Imelda smiled, but she had the feeling that her mother was warning her about something, and she didn’t like it. She put her hand instinctively on to her belly, and wondered what the child she held within her would bring into her life. Until now she had seen it simply as the glue that would keep Delroy by her side, his own flesh and blood, his own kin. She realised that she had not once thought of the baby as hers too, only as an extension of her husband, and an invisible tie between them. Now, though, the enormity of what was happening hit her; she was going to produce a real live human being, who was going to need her for the rest of its life. And she knew that she would need it too.

She looked at her mother then, and knew that her mother saw that she was not just in love with Delroy, she was consumed by him.

‘I can’t help it, Mum. I just know that without him I would die.’

Ria smiled sadly. ‘Listen, love, we all felt like that at the beginning, but I can tell you now, if you don’t learn how to manage your emotions, he will run for the hills, baby or no baby. He is not stupid, Imelda. Eventually he’ll know that he can never live up to your expectations – no one could, darling. You want him within your eyeline day and night. I’ve watched you, seen the way you watch him, and my heart has broken for you. But I am finally saying what I’ve wanted to say for so long. If you don’t learn to step back, you’ll drive him away from you. You knew he was a ladies’ man, you knew he was a villain, you knew everything about him, and you still wanted him anyway. Fuck knows, you were determined to have him. You got what you wanted, now you need to learn to be content with that. Because I’m telling you, darling, there ain’t a man on earth, or a woman for that matter, who could take that much loving. Marriage is a partnership, and to keep it going you have to look away sometimes, make a point of not asking the questions you want to ask. And you have to be honest with yourself first, and ask only if you really want to know the answers.’