‘If it’s a problem, Willow,’ Mum said, bringing her back to their conversation, ‘and really it shouldn’t be, because why on earth would Rick mind you spending time with your mother, I’ll come and see you for the day? He couldn’t object to that, surely?’

‘Of course not, it’s just that he worries about me.’

‘Yes, darling, and I worry about you too, which is why I think it would be good for you to have a short break down here for a few days.’

‘It would be nice,’ Willow conceded. ‘But don’t you have your hands full with Auntie Geraldine?’

‘I can send her packing back to Brian. I’m convinced she’s just making a point to him.’

‘Maybe Uncle Brian might not want to have her back so soon, perhaps he’s glad of the peace and quiet.’

Her mother laughed. ‘And who would blame him for that? Now meanwhile, whatever it is on your mind that’s troubling you, don’t fret unnecessarily. Do you promise?’

‘I promise.’

When she’d said goodbye to her mother and had plugged in her mobile to recharge the battery, she wandered through to the room that Rick had had redecorated in readiness for the baby. Willow had wanted to paint it herself and stencil something cute around the walls, like a line of fluffy ducklings. Mum had taught her how to do stencilling years ago and it would have been fun for Willow to make more of a personal contribution to their daughter’s room, even if it hadn’t been perfect. But Rick wouldn’t hear of it. ‘I’m not having you clambering up stepladders only to topple off and hurt yourself,’ he’d said.

The room now was fresh and bright with pale lemon walls finished off with white woodwork. Beneath her bare feet was a new ivory-coloured carpet that had only been put down a few days ago and still had that new woolly smell. Where there had once been a large bookcase, there was now a cot and above it was a mobile with dangling stars and moons in silver and gold. Willow went over to it and set it off playing ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’. While it tinkled away, she opened the top drawer of the chest of drawers and ran her hands over the neatly folded baby clothes she and Rick had bought together. They were all so impossibly tiny. She picked out a white body suit and tried to imagine a baby inside it. She couldn’t.

She put it back in the drawer, closed it, then went and sat in the low chair next to the cot. She tried to picture herself sitting here at night while feeding the baby. She planned to breastfeed, just as she’d been encouraged at the antenatal classes she and Rick had attended, but knowing her luck she’d be rubbish at it. Rick had said she wasn’t to worry about that, that he wanted to do his share of feeding their daughter, so it might actually be better to bottle feed anyway. It would save her any needless stress.