But there was more to babies than a sweet sleepsuit that made a baby look like a fluffy bunny rabbit, she warned herself. There was far more to it. There was actual responsibility involved, a lifetime of responsibility and grown-up behaviour. Was she capable of that?

She reckoned she had to be about nine weeks pregnant now. She still hadn’t told Rick; she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. To tell him would make it real and she wasn’t ready for that. The truth was, she didn’t want it to be real. She wanted to kid herself that she wasn’t pregnant, that she hadn’t messed up so spectacularly.

The thought was always there in her head that it would simply be better to end things now, to have the problem removed and to keep her life nice and simple and worry-free. Rick need never know. It would be her secret.

Snapping shut her laptop, she rose abruptly from the black leather sofa she had occupied for the last hour and crossed the room to the kitchen. She had known before she moved in with Rick that he liked things kept tidy, but since last weekend after moving in with him, she now knew that he was practically OCD about everything being put away. He didn’t like the worktops cluttered with anything more than the kettle. Once a mug, glass, plate or piece of cutlery was used, it was placed straight into the dishwasher and from there it was put in the cupboard or drawer.

Being tidy and organised didn’t come naturally to Willow, but she was determined to become better at it. As Rick said, how difficult was it to put the jar of coffee away after using it? Although, what was the problem with leaving it by the kettle where you knew you were going to use it an hour later? The same for the box of teabags. But this was Rick’s flat and she just needed to adjust to his way of doing things. That’s what couples did. And she had to admit, his open-plan, loft-style apartment was pretty cool. It even had a narrow balcony with just room for two chairs and a small metal table. They’d eaten supper there last night, which Rick had cooked. He’d done it all himself, banning her from helping. He said she’d made too much mess the evening before to risk letting her do it again. She’d laughed and told him that that was her cunning plan all along, to get out of ever cooking for him.

Now, as she made herself a mug of instant coffee – she didn’t dare use his expensive machine for fear of making a mess, or worse, breaking it – her thoughts returned to the baby she and Rick had created and which was slowly but surely growing inside her. It was, she suddenly thought, like a time bomb ticking away inside her with the potential to cause an explosion of emotions if she made it known that she was pregnant.