He made his way back to his wife, wondering why on earth he had bothered to go and update his mother on Josephine’s progress. It was a complete waste of time.

He walked into Josephine’s hospital room, a bright smile nailed to his face. He couldn’t let her see how worried he was. If it went wrong this time, she would never get over it – he knew that much.

Lana was holding her daughter’s hand, and he was pleased to see that Josephine was laughing at something her mother had said to her.

‘Hello, Michael. The doctor said that everything is going fine! We heard the heartbeat, didn’t we, Mum?’

Lana grinned. ‘We did. Strong as an ox by the sounds of it.’

Michael sat on the bed. ‘How long do they think?’

Josephine shook her head, and shrugged nonchalantly. ‘Don’t know. Still waiting for my waters to break. Could be here for ages!’

She would happily stay there for days if necessary and he knew that. All she wanted was for everything to be all right.

‘Is your mum OK?’

Michael rolled his eyes. ‘Same as always, Lana – about as much fun as a broken back.’

Lana laughed at him. ‘No change there then!’

Josephine was watching her husband sadly. She knew how much he loved his mum, but she was not the easiest person to be around. Josephine was well aware that Hannah had never liked her much, but it had not mattered at first. If she had given her a few grandchildren, it would have made a big difference to their relationship. ‘She doesn’t mean it, Michael.’

Michael waved his hand impatiently. ‘Sod her, Josephine.’

The midwife came in, and Michael automatically stepped away from his wife. He watched as she smiled and nodded, as always eager to please, to do the right thing. He prayed once more that this time God would bless them with a living child. He wanted a baby, of course, but if it wasn’t meant to be, then, for him, that was that. He couldn’t watch her go through this again. This time it seemed to be going normally but, with their track record, he wasn’t going to let himself get excited about it.

The midwife was a heavyset West Indian woman, with a loud voice, and an infectious laugh. Josephine loved her, and he watched as the woman examined his wife, while chatting and joking with her, putting her at her ease. He was glad that he had paid to go private, it was worth every penny. Only the best for his Josephine. He loved her more than life itself.

‘Did you hear that, Michael? My waters have broken! It’s all go now.’

Carmen Presley was pleased with her charge’s progress; the girl had been so unlucky in the past, and no one was taking any chances. But everything seemed to be going as planned.