She went through to the hall and nudged the door open with her foot, throwing sunlight into the darkened lounge room. She saw cushions on the floor, the couch pushed back against the wall, the coffee table at an angle; a cloth nappy wrapped loosely around itself on the rug. A baby’s bottle lay on its side on the couch, empty.

Mandy stepped into the room and pulled the door closed behind her, shutting out the sun. Steve was whispering to the baby, shushing it in a sugary tone she’d never heard before. ‘There, now. There, now.’ He’d pulled the curtains in his clumsy way, leaving a gap in the centre where the light bled through. As her eyes adjusted she made out his hunched shape, rocking from side to side. Mandy was sure he knew she was there. He’d have heard her. He’d have been expecting her for hours.

The room was hot and airless. Her head ached but the half-darkness helped, and slowly the cries became softer. Steve turned his body towards her, keeping his eyes locked on the baby, and sat down on the couch. Mandy waited for him to look up. He fussed with the towel the baby was wrapped in, got it positioned right in his lap, stared at it for a long while. She couldn’t make out the baby’s face, but she could hear its steady breathing, the occasional shudder on the in-breath. When Steve finally looked up at her, he was smiling. A proud smile that expected her to smile back. She reeled away from him. His eyes, sunken with lack of sleep, were backlit with surprised, overwhelming joy.

‘Come and look at him, Mand.’

She stepped over the discarded cushions and crouched down beside him. He held the baby towards her and raised both eyebrows, still smiling. She leaned across and looked at the child. He was compact and solid looking, with round cheeks, a broad nose and a small, full mouth. In the dark room his skin was close to black.

Mandy slumped down onto the carpet, her back against the couch. Dots swam before her eyes, bigger than before, darker.

‘Steve, what have you done?’

‘Shh!’ He shook his head. ‘You’ll wake him. Keep your voice down.’

She mouthed the words silently, ‘What have you done?’

‘I drove halfway to Nowra with him but I couldn’t face leaving him there. I turned back.’

It was hard to break through the calming fog he’d built up around himself and the child. ‘Ray’s going to have a blue fit when he finds out you’ve taken a child home with you.’

‘Will you give it a rest?’ He moved the baby closer to his chest. ‘It’s taken me all day to get him off to sleep.’ He adjusted the towel around the baby’s shoulders. The sun scorched through the curtains, giving a honeyed thickness to the hot room. ‘I promised his mother he’d be looked after, Mandy. I couldn’t take him to the Home, not after I’d promised her.’