‘We’re just achingly modern,’ Frankie had laughed to Preena’s mum, rolling her eyes, but she felt proud of how far they’d come. If this year had taught her anything, it was that families could be resilient, could flex and bend to accommodate new additions or work around a problem. Was any family normal, deep down? Hers certainly wasn’t, but she felt as if she and Craig were far stronger together, now that they’d weathered this storm side by side. Plus she felt part of something bigger these days, ever since she’d met the Mortimers. She had a dad and a sister, both of whom she adored, three brothers too, who all seemed great, and it felt as if there were whole new layers of safety net beneath her, ready to catch her if she needed support.

And who was to say what the future held, in terms of family, anyway? Because just yesterday she and Craig had gone to view some office space nearby that was up for rental, with the plan to give Frankie in particular more room to spread out, workwise. But as she looked around the whitewashed studio and made financial calculations in her head, another idea altogether had come to her. ‘You know . . . for what this would cost us in terms of rent, on top of the existing mortgage payments for the flat, we could actually look at buying a bigger place to live instead,’ she said in a low voice, conscious of the estate agent lurking discreetly in the background. ‘Somewhere with a small office and maybe even a garden, if we put all our savings into the pot. What do you think?’

Craig had nodded, thinking it through. ‘I’d really like that,’ he said. ‘Somewhere that’s ours, somewhere permanent. Maybe with an extra room . . .’

‘Oh yes, good idea, for when Harry or Paula comes down to stay,’ she’d replied, but he’d looked awkward – shy, almost – and she realized that she’d misunderstood, that he was actually thinking about something quite different. Was he? ‘Do you mean . . . what are you saying?’ she asked, not wanting to get ahead of herself. They still hadn’t quite had the conversation about babies, if that was where Craig was going; she’d been waiting for the dust to settle following Julia’s arrival, but couldn’t deny the subject had been on her mind.

‘I’m saying . . .’ He seemed uncharacteristically reticent. ‘I think I’m saying that I’d like us to have a baby together. Expand the family. What do you think?’

So she’d been right. And what did she think? ‘Wow,’ she said, taken aback, trying to marshal a response.