most likely go back over to sleep if left alone. All three babies were in the same room, two in travel cots. Chances were, Emily would sleep through if Jennifer did go in the room, but Megan would almost certainly wake and wail. They waited a beat. Nothing. Relieved, they smiled at one another. Then, suddenly, there was noise at the front door. Baritone laughter and chatter. The men back with the food. It was somehow primal and satisfying. The women leapt to their feet. Opened the door. Hushing their husbands, they began dashing around the kitchen, hunting out plates, cutlery, trays.
‘Did you watch the lottery?’ Jake asked, as he landed a light kiss on the back of his wife’s neck. He was comfortable with giving public displays of affection. He fancied his wife like mad, even when she had baby food in her hair and hadn’t managed to put make-up on for a week; he liked to show his desire. Lexi smiled at Jake, paused for a fraction of a second, leaned her head back to rest against his.
‘No, I missed it. I was helping Carla out, putting Megan down.’
‘We caught it though,’ said Carla. ‘Sadly, we did not become millionaires this week.’
‘Did any of our numbers come up?’ asked Patrick.
‘No, not one,’ replied Carla, with an air of amusement. This wasn’t a surprise. They’d been playing the lottery for about four months and they’d never had a number come up. It had become a running joke between them that they were defying the odds in managing to be so unlucky. Jennifer reached for the kitchen roll and efficiently snapped off six squares. They didn’t bother with napkins; it only caused more laundry and they were long past the stage of feeling they had to try to impress one another. In fact, they had simply skipped that stage. It was hard to be the sort of person who might impress guests when all your conversations centred around cushion rings for piles and putting cold cabbage leaves in your bra to ease the pain of cracked nipples.
‘I’m not resigning on Monday then,’ laughed Fred.
‘No, darling, you’re not,’ said Jennifer, playfully nudging her husband in the ribs. ‘So, make yourself useful and open another bottle of wine.’
The babies all slept through until it was time to carefully carry them home. The parents drank five bottles between them. More than they’d had for a while but not as much as they once used to put away. Luckily, they all lived close to one another, no one had far to walk, just a few minutes up the road. Lexi and Jake stood at the door waving their friends off, the couples excitedly whispered plans for the next meet-up and tried to smother the drunken laughter that erupted from one or the other of them. They all felt light-headed. Light-hearted. Lucky. As they closed the door behind them, Jake pulled his wife into a hug. He kissed the top of her head. He didn’t try to kiss her lips because he was aware that sleep was a higher priority to her than sex at the moment; if he’d kissed her lips, she might have thought sex was what he was hoping for.
‘Who needs the lottery millions when we have everything already?’ he asked, sleepily. ‘Great friends, loads of booze, a beautiful baby and each other.’
Lexi lifted her head, met her husband’s slightly unfocused gaze and whispered, ‘Shag me.’
Their life was perfect.
20
Lexi
When I’m certain Emily is fast asleep, I pick up my phone and hit Carla’s number. I know I gave Emily the impression that I’d follow her wishes, that I wouldn’t say anything, wouldn’t ‘make things worse’, but you know what – I’m the adult. I’m the parent. I get to decide what a suitable response to a beating is.
Carla picks up after just three rings. I imagine her in her immaculate Nicholas Anthony kitchen. The tobacco-dark wood units that beautifully contrast with the luminously pale, high-gloss lacquer surfaces. The ultimate in minimalist chic. Her cleaner comes in twice a week. She’ll be holding a glass of wine, perhaps. Red. There will be a bowl of fruit, all ripe and ready to be munched, nothing browning or past its best. I don’t bother with any sort of greeting, I launch straight in.
‘In case your lawyers are just thinking about their retainer and not keeping you fully briefed, I thought you should know Jennifer and Fred have changed their stories. Initially he maintained he and