Naomi gives a tiny shrug, but it is as if there is a heaviness to her shoulders. ‘Just one of those things. She’s been poorly for a while but it’s not getting better so …’ She stands, the removal of her weight reminding me of that night in the house, the pressure on the bed beside me. ‘I just wanted to tell you. Go well, Allie.’

I had watched her walk away down the corridor, and then moved to the window to watch her get into her car, parked below. I had hoped that she might look up at the window before she drove away, but she didn’t, instead just leaving without a backward glance. I had stood there for a few moments longer, not sure why I felt such grief at her going when I have spent so long carrying such anger towards her, before getting back into bed and crying until it was dark outside.

I stare out of the window now as the familiar sights of the village whizz past, even keeping my eyes open as Rav drives past the woods. A few minutes later Rav pulls the car onto the drive and I sit for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest as my hands fumble for the clip of the seatbelt.

‘Are you OK?’ Rav asks. ‘Do you need a minute?’

I shake my head, finally managing to unclip myself. ‘No, it’s fine. I want to see them.’ I get out of the car on shaking legs, hoping that I don’t look too nervous when Avó appears in the doorway with Leo lying in her arms and a smile on her tiny, wrinkled face.

She holds out the baby and with a flutter of fear, I take him, the weight of him in my arms familiar and comforting. I press my lips to his head, breathing in his soft baby scent and then I lean down to kiss Avó, anxious about how I will be received. She raises her hand to my cheek, holding it there for a moment, and I breathe in her familiar scent of coconut hair oil and incense. ‘I am so glad my daughter is home,’ she says, and the pair of us blink back tears, Avó sniffing and dabbing at her nose with a tissue, flapping her hands at Rav as he tries to hug her.

‘Mama!’ Mina’s voice shrieks from the sitting room, and a streak of pink tracksuit hurtles towards me, arms and legs tangling around mine as I crouch down to scoop her into my free arm, barely able to breathe she holds me so tightly.