already. You were invited, both times.”

She’d read the posts. They both knew it; the ticks, that went blue automatically when the message was read, would have given her away.

“Yeah, I know. I couldn’t come. I meant to say one way or the other, sorry about that.”

“You didn’t even say anything in the group when I put on that I’d had Lucy.”

Guilt again, prodding at her.

“Oh, Cindy, how awful of me. I meant to. How long has it been?”

“Lucy’s two weeks and one day old now.”

“Cindy, I’m so sorry. I was going to get you a gift, but I couldn’t get out—”

Cindy waved away the apology. “Don’t worry about that, we’ve got baby stuff coming out of our ears. I just wanted to make sure you were OK, and ask if you needed any help. Your fella must have gone back to work now, right?”

Lauren nodded.

“My partner went back yesterday, too. It’s different, isn’t it, once it’s just you.”