‘Darling,’ I continued. ‘What is it?’

It was Ben’s voice, but he sounded drunk. Or drugged. He entwined his fingers in mine and I leant into him.

His voice was small, croaky and rough.

‘Daisy,’ he said.

‘I see you found him then.’

I swung around to see Annie standing a few feet away holding a gun and pointing it directly at us.

I could see the baby in the crook of Annie’s arm. I could hear the tiny whimpering coming from my son. I could see these three people around me and none of it made sense. I pulled myself to standing.

‘I’ll take the baby. He needs me, he needs feeding,’ I said, trying to conceal the panic in my voice.

Behind me I could sense Ben trying to sit up even more.

‘Ha! You think I’m just going to hand the baby over to you. Look at you. Look at him. Do you think that either of you are fit to bring up a baby?

I inched closer to Annie and she shoved the gun out further towards us both. ‘Don’t think I won’t. I will do whatever I have to.’

‘You don’t have to do this, Annie.’ I tried to take another step without Annie noticing. ‘Just let me take the baby. He needs me.’

‘He needs me, Daisy. This is how it was supposed to be. This is what all this was for, what all this has led up to. Haven’t you ever felt that something was supposed to be for a reason? Can’t you see that everything that has happened is so I can have him?’ I watched Annie’s hand clutching my son too tightly. His mewling was becoming a full cry which penetrated my body filling me with fear and anxiety.

I could feel the hysteria rising through my body as I thought about my baby boy of only a few hours being snatched away from me by a woman that wasn’t speaking a word of sense.

A million thoughts were already racing around my head. What would Annie do to him? Where would they go? I would never see him again.

‘Annie. Please.’ I held my hands out in a prayer fashion.

‘No!’ Annie shouted and the baby began to cry a full loud wail that resounded around the basement.

‘Mum,’ Ben tried to shout but his voice was small and hollow. ‘Don’t do this. I love you!’

‘Ha! You think I’m falling for that after everything you have said to me. I tried so hard with you, Ben. I thought eventually you had succumbed to me, that you had accepted me as yours. I raised you! I saved you! God knows what would have become of you if I left you with that madman of a father.’

I rubbed my hands ferociously across my face.

‘Ben does love you, don’t you, Ben?’ I looked down at Ben, pleading with my eyes to keep saying the words Annie needed to hear but I could already see he had given up. He had slouched back onto the floor, and his eyes were rolling.