Tash and I settle ourselves on the sofa to drink our tea, but I’m no longer surprised that Will chooses to stay on the floor with his new best friend. What neither of us were expecting is the way that Isaac subtly nestles into Will as he drinks his squash. Tash shoots me a subtle thumbs up but, although I roll my eyes at her in return and I wouldn’t describe myself as especially maternal, there is something undeniably attractive about Will’s natural rapport with Isaac. If nothing else, it makes me feel much more confident about today.

24

I have no idea how I ever thought I would have been able to do this on my own. Things started to unravel as soon as I started trying to wrestle Isaac’s frankly ludicrous car seat into the back of my car. Even with the front seat pushed all the way forwards, it took quite a bit of wriggling to get it through the gap, and I probably would have put my back out had Will not stepped in to help. Then, once it was finally in, fixing it in place and securing Isaac also turned out to be nigh-on impossible until Will admitted that he’d done the instructions for the manufacturer and knew exactly how it worked.

The soft-play centre is exactly as Will described, with an overwhelming odour of feet, but Isaac was undeterred and disappeared into the main structure without a backward glance. At one point, Will disappeared as well and I was just starting to wonder if I’d lost the pair of them when I spotted him with Isaac at the top of the big slide. I just had time to whip out my phone and film them coming down, with Isaac grinning from ear to ear, before they appeared at the table where I was drinking a distinctly mediocre coffee.

‘Did you see that, Auntie Tilly?’ Isaac asked breathlessly.

‘Isaac was a little nervous about going on his own, so I went with him,’ Will explained. ‘You’ll be all right now though, won’t you?’

‘It’s better with you there,’ Isaac replied. ‘Will you do it again with me?’

‘Of course.’

Since then, Will must have been down the slide nearly ten times with Isaac. I nearly sent the video straight to Tash on reflex, before realising that they’re supposed to be having an Isaac-free day. I’ll show it to her later.

‘Your husband is so good with your son,’ a voice says, and it takes me a moment to realise the person is speaking to me. I turn to see a slightly haggard-looking woman about my age, dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and leggings.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘I couldn’t help watching,’ she continues. ‘And I’ll admit to being jealous. My husband won’t even set foot in this place, or do anything else to entertain his daughter at the weekend. What’s your secret?’