‘Tom,’ she called, quietly. There was no answer. She didn’t want to shout; all was silent upstairs and she didn’t want to disturb the peace. It was better to go up to talk to him.

He was not in Jo’s room, or their bedroom, but she hadn’t heard him come downstairs, so they were up there somewhere.

Which only left the bathroom, but the splashing sounds had all gone quiet.

She pictured him when he came in from the pub, bleary-eyed and exhausted. She pictured him, lying in the warm bath, his eyes slowly closing …

Tom

He was woken by a scream, then a shout of Jo! and the sensation of water lapping over his chest. He opened his eyes. Alice was standing over him, Jo naked and wet in her arms.

‘Tom!’ she shouted. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

It took him a few seconds to wake up and remember where he was, and then he realized what he had done.

He’d fallen asleep in the bath. He’d thought he could just close his eyes for a moment, that he’d have a quick rest and then put Jo to bed, before calling it a night himself.

But he hadn’t woken up. He’d lain there, fast asleep, with his daughter on his chest, unable to sit up or extricate herself if her mouth and nose slipped below the surface.

‘Oh God,’ he said. ‘Oh God. Jo? Is she OK?’

Alice held her to her chest. ‘She’s fine.’ She closed her eyes. ‘But she was nearly under water, Tom. She’d slipped down your shoulder and the corner of her mouth was in the bath. ‘She could have’ – she held her hand to her mouth – ‘I don’t even want to say it.’

‘I’m sorry, Alice,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to go to sleep. I was tired and—’

She shook her head. ‘No, Tom. Now’s not the time. But this is not the kind of thing that can happen. You fell asleep in the bath with our baby. Do you not understand anything about being a parent?’

He didn’t reply. There was no point. There was nothing he could say that would make any difference.

Alice walked out of the bathroom and he sank into the water. It was cold now, and an image came to him of him asleep, his head lolling against the side of the bath, with Jo face down beside him.

His eyes flew open and his skin crawled in horror. For a moment he considered lying down in the bath and letting himself slip under the surface, letting the water fill his mouth and nose and lungs. At least it meant he would not have to have that image intrude on his thoughts again.