Elspeth tried to smile, but she was nervous. So much more of this lay ahead, she thought; so many indignities; indignity and pain and surrender to the pokings and proddings of nurses and doctors. She looked up at the ceiling, at the harsh light shining down upon her. That is what her baby would see when it came into the world – harsh light and strange faces peering down at him or her. And sounds too; how strange to be taken from a world of gurgles and thumping – the world of fluids and heartbeat – out into the cacophony of a hospital. No wonder there were people who wished it had never happened; perhaps they remembered, after all, those first few minutes and regretted them.

The consultant moved the probe. ‘I’m just going to take a wee look at baby now,’ he said. ‘We’ll get a picture in a moment, if you want to look at the screen.’

She felt the smooth surface of the instrument against her skin. She closed her eyes.

The consultant said something to the nurse, and an adjustment was made to the machine.

‘There we are,’ said the consultant. ‘And …’

He stopped. She waited for him to continue, but he did not. She felt the probe glide over her stomach. It had warmed up now from contact with the skin and all she felt was a very slight pressure. Within her, as if reacting to the intrusion upon his privacy, the baby moved.

‘I’m just going to move this a little bit,’ said the consultant. ‘Nothing to worry about – oh …’

‘Is everything all right?’ Elspeth asked. The conversation between the consultant and the nurse had unsettled her. What was there to see? An abnormality?

The consultant cleared his throat. ‘Well, I do have a bit of news for you. There’s more than one baby, Elspeth. There are … two, I do believe. Oh … Is that another? Three. You’re expecting triplets.’

Elspeth gave a little cry. ‘Twins?’

The nurse reached out to take her hand. ‘No, triplets. Three babies.’

Elspeth closed her eyes. She could not think of what to say, and so simply sighed.

‘It’s a bit of a shock, I should imagine,’ said the consultant. ‘But you’re young and healthy. Fortunately.’

‘Three,’ said Elspeth, her voice sounding small and distant.

‘A ready-made family,’ said the consultant. ‘So there we are.’

Elspeth began to cry. She was not sure why, but it was what she felt she had to do. ‘I’m sorry,’ she sobbed. ‘I know I should be grateful, but it’s just that we were thinking of one baby, and now there are three, and I really don’t know how I’m going to cope …’

The consultant switched off the machine. ‘Well, I understand all that,’ he said. ‘But, you know, I suspect that you’ll rise to the occasion. People usually do, and are often very grateful for triplets at the end of the day.’