She didn’t think about what she was going to say. She just wanted to be the same way she’d always been with him, because that would have meant he was all right. That he was still strong, argumentative, stubborn. Old-fashioned. A little domineering, even. She could handle that. She could handle arguing with her dad. So she started talking and didn’t think about what would happen next.

‘I’m going to university, Dad,’ she said. ‘Paying my own way.’

He was watching her, so she continued.

‘I’ve got a scholarship, through Freida. Remember, I told you about Freida?’

Her dad reached down and pressed the button on the side of his bed that slowly raised his head. Holly watched as his face became level with hers, and held his hand gently over the bedclothes. His skin looked older, weathered, wrinkled around the neck and joints. She could see a blue pulse in the back of his hand.

‘And what …’ he said.

‘I’ll be studying psychology,’ she smiled.

He let out a fast breath that could have been disapproval, but she decided to assume it meant the opposite.

‘So you’ll have to get better. You need to come to my graduation in three years’ time.’ She didn’t mention what she’d be doing after that.

‘And what will this scholarship cost you?’ he said.

She knew it was his way. Suspect, question – but just for once it would have been nice if he could have been pleased for her, first.

She had no intention of hiding, though.

‘I’ve agreed to take part in the first trial,’ she said, sitting up straighter. ‘The last few years have been revolutionary, Dad. I’m donating my eggs for use in the first baby pouch.’ She knew she should stop talking but she didn’t. ‘We’re going to change the world, me and Freida,’ she said, her voice getting louder now. ‘This inequality can’t last. I can’t live with it. So we’ve found a way to change things.’

‘She’s changing things,’ he said. ‘You’ll be a medical trial.’

‘I think that’s a rather negative—’

‘Don’t, Holly,’ he said. ‘Please …’ He sounded weak, but she didn’t want to compromise, not now. Wasn’t that what women had been doing for centuries? Putting up with it, out of obligation, or kindness. ‘Don’t,’ he said. ‘You’re being … this is … silly.’

She pushed her chair back.

‘It’s not, Dad. Not in the slightest. And I’m going to university. That’s right – just like my brother. Except I’ve found a way myself, since you didn’t think I was worth it.’

Did he cringe, when she said that?