She rolled her eyes. ‘Late one with the lads last night. I’ve left him in bed.’

I felt angry; not least with myself. The poor girl looked not just tired but ill, and she was obviously trying to juggle the needs of both children without their father’s support. It wasn’t fair.

‘Are you okay?’ I asked. ‘You look shattered.’

‘Yeh, it’s the lack of sleep, you know? Gets to you after a bit. Comes with the territory though, I suppose. I knew what I was letting myself in for, so I’ve only got myself to blame.’

She smiled shakily. For an awkward moment I thought she might burst into tears, but she straightened resolutely. ‘It’ll get better. I’ll just have to weather the storm a bit longer – only another two years or so.’ She gave a bitter little laugh, then shook it off and smiled weakly.

‘Congratulations, anyway. I’m guessing from all the pink it’s a little girl? What have you called her?’

‘Elodie. After Jack’s grandma.’

‘Nice. She’s beautiful. I’m sorry – I meant to pop a card through the door. I need to get my act together.’

‘Don’t worry. You’ve got enough on your plate.’

‘I’ll be more organised once this one starts to get into more of a routine.’ She rubbed the baby’s back and smiled down at him lovingly. ‘He’s still demand-feeding at the moment. I feel like a dairy cow.’

A pouting Alfie began to tug at her sleeve.

‘All right, Trouble, let’s go and get those sweeties. See you all again soon, I hope.’

We watched her cross the street and amble wearily towards the shop. My heart went out to her. At least Jack was doing his bit to help, in spite of his work commitments.

‘Poor girl,’ he said in a low voice. ‘She looks done in. Sounds like that Eddie’s a waste of space.’

‘You can say that again. What an arsehole.’

We continued up the road as far as the pub, but it was bitterly cold and I really wasn’t getting any pleasure from our excursion.

‘Shall we go back? I’d love a hot drink.’

Jack put an arm round me. ‘Sure. You’ve done really well, anyway. Little and often is best. Maybe we can come out again later, if you feel up to it?’

‘Hmm. Maybe not. I’ll try again tomorrow.’

*