He didn’t really know what to say to her. He was glad the kids were nearly off their hands, but he tried to put himself in her shoes. From the time they were babies, Jess had been stuck indoors, nurturing them. He’d always been out working and, although he hated admitting it, he’d barely noticed them growing up. Eddie had always been an impulsive bastard and tonight was no exception. It broke his heart to see his wife look so sad. He loved her so much, he would literally do anything in his power to make her happy.

‘Let’s have another baby,’ he said to her.

Jessica turned over and looked at him with an incredulous expression. ‘What? We can’t – I’m thirty-three and you’re forty-six.’

Eddie laughed. ‘So? Me dick still works, don’t it?’

Jessica shook her head. ‘Oh, we can’t, Ed. What will me mum and dad say? And the twins would be horrified.’

Smiling, Eddie straddled her and refused to move until she agreed. ‘Fuck your parents and fuck the kids. This is all about me and you, Jess. It’s our future, no one else’s.’

‘Are you really serious or are you just winding me up?’ Jessica asked him.

‘I’m as serious as the day I asked you to marry me. Come on, Jess, let’s go for it, eh?’

Jessica thought over his suggestion. She’d thought her nappy-changing days were well and truly finished and she hadn’t expected this bombshell to be dropped on her. ‘We’ll have to talk about it properly, weigh up the pros and cons,’ she said.

Eddie smiled. Unlike him, Jess was sensible. ‘Go on, say yes, you know you want to. Just think about that pitter-patter of tiny feet.’

Jessica grinned. It would be lovely to have a focus and be needed once more.

Knowing how she hated being tickled, Eddie did exactly that. ‘Go on, let’s be devils. You know I’ve got super-sperm, don’t ya? Well, this time next year, we could have a cot in that corner and it could be our baby’s first Christmas.’

Laughing hysterically, tears ran down Jessica’s face as she begged him to stop tickling her.

‘Say yes and I’ll stop,’ Eddie told her.

‘Yes,’ Jessica yelled. ‘Yes, yes, yes!’

TWENTY-ONE

On Christmas morning, Jessica woke early with a big smile on her face. Desperate to check that her husband had meant what he’d said the previous evening, she gently prodded him until he opened his eyes.

‘What time is it?’ Eddie mumbled.

‘It’s half-past six. You did mean what you said last night, didn’t you? It wasn’t the drink talking, was it?’

Eddie smiled at her. ‘Of course I meant it. Why don’t we have a little practice now. No time like the present, eh?’