Singing along to the songs on the radio, she made a cup of tea and turned her attention to googling local swimming courses. By the time she left to pick up Tom and Katie, she’d enrolled on a course starting next month and was feeling productive. As Mondays went, this one was going pretty well, she thought, dashing out of the door. By the time she arrived at the gates, out of breath, the kids were waiting for her and looking at her accusingly.

‘You’re late, Mum,’ Katie said, scowling.

‘By two minutes!’ Sophie protested.

‘But Ellie and Freddy have already gone home.’

‘How about I make it up to you with a chocolate muffin from the café?’

The children’s frowns immediately turned upside down and they each grabbed their mum’s hand and began pulling her towards the parade of shops, talking over each other in their eagerness to tell her all about their day. As she listened to their chatter about who they played with in the playground and what they had for lunch, she felt gloriously light and for the first time in months, she realised that she hadn’t thought about babies all day.

Perhaps it was finally time to close the book on that chapter and start a new one. She’d had enough disappointment over the last year to last a lifetime. Looking down at her two amazing children, she squeezed their hands. Things were on the up, she could feel it.

The rest of the week crawled along as she looked forward to her night out with Angie. When Friday finally arrived, she headed straight to the hairdresser after dropping the children off for a blow dry. As she was paying, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and felt a glow of pride. She’d been going swimming at the local leisure centre almost every day since getting back from holiday, partly so she’d be prepared for the course and partly because she’d remembered how much swimming boosted her mood, and she was already starting to see the effects on her body. She was healthier, a little more toned. She might not be Rebecca Adlington, but she was looking and feeling better than she had done in years and that was good enough for her.

At school pick-up she chatted with the other parents but she couldn’t wait for the day to be over so she could finally get ready to go out. She made the kids fish and chips and was out of her chair and running up the stairs for a shower the minute Alan got home at six. As she got dressed and put her make-up on she hummed along to the Disney song that was blasting out from the TV downstairs, where Alan and the kids were watching a film. Finally, with a panicked glance at her watch, she dashed down the stairs, shouting ‘I’m off!’ in the general direction of the living room, before making her way out of the back door and through the garden gate.