She’d thought she and Pete were on the same page about that. But then she’d understood. He was aching for a son. A bit of an annoying cliché really. What could a son do for him that their daughters couldn’t? It didn’t help that he’d grown up with two brothers and was missing being surrounded by all that bloody testosterone. So, despite knowing she was done, Mimi had given in and they’d started to try again. And for whatever reason, her uterus had decided it was back to being amenable and she’d fallen pregnant with the same speed and ease as she had back in her early twenties. Thanks a lot, uterus.

She licked her upper lip and tasted salt. Sweat. Their house was meant to be ecologically designed for environmentally friendly heating and cooling, but she’d never found it to be as effective as flicking the switch on the aircon. She wished they’d put in a swimming pool last summer when they’d suffered through the heat and begun to discuss the idea. But then everything had changed. The twin pregnancy. And of course, entangled with the news of new life was the news of loss. In the end, a swimming pool was the last thing on their minds. Besides, Pete had pointed out they’d forever be scooping leaves from the water because of the bush behind their house. So, in a minute she’d give in and resort to technology to cool herself down.

If she was honest, today had been a pretty good day. Although she did have a new bar for what was considered a good day now that she had twins. But Callie and Tara had both got ready for school and out the door on time for once this morning — without any arguments. And Callie had even changed one nappy for her. That was a particularly big deal, because soon after the twins were born, Callie had made a family declaration that she was never changing any nappies. In stark contrast, Tara’s response had been to morph into a very capable — if a little short — live-in nanny.