‘Got the test,’ she mouthed as she came in through the back door, patting her pocket and looking around her furtively in case anyone was watching.

‘I’m not sure I want to know,’ Angie replied.

‘Come on, Angie, this isn’t like you. The sooner you know, the sooner you can deal with it.’

‘Can we at least have a cup of tea first?’

‘Okay,’ Sophie agreed, switching on the kettle and moving around Angie’s kitchen with a familiar ease. She made them both a drink and sat down next to Angie.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ she asked.

‘No,’ Angie replied. Then she added, ‘Yes.’

‘How are you feeling about it all?’

‘I feel really bad talking to you about this, Sophie. I had no idea that you were trying.’

‘Forget about that,’ Sophie waved Angie’s concern away. ‘This is about you.’

Angie looked at Sophie’s friendly, open face and desperately wanted to confide in her. But just as she was on the cusp of blurting it all out, she stopped herself. She just couldn’t do it.

‘I love my children but I don’t want another one,’ she said simply instead. ‘Four is plenty, five is too many. And I feel too old to go back to babies.’

‘What do you think Jack would say?’

‘Oh, he’d be delighted. Which is why he mustn’t know about this until we know what’s what.’

‘Of course,’ Sophie agreed. She stood up and held out her hand. ‘Let’s get this done.’

Angie took it. Sophie was right, she had to find out one way or another, even if she didn’t want to know. Together they made their way quietly up to the loft room and Sophie waited for her on the bed while she went into the en suite. She came back clutching the test, sat next to Sophie and waited. After a few minutes, the result was pretty clear to them both. It was negative.

Sophie let herself back into the house and made herself a cup of tea. It was unusually quiet because Alan had taken Tom and Katie to the park and she had the place to herself for a little while longer. She sank down onto the sofa and took a small sip of her scalding tea, craving the comfort that it usually brought her. She was feeling a little flat.

When Angie had told her that she might be pregnant, her first reaction had been jealousy. Sophie and Alan had decided to try for another baby last year but after months of ‘planned fun’ as Alan liked to call it, nothing was happening and she was starting to think that it probably wouldn’t.

Yet here Angie was, not even trying for another baby – not even wanting one – having a pregnancy scare. But when she’d seen the distraught look on Angie’s face, her initial envy had vanished and she had felt sorry for her. She knew how hectic Angie’s life was already and could see how throwing a new baby into the mix might be the thing that tipped them over the edge.