Angie sighed. ‘Indie’s having a sleepover at her friend’s,’ she explained.

‘How’s she getting on at school?’

‘Oh fine, she’s got a good group of girlfriends and there’s some boy she’s being all coy about. I’m not sure how much she’s actually learning, but she’s having fun.’

‘Jack certainly seems to be enjoying the school runs.’

‘I know. I must say, if you’d told me at the beginning of the year that Jack would be a virtual house husband, I’d have told you to stop being so ridiculous. Life is unpredictable, isn’t it?’

For a moment Angie looked lost, completely absorbed in her own thoughts.

‘Are you okay, Ange?’ Sophie asked, waving a hand in front of her.

Angie recovered and smiled at Sophie. ‘Oh yes, I’m absolutely fine. Now let’s get Indie off to her friend’s house so we can all relax and get the party started. We can’t spend all evening hiding away in the bedroom with dresses this fabulous on.’

Sophie raised her glass again. ‘Amen to that.’

As they walked down the stairs, listening to the deafening sounds of Jack and Alan belting out ‘Get The Party Started’, she turned to Angie and said, ‘I think they already have.’

9

Angie sat on the cold, hard garden bench, shivering. Despite the cold February weather, she wasn’t wearing a coat and she pulled the top of her turtleneck jumper up over her mouth and hid her hands in the long sleeves. She stared at the closed gate and wished that she was in a children’s book and could walk through it into a secret garden, another world where life was much simpler. Real life seemed to have become horribly tangled. She started when the gate flew open and Sophie marched through it, clutching a soft toy.

‘Bloody hell, Angie, you scared the life out of me,’ she said, putting a hand to her heart. ‘I was just coming round to drop off Freddy’s dinosaur, he left it at ours. What are you doing out here?’

Angie barely acknowledged her.

‘What’s the matter?’ Sophie asked, walking over to the bench and sitting down beside her.

‘I’m late,’ she said.

‘Late for what?’ Sophie was confused.

‘Late, late,’ she said, looking pointedly at Sophie and waiting for the penny to drop.

‘Oh,’ Sophie said, cuddling the dinosaur close to her for warmth.

‘Oh indeed.’

‘I take it this is not good news?’ Sophie asked tentatively.

‘Definitely not good news,’ Angie confirmed.

‘Okay, so have you done a test?’

‘No,’ Angie replied.

Sophie regarded her. ‘Isn’t that something that you should do?’ she asked carefully.

‘Yes.’

‘I’ve got one in the bathroom,’ Sophie said, jumping up, ‘I’ll go and get it now.’

‘Why’ve you got a pregnancy test in the bathroom?’

Sophie looked down. ‘Me and Alan, we’ve been trying for a third but it’s not happening.’

‘Oh, Sophie.’ Angie felt even more awful. ‘I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.’

‘Nonsense,’ Sophie said, looking up again and plastering a bright smile on her face. ‘Your issue is my issue and we’ll face it together. Now get yourself back inside and warmed up and I’ll be over in a jiffy. Where are the brood?’