‘God, I’d kill for a coffee,’ Liam grumbles. ‘What are we going to do without coffee or tea?’

‘How about we play a board game tonight?’ I ask, to distract him.

He glances at me with a half-amused expression. ‘What, Monopoly?’

I shrug. ‘There’s the Game of Life as well. And draughts.’

‘OK,’ he says, not looking particularly enthusiastic. But what else is there to do but go to bed? I don’t think he’s in the mood for sex, and I’m certainly not, so we’ll only lie there staring at the ceiling if we go upstairs now.

I pull out the Game of Life box, which I haven’t played since I was a kid. I think the aim is to get married, get promotions, have children, buy a mansion and retire early. It takes me a while to read the instructions as my mind is so preoccupied with other things; I can’t stop wondering about the other plans this person has for us and how it all might end. But finally, I lay out the board and hand Liam a plastic car and the dice.

Within a few moves of mostly desultory dice throwing, Liam’s got twins. I glance at him as he picks up a pink peg and a blue peg, and places them in his car with a smile. ‘A boy and a girl,’ he says. He looks up and sees my expression.

‘What?’ he asks.

‘Nothing, just the idea of twins …’

‘You want children, don’t you?’ Liam asks, a note of anxiety creeping into his voice.

‘Yes,’ I say, smiling. ‘Just not yet.’

‘Why not?’ he presses. ‘We’ve talked about this. I thought you wanted children. You said you did.’

‘I do!’ I say. ‘Just not right now. I figure that it’s nice to have time as a couple first before you start a family. Once kids come along your whole life changes. And I’m still young enough. I’m only twenty-nine. There’s time.’

Liam frowns. ‘I just think if we’re going to have more than one, we shouldn’t wait.’

I had no idea that Liam was so keen on having children, or that he wanted to have one right away.

‘How many do you want?’ I ask, hoping he isn’t about to say eight or nine.

‘At least two, maybe three,’ he says. ‘What about you?’

‘I haven’t given it much thought,’ I admit.

‘Well, we were both only children,’ Liam says. ‘And I don’t want that for our child.’