Andrea finally looked up from Elliot and across at Mimi. ‘That’s my fun story,’ she said. ‘Delightful, isn’t it?’

Mimi stood and moved around the table to put an arm around Andrea. ‘I wish I knew the right thing to say.’

‘You don’t have to say anything. Thank you for listening.’

‘Of course. I’m here for you any time. For the record,’ said Mimi, returning to her seat, ‘you’re not your mother. From everything you’ve told me about her, you’re bloody nothing like her. And I don’t know if you want to hear this or not, but I want you to know that if you do end up having kids, you’ll be an absolutely incredible mother.’

‘Thank you,’ said Andrea, trying hard to stop the tears from spilling again.

Mimi looked as though she wanted to ask more questions but was stopped as Andrea glanced up and spotted Jill. She quickly wiped her eyes and tried to reset the expression on her face. She didn’t think she could go through all of that again right now with Jill as well.

‘Here comes Jill,’ she said. ‘You mind if we keep this between us for now?’

‘Absolutely.’

‘Hey, watch her ask where your other baby is the moment she arrives.’

Mimi grinned then sat back and pasted a neutral look on her face until Jill arrived at the table, her eyes on the wine.

‘Someone needs to pour me one of those,’ she said, before sitting heavily into the third chair. Then she fixed her gaze on Elliot in Andrea’s arms. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘Where’s the other one?’

*

Mimi

Between Jill and Andrea, there was no chance of embarrassing herself by drinking too much at lunch today and having to be driven home by her mother-in-law, like a shameful teenager who’d had one too many Passion Pops. The two of them were steamrolling through the wine and Mimi could barely get herself one glass. Not that she’d intended to have any more than one today. She was being extra careful with how much she drank when she knew she had to drive.

Obviously Andrea needed a drink after opening up about her childhood and her fears. And on top of that, now that she thought she might want children, her husband needed time to think. What was going to happen if he eventually came back and said no? No wonder the woman wanted to drown her sorrows. But neither of them entirely understood the reason for Jill’s need to indulge in a fairly extensive spot of alcohol-induced escapism. When they asked her what was wrong, she brushed them off and said everything was fine.