‘Wow!’ Mel said. ‘I’ve never been able to get her to listen to me like that in three years.’

‘I have many dogs in Russia. Dog like men – sniff, sniff, sniff.’ Ksenia did a funny pig-like impression with her nose and lips.

Mel pulled her lips together tightly and tried to suppress a smile. She bounced Skylar in her arms. Skylar let out a tiny happy scream, followed by a gurgle. Ksenia bent forward and peered at Sky in Mel’s arms, as though she were inspecting a stain on a carpet. Then, without smiling, she said: ‘Your baby very cute. He remind me of ex-boyfriend.’

* * *

‘I don’t know why you are so stressed about going out for one night. You’ll enjoy yourself,’ Daz said as Mel pulled off another top and threw it onto the growing pile of discarded outfit choices. Aside from the redundant ensembles, Mel and Daz’s bedroom was spotless; Ksenia had done an amazing job of the entire house and a few clothes on the very clean carpet gave her zero anxiety.

‘Yes, but nothing I wear is going to go with this stupid space boot, is it?’ Mel shook her foot out to remind Daz, in case he had forgotten about her bust ankle and thought the hefty cast was now part of her anatomy.

‘It’s only for a few more weeks, babe,’ Daz said, holding a grizzly Sky to his chest.

‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay with her? I know it’s a school night.’ Mel looked on concerned.

‘It’s okay for one night. She should be settled by ten, shouldn’t she?’

Mel raised her head. ‘I wouldn’t bank on it. Madam’s been a right pickle for weeks now. She doesn’t know what she wants.’

‘You, mostly.’ Daz moved Sky onto his shoulder.

‘That’s true. Well, you can let her fall asleep on your chest, can’t you? I’ll take over when I get back. I shouldn’t be any later than eleven.’

‘It’s fine. You go out and have a drink with your friends. We’ll be fine, won’t we?’

Daz spoke across his shoulder to Sky, who stopped grizzling for a moment and seemed to be listening to him.Why is it such a novelty to men when they have their own children for one night?Mel thought. She would be absolutely getting the breakdown of the entire evening the next day, as if it wasn’t exactly what Mel did every day and night.

‘And it’s for elephants, you say?’ Daz asked.

‘Yes, a charity thing.’ Mel picked up a white and red spotty blouse and held it against her chest.

‘Ahh, well, that’s nice. You know I could have come, too. I quite like elephants,’ Daz said so softly that Mel felt her heart pang for both him and Sky.

‘There won’t be any actual elephants there, Daz. Just people talking about elephants. And alcohol.’ Mel chucked the shirt in the pile.

‘I know, but Mum could have babysat. I could have been your date,’ Daz said so earnestly that Mel couldn’t help but feel guilty even though her body had gone rigid. The idea that she was going to this thing in the first place was a miracle. She had toyed with the idea when Sophy had sent the message explaining how this was an important night for Jeff and since Max had come along, she had not had much time for him, and she wanted to help him make it a really special night this year. Mel got it, she really did. But as if she wasn’t feeling awkward enough about it as it was, now Sophy was confiding in her about her sex life. She was in such a rigid dichotomy between wanting to be a supportive friend and feeling completely repulsed by any mention of that man and his sexual needs.

Of course, Aisha had replied straight away, saying she would absolutely be there for her and was looking forward to it. Mel could not think of any plausible excuses to get out of this evening other than her foot, which wasn’t stopping her doing most things now that the pain and swelling had subsided a lot. But as far as Sophy knew, this would be the first time Mel would be meeting Jeff. And as far as Jeff was concerned, it would be the first time he would be meeting Mel – their last encounter could hardly be described as an exchanging of pleasantries. But Mel had planned the fake expression she intended to pull when Sophy made the introductions, and she would be none the wiser. She could then feel comfortably uncomfortable in Jeff Haddon’s presence for the rest of the evening without anyone else clocking what was going on. But Daz, her sweet Daz, he would be all over her like a heartbeat, asking her what was wrong and why she was suddenly sweating profusely, and she could not deal with that the first time. She needed to get it over, this ‘fake meet’, and if this relationship with Sophy kept growing at the rate it was now, then Mel would have to find a way to bury the incident for good; to protect her friendship and the relationship between Jeff and Sophy. They had a new baby – she couldn’t be the one to tear that family apart. Mel was a tough woman; she had been through enough in her life. She could handle this.

‘Oh, don’t make me feel bad. I really am just going to go and hang with the girls. We haven’t been out yet together without the babies. Although Sophy will be bringing Max, cos boobs don’t stretch across London.’ Mel had given up on clothes and was sat at the dressing table, applying foundation with an egg-shaped sponge.

Daz frowned. ‘Quite. Right, I’m going to read to this one, see if I can get her a bit snoozy. She seems quite tired.’ Daz brought Sky down from his shoulder and cradled her in his arms.

‘Read her one of your accountancy books. That should send her right off,’ Mel scoffed.

‘Ha-ha, very funny.’ Daz shrugged off Mel’s quip.

‘Seriously though, I tried to keep her awake a bit today to tire her out so you shouldn’t have too many problems with her.’ Mel thought how this was the sort of thing that women thought about naturally, but would never have crossed Daz’s mind.

Daz bent down and kissed Mel on the cheek.

‘Have fun.’

Fun, thought Mel. Yes, that was something she once knew how to have.

* * *

The Tube was cramped and hot, and Mel had to keep making people aware of her foot so that it wouldn’t keep getting trodden on. She had rushed getting out of the house, had a last-minute flap about her final outfit choice and changed once more. She had missed the Tube she had wanted to get and was now running late. According to Sophy, there was to be a sit-down talk and slide show bit before the drinking commenced, and Mel was sure she was going to be walking in halfway through the talking.