She felt a warm hand on her knee and turned towards her youngest son, Jamie, who held a toy train in his outstretched hand. She took it automatically, knowing what was required, and absent-mindedly choo-chooed the train along the arm of the sofa. Despite still thinking about Chris and his mood, her effort elicited a squeal of delight from their five-year-old son, and whilst it wasn’t loud enough to drown out Chris’s aggressive-sounding conversation, it was loud enough for Chris to shoot her a warning glance. She knew what that meant – keep Jamie quiet until he finished his phone call. Her husband’s impatience and tiredness pervaded the air and Claire quickly placed a finger over her lips, whispering to Jamie to use their indoor voices.

As her son turned back to his trains, she sensed that tonight was not the right time to talk to Chris about her going back to work full-time. But when then? Maybe at the weekend when he might be a bit more relaxed? She quelled the flicker of impatience and silently counselled herself to bide her time – she only had one shot at this. Still, she was anxious. There were only a couple of weeks left of the summer holidays and she wanted to be full-time when Jamie started school. Plus, she had already confirmed with Julia.

That particular thought nestled uncomfortably. It was unlike her not to run something by Chris first, especially such a big change as this. She would have to talk to him tonight, and hope his mood improved.

Claire looked at her son, his attention now captivated by some crayons and a colouring book. She knew that both she and Jamie were ready. She had put Jamie in playschool for a few mornings a week and he’d loved it but since he’d stopped his afternoon nap at two-and-a-half years old, she’d struggled to keep him occupied during the long afternoons. He seemed to need a lot more stimulation than other children, certainly more than her first son, Joshua, who had been content to sit and play with his toys by himself for hours on end. But Joshua would be eighteen next year, and then next September, he would be off to university. If his exam results this year were anything to go by, he would have no problem getting into Cambridge to study law.

Claire smiled as she thought of him, her firstborn, her pride and joy. She didn’t have favourites when it came to her sons – they were so different – but there was no doubt Joshua was a dream child. She’d rarely had a moment’s worry over him – well, apart from the difficult few months they’d had the previous year, but that seemed to have all passed, thank goodness. He’d always done well in school and was well liked with a good circle of friends.