‘Sweetie,’ I say as Nick walks in cradling Chloe who immediately stretches across to me, shifting her weight so that she almost slips out of Nick’s arms and lands on my lap. She reaches forward and grabs hold of my neck, holding on tight. I put my cheek to hers, run my hand over her unruly bed-hair, and breathe her in.

‘Oh my baby,’ I say, enjoying the warmth of her squeeze.

‘Mummy! I forgot you were home!’ Barnaby sings, a sleepy grin on his face as he comes running in, jumping into the middle of the bed before snuggling into me.

‘I’m so glad I am,’ I say, kissing the top of his head, a warm feeling washing over me.

Thinking I can’t see, Chloe tries to slowly nudge Barnaby away with her foot, irritated that he’s interrupted her mummy cuddle. Swiftly, before they can start squabbling, I shuffle their bodies so they’re still getting mummy cuddles but also so that Chloe’s limbs are nowhere near Barnaby.

‘Welcome home,’ Nick yawns, snuggling under the duvet on his side of the bed, which is far less crowded than mine. He reaches over and strokes the back of Chloe’s head.

‘No, Dadda!’ Chloe reprimands with a frown, turning to bat him away before burying herself into my chest so she’s even closer than she was before.

Nick laughs and rolls on to his back, running his fingers through his hair.

‘Come on then, how was it?’ I ask, swaying side to side with our children in my arms.

‘It was good,’ he says, pursing his lips like there’s more to say.

‘But?’

‘No buts,’ he shrugs.

‘Come on, out with it,’ I push.

‘Honestly?’ he says, looking at the kids before his eyes come back up to mine. ‘I don’t know how you do it. Even with help it was tough – and don’t forget I was still going to work in the week.’

‘It’s not easy,’ I agree.

‘You’re wonderful.’

‘Ha!’ I laugh, knowing that when he used to say those words to me they used to refer to very different qualities –when my focus was on him alone and I could surprise him with treats or had time to get saucy between the sheets. ‘Well, it’s nice to feel appreciated.’

‘You really are.’

‘Kids, you know what Mummy realized in the mountains?’

‘What?’ Barnaby asks, his lip curling up in the cute way it does whenever he’s questioning something.

‘That we are all very small. We’re teeny tiny when we compare ourselves to massive mountains and the power of nature.’

‘You’re not small to me,’ Barnaby says, making me wonder how I can explain I mean insignificant. I felt my smallness. The more we walked, the further we went, the bigger the world grew, and the tinier I became.