Kirsty stroked the curve of her belly.

‘Usually she’s a little angel, but today I wish I’d left her at home with her father.’

The baby quietened suddenly, leaving a silence which Jamie felt the urge to fill.

‘But you’re happy?’

The woman looked surprised by the question. ‘Happy? Oh of course, yes. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. However much they scream and misbehave, that fact never changes. This is what it’s all about.’

When the woman got off at the next stop she wished Kirsty and Jamie luck.

‘Not that you’ll need it,’ she said. ‘You look like a lucky couple to me. Blessed.’

They changed at Carlisle then took another train to Gretna Green, where the station was merely a single platform situated between two fields.

The Bed and Breakfast where they were staying was five minutes walk away. They stepped down from the train and Jamie looked around. There was nobody around: nothing but fields and trees and open space. The air smelled so clean. Coming here had definitely been the right thing to do.

They were shown to their room by a white-haired man and as soon as the door was closed behind them they drew the curtains and took off their clothes. They were both aware that, for tonight, there was nobody around to listen to them; nobody to complain or bang on the ceiling. They lay down on the bed and looked into each other’s eyes, and Jamie rolled onto his back so Kirsty could straddle him. She was already wet and it felt so good that he had to concentrate hard to stop himself from coming straight away. He propped himself up on his elbows and Kirsty leaned forward to kiss him, eyes closed, and rocked her pelvis back and forth, slowly, digging sharp fingernails into his back, drawing the focal point of sensation away from his cock. Her breathing quickened and he rocked with her, moving towards orgasm.

Losing himself in Kirsty now, Jamie was able to forget all about Lucy and Chris and all the other things that kept him awake at night. Here, in her arms, familiar flesh in a strange room, as light ebbed from the sky beyond the room, he felt free.

The wedding passed so quickly Jamie was surprised the photographs weren’t blurred. They found a pair of old ladies in the newsagents across the road from the registry office who agreed to act as witnesses. Jamie guessed they were used to such requests. One of the ladies took a few photographs of them. One showed them outside the registry office, Jamie in his new suit, Kirsty in her lovely dress, his arm around her shoulders, the Gretna Green Fish and Chicken Bar behind them. They giggled all the way through the ceremony. It felt so absurd – but in a good way.