‘I’m your da,’ he whispered, the tears he had kept at bay so far now rolling down his cheeks. ‘And I’ll always love and protect you for as long as I live. It won’t matter if you’re all grown up in the years to come and you think you don’t need me any more, I’ll still be here for you, me an’ your mam. We’re going to be so happy, the three of us. Do you know that? We might not be rich or live in a palace but this little house will be filled with love for you. You’re going to heal all the past for your mam, I know that, you and me between us, all right?’

The baby yawned again and then surveyed him unblinkingly as though she understood every word.

‘And if some brothers and sisters come along for you to play with we’ll love them too, but if that doesn’t happen it won’t matter ’cause we’ve got you and you’re everything. Do you know that? Everything.’

He could hear voices upstairs and then the sound of Rose laughing. He smiled. He loved it when she was happy. Sometimes he would act the fool just to make her laugh. She hadn’t had much joy in her life before she had met him, but he intended to fill her world with it in the coming years. He knew he was the luckiest man in the world to have Rose as his wife and now – he looked down at the baby again – now he had the icing on the cake.

Some bairns were playing in the back lane beyond the yard and as the sound of their voices filtered through the open kitchen window, he settled more comfortably into the armchair. His daughter was fast asleep now, small rosebud lips pursed and tiny eyelashes resting on porcelain skin.

He didn’t think he had ever been so happy in his life.

Chapter Two

‘You look as rough as a badger’s backside, man. Had a few jars last night, did you?’

‘On my wage with a wife and bairn to keep? Chance’d be a fine thing. No, the babby’s teething and we’ve had a few bad nights, that’s all.’

‘Aye, well, I did warn you when you were set on rushing Rose up the aisle that it wouldn’t be all billing and cooing, didn’t I? An’ to fall for a bairn before the ink was dry on the wedding certificate weren’t none too bright either.’