Darren looked up at the playground. At the swings and the slide. For a moment, he pictured a kid playing on the equipment. That same kid he’d been seeing every time he closed his eyes ever since Charlotte and Steph had asked him their big favour. The slightly odd-looking kid with the big ears and translucent skin. Only she wasn’t looking so odd anymore. She was starting to look kind of sweet. Endearing in her own way. He wasn’t sure why he could only imagine having a daughter. Maybe it was because he had all those nieces so it felt normal to picture a girl. He imagined telling her not to worry when the other kids picked on her for having big ears. He imagined telling her to tell them to stick it. He imagined pulling her up by the hand and dusting off her knees when she fell off the swing. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head slightly to brush the image away.

‘Nah,’ he said. ‘No news from me.’

*

Mimi

Mimi stood outside Callie’s bedroom door and gave her whole body a small shake. This was ridiculous. This was her daughter! Her first-born. Why was she nervous? Come on, she thought, pull yourself together and just knock.

She lifted her fist and rapped on the door.

For a moment, there was silence and then, ‘WHAT?’

Mimi had to give her credit. It took skill to inject that much attitude into one single syllable. She pasted a smile on her face, opened the door and stepped inside. Don’t show fear, don’t show fear.

‘Hey,’ she said brightly. ‘I was thinking we should go out and do something. You, me and Tara, have some time to ourselves seeing as Dad has the babies.’

Callie was sitting on her bed, her eyes on the phone in her hands. Her bedroom was a strange melding of the little girl she’d once been and the woman she was soon to become. Her favourite stuffed bear still had pride of place on her pillow, but the walls were covered with posters of indie films Mimi had never heard of. Several of the book series Callie had read as a twelve-year-old were still stacked on her bookshelf, but next to them were scattered lipsticks and bronzers and concealers. Mimi didn’t even know the right way to use bronzer — something to do with contouring?

Callie didn’t look up. ‘No, thanks,’ she said.

A part of Mimi wanted to accept her answer and turn right around and leave her be. Avoid any potential argument. But that would be taking the easy way out. Tentatively, she stepped further into the room.

‘Come on. It’d be nice to do something together. We haven’t had time with just the three of us in ages.’