She did her best to be polite to Heather, while wanting her gone.

“It must be tough,” Heather said to her once, sipping coffee awkwardly in the living room. “Having a new baby, especially so far from home in a place like this.”

Katrina was surprised at the rage she felt. Heather had no children herself. She had no right to judge Katrina.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Heather added.

Katrina raised her chin. “No thank you. We’re fine.”

It wasn’t normal, though, to cry this much. Even before she got out of bed in the mornings, Katrina would feel the tears starting to roll down her face as though she’d lost all control of herself. It was pathetic. If John was around, she’d have to wipe them away quickly while he wasn’t looking. Once he’d left for work, or retreated to his study if he was working from home (Katrina would be under strict instructions not to disturb him), she would be able to let the tears fall freely. She almost laughed sometimes at the ridiculousness of it, herself crying as she held the crying Nicky, two babies instead of one.

This was how her nearest neighbour Fiona found her one day when John was away: crying in the living room as she held her distraught baby. Katrina ignored the doorbell because she was in no state to see anyone like this, and didn’t want to in any case, but she hadn’t reckoned on the woman’s persistence. Moments later, Fiona had loomed up at the living-room window and was tapping on it gently.

Katrina had no choice but to let her in. Stupid, nosy woman.

“You poor dear, look at the state of you,” Fiona said.

Katrina tried to wipe her tears and give Fiona a smile that would show she was fine, but Fiona was having none of it. She took the crying baby off Katrina and bustled into the kitchen to make tea.

Katrina was still crying when Fiona came back into the living room.

“Come on now, it’s all right,” Fiona said. Nicky, unbelievably, seemed to have gone to sleep, and Fiona laid him down gently in his cot without him stirring. “I’ll just get the tea,” she said, and returned a moment later with two mugs. How she’d managed to make it while lulling Nicky to sleep, Katrina could not fathom. She felt even more useless by comparison.

“Well, of course you’re overwhelmed,” Fiona said as she settled into an armchair. “All the way out here on your own with a new baby.”

Katrina wished people would stop saying she was on her own.

Then Fiona said something unexpected. “You know, I think I cried every day during Stuart’s first year. He’s five now, thank God. It does get better.”

At these words, Katrina felt the first glimmer of hope she’d experienced in months.