‘I’m sorry to just bowl up like this,’ she says over Lara’s fretful crying. ‘Tim’s out this evening at a work thing, and I’m at the end of my tether, frankly. It’s okay for him, going out whenever he wants to.’ Her voice rises shrilly. In fact, I’ve never known a man to be more ‘present’ on the home front than Tim is, with a tea towel almost permanently welded to his hand. ‘I’d have called you first,’ Chrissie adds, ‘but I can’t find my phone, I think it might be in the pocket of my jeans that are on a forty-degree cycle right now.’

‘Oh, no. You could try rice—’

‘That’s what Tim said, last time it happened: “Try rice!” As if that sorts out all the world’s ills. Anyway,’ she goes on, ‘Ludo was asking – begging, actually – to come over to yours.’ She pulls a pained expression as she rubs Lara’s back.

‘Really?’ I look down at him. He smiles hopefully. ‘Of course. That’s absolutely fine.’

‘Thank you so much. He loves it here, don’t you, sweetheart?’ He glances at me, nodding mutely. ‘And no wonder,’ she adds, ‘when Viv’s so kind and welcoming to you, and so relaxed.’

So Ludo stays for dinner, and is actually pleasant, saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and carrying his plate to the sink, which is as startling as if he had lapsed into Japanese.

The kids all play together – even Maeve seems to have realised that Ludo’s okay really – and he behaves extremely well. Perhaps he is conscious of making a good impression, in the hope that this may become a regular thing. I don’t think he and Izzy will ever be best friends, but there has definitely been a marked improvement in how they get along.

‘Ludo seems to like our house doesn’t he?’ I remark later, when it’s just Izzy and me, curled up on the sofa together with hot chocolates.

‘Yeah, it’s ’cause there’s no baby,’ she says.

‘Actually, I think he likes it here anyway. I don’t think he just wants to escape from his little sister, do you?’

Izzy shrugs. ‘I’d love it if we had a baby here. If you had a baby,’ she adds.

‘Um, well, I’m afraid that won’t be happening, love.’

She nods gravely. ‘Because you’re not with Dad anymore?’

‘Er, well, yes, but actually, I’m a bit too old now.’ Please don’t ask about baby-making now, I will her. I’m not against her knowing, of course I’m not. They’ve started on the basics at school, just the body parts, stuff like that, and I’m not planning to promote any ‘special kisses’ nonsense. It’s just … I’m not up to it at this precise moment.