She hesitated, before nodding. ‘OK, that would be nice. Thanks.’

Ben busied himself tidying up until he heard her turning off the taps and climbing into the bath.

‘Mum, it’s me,’ he said, as soon as Jo answered.

‘Oh, Ben!’ Ben could hear the tears in Jo’s voice. There was a long pause before she spoke again, having composed herself slightly. ‘Sweetheart, it is so lovely to hear from you. How are you, my darling?’

Ben suddenly thought he might cry. He took a second to compose himself before he spoke. ‘Good, Mum. I’m really good.’

‘And Elodie? How is she?’ There was a nervousness in Jo’s voice that made Ben feel instantly ashamed. This was Jo’s first grandchild and she was clearly scared to even ask about her.

‘Well, that’s why I’m calling, actually. We wondered if you and Dad would like to come and visit this weekend? Say, Saturday.’

There was a short pause before Jo answered. ‘We’d love to, of course we would. But is it OK with Bella? I don’t want to upset her.’

‘Of course! She’d love to see you too.’ Ben almost choked on the lie but there was no other answer he could give.

‘Oh, well, in that case we’d be delighted to come. Thank you. What sort of time?’

Ben tried to remember the details of the routine Bella had got Elodie into but he couldn’t recall the exact times. ‘Um, about midday? We’ll do lunch.’

‘Oh how lovely!’ Jo sounded thrilled, causing Ben to feel even more guilty. ‘We’ll see you then.’

Ben hung up, wishing he had suggested it to Bella much sooner. His parents were good people and it wasn’t fair to have punished them for a slip of the tongue when they were very stressed.

‘Midday?’ Bella’s voice cut through Ben’s thoughts and he spun around to find her watching him with a deep frown creasing her smooth forehead.

‘Yes. What’s wrong with that?’ Ben’s heart immediately sank again. He should have known it wouldn’t be straightforward.

Bella rolled her eyes theatrically. ‘Oh, nothing, except that Elodie will be asleep. I thought they were coming to see her?’

Ben sighed. ‘They are coming to see her. Surely it won’t do any harm to keep her up a little bit longer for once?’

‘Oh for God’s sake, Ben!’ Bella spat. ‘That’s typical of you. You aren’t the one who’s worked your backside off to get her into her routine. I’m not wrecking all my hard work just to suit you.’

‘Fine!’ Ben snapped. ‘Then we’ll have lunch first and they can see her when she wakes up.’

Bella tipped her head to one side and put her hands on her hips. ‘Well, you needn’t think I’m cooking lunch. I’ve got enough to do, thank you very much, without having to entertain your parents.’

Ben could feel his temper starting to rise. She was so bloody unreasonable sometimes. And having broken the deadlock with his parents, he was suddenly desperate to see them. He couldn’t let her ruin it. ‘I’ll do the cooking,’ he cajoled, his jaw tight with tension. ‘You can sit and chat to them.’