His face lit up at once and he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bathroom, insisting on keeping her company while she peed, even when she told him that he was giving her stage fright. After finally agreeing to leave the room, he returned as soon as he heard the flush of the toilet and they sat on the edge of the bath, side by side, staring at the test. The two lines were unmissable, and Jack punched the air before kissing Angie in delight.

‘I am so, so, so happy and I am going to be the best dad to that kid,’ he declared before rushing to the fridge to get some orange juice for a toast.

‘You can have a beer, Jack,’ Angie told him.

‘No way,’ he replied. ‘We’re in this together, Ange. If you can’t drink, I can’t drink.’

He poured two glasses of juice and they clinked glasses. He could barely sit still; he was as excited as a little boy on Christmas Day. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.

‘Shocked, scared, terrified, happy, wonderful.’

‘We’re going to be amazing parents, Angie, you’ll see. And I’m going to be a hands-on dad, I promise you. You don’t have to worry about a thing.’

He abandoned the no alcohol promise after less than two days, but she didn’t mind. She enjoyed her pregnancy more than she thought she would, and she realised with surprise that she was one of those women who thrived on being pregnant, who actually did glow with it. She didn’t mind going out with friends and sipping a sparkling water, or simply being at home with the growing baby for company, curled up on the sofa and having a little chat with her bump. She even encouraged Jack to go out with his friends when he could.

‘When the baby comes, you won’t have the opportunity,’ she reminded him. ‘Go out now, have fun, enjoy yourself.’

He did, but he didn’t go back to his old ways. And when Benji arrived, after a labour so quick it had shocked everyone, he was there holding her hand. He was her cheerleader, her biggest fan. What came as even more of a shock to Angie was how much she loved being a mother. She always said she wanted children but in reality, she had no idea if she’d be any good at it. She’d had no siblings to look after, and though Angie loved her mother, she hadn’t found her particularly nurturing. So Angie had never considered herself maternal.

But from the moment Benji was born, she was smitten. Every bone in her body was exhausted from the labour but she was awash with new mum hormones, filling her with such joy that when they left her again a few days later, all she could think about was when she could have them back. And they were a team – Angie, Jack and Benji. True to his word, Jack was a hands-on dad from the very beginning, changing nappies, burping him when he was windy and helping her in the middle of the night as she got to grips with feeding.