She kept up the stream of news on the walk home, requiring little response from Val, pausing only to beg for some popping candy or fizzy cola sweets when they passed the milk bar. Val never had the heart to refuse, even though it was expenditure she would have to hide from Tony when she filled in the accounts book. He didn’t approve of sweets.

“We’ve got a pet rabbit at school, Mommy,” Nicole continued, her words thick from the sweet she was chewing. “His nose goes like this . . .” She demonstrated, her tiny nose wiggling up and down in a pretty accurate imitation of a real rabbit.

“What color is it?” Val asked.

“White. And his name’s Edward.”

“How do you know it’s a boy?”

Nicole raised her eyebrows: “Of course he’s a boy! He’s got a boy’s name.”

“Silly me.” Val smiled, and the movement felt unfamiliar, as if the corners of her mouth might crack.

“He escaped today. Sally was holding him and he jumped out of her arms and ran all over the classroom. Everyone was screaming. Mrs. Cole shut the door and got a piece of carrot and she tried to trap him in the corner but when she got near, he leaped over her arm and escaped again.” Nicole giggled from deep in her belly, a sound full of joy. “It was the funniest thing ever.”

Her face was so animated, her pleasure so genuine that Val spoke without thinking. “Maybe we should get a pet rabbit at home.”

As soon as the words were out, she regretted them. Tony would never agree. He’d worry about the smell, the cost of pet food, the incursion of a rabbit run into his precious yard.

“Oh, please!” Nicole begged. “Pretty please.”

“We’ll see what Daddy says. Maybe he’ll want you to wait till you’re older so you can look after it yourself.” It was hard to backtrack from such a tantalizing offer. “Why don’t you leave me to ask him? You don’t want to annoy him or he’ll definitely say no.”

But the seed had been planted, and Nicole’s talk all afternoon was of names for rabbits, the different colors of their fur, and the foods she thought they liked best.

At dinner that evening—sausages and mashed potatoes—Nicole told Tony about the school rabbit. He laughed out loud at her imitation of its nose twitching, and encouraged by the response, she told him about Edward escaping and the pandemonium in the classroom as they tried to catch him. Proud that her story was going so well, she waved her arm in the air to demonstrate how Edward had leaped over the teacher’s arm, and a lump of potato flew from the fork she was holding and landed on the floor.