‘I know, sorry,’ said Andrea. ‘I’m a bit distracted. More issues with Heather, the mother down the hall. I ended up having Violet stay at our place last night; there was no way she could stay at home with what was going on at her place.’

‘Really? What happened?’

Andrea gave Mimi a brief rundown of the previous night’s events while jiggling a slightly fussy Elliot in her arms.

‘Yeah, okay, fair enough. That does sound pretty bad,’ said Mimi when Andrea was done explaining.

‘Okay, but here’s the twist. When I went back round there this morning, Heather apologised. She said she wants to make a change, wants to quit drugs for good and be a better mother. She even said she doesn’t mind me getting involved anymore.’

‘No way. That’s a big turn around.’

‘I know!’

‘Well, congratulations, my dear, it looks like you’ve really got through to her. You know what?’ Mimi added. ‘I know you guys don’t wants kids, but I have to say, I think you would make an excellent mother with the way you’ve looked out for that kid.’

Andrea didn’t know what it was — if it was the kindness of Mimi’s words or the shock of her saying that so soon after she’d discovered that perhaps being a mother was still a possibility, but she instantly burst into tears.

‘Oh no! I’m so sorry, I’ve said the wrong thing!’

‘No, no.’ Andrea shook her head. ‘You haven’t — that was a lovely thing to say. They’re happy tears . . . sort of . . .’ She sniffed and Mimi rummaged through her bag for a tissue and passed it over.

‘Do you want me to grab Elliot back?’ Mimi asked.

‘No, I’m good.’ Andrea took in a deep breath. ‘It’s that I’d started thinking lately . . . wondering if I’d made a mistake . . . wondering if I did want kids.’

Mimi’s eyes widened. ‘I had no idea.’

‘I know you didn’t and that’s why you don’t need to be sorry. I broached it with Tony only last night. And while we haven’t exactly made a decision, it’s back on the table.’

‘Wow. That’s great news.’

‘Well, I don’t know if I’d go that far. Like I said, it’s back on the table, but it’s far from a sure thing. We’re both going to take some time to think it all through. See what we really want.’

Mimi hesitated for a moment. ‘Not to play devil’s advocate, but what happens if you two both think for a while and then arrive at opposite conclusions?’

Andrea grimaced. ‘I don’t know.’