pull up on the drive. I felt my heart flutter with excitement: Lucas! I hadn’t seen him since making a visit to Gloucestershire in October – a trip that had left me feeling concerned, though Lucas had assured me they were all fine. I hurried downstairs.
‘Mum!’ Lucas said as he crossed the threshold. He dumped all the bags he was carrying and gathered me into an enormous hug. As ever, I marvelled at how big and strong my tiny little boy had become.
‘You smell divine!’ I told him.
‘And you look wonderful, Mum,’ he said, grinning from ear to ear. He rushed into the kitchen and tackled Magnus into a hug, then went in search of the girls. I could hear shrieks, indicating he’d tracked them down. Heidi had clearly been faffing around in the car but she arrived next, carrying the infant car seat under one arm.
‘She’s asleep, although she’ll be needing her bottle in a minute,’ she whispered, so I took the car seat from her and placed it very carefully on the floor, out of harm’s way, then kissed Heidi on both cheeks (she’s very much a kisser, not a hugger). Heidi held her arms rigid as we did so, as if to keep me at a distance. She did the same with Magnus and then started asking a hundred questions, all concerning the baby.
‘You do definitely have a travel cot, don’t you? I nearly brought ours in the end just in case but Lucas said it was too bulky.’
‘Of course, it’s all set up.’
‘Is the mattress comfy enough do you think? They’re so thin, aren’t they?’
‘I’ve got an extra one I’ve borrowed off Astrid, to make it lovely and soft. She’s given me lots of bedding, too.’
Heidi looked shocked. ‘Oh, we don’t need bedding, other than a sheet for the mattress. It’s terribly dangerous. She’s got a special sleeping bag. It stops them overheating.’
‘Not much chance of that in this weather, I’d have thought,’ I said, trying to make a joke, but Heidi didn’t smile.
‘The house is very warm, though,’ she said, frowning. ‘I wonder if I should take off that blanket?’ She rushed across to the car seat and crouched down in front of the sleeping Violet, pushing her smooth blonde hair back from her face. She looked up. ‘What do you think?’ she asked me anxiously.
‘Maybe,’ I agreed while shooting a look at Magnus. He rolled his eyes. Then, thank goodness, Lucas came back into the kitchen.
‘You found your sisters, then?’ I asked.
‘Freja is pregnant!’ he said, his grey eyes wide and his eyebrows raised. I noticed a few silvers standing out in his thick auburn hair even though he’s not yet thirty. Though very Danish in his outlook, Lucas looks like me (as do the girls) – while Mikkel is the spitting image of Magnus.
Heidi looked up, at last distracted from her own child. ‘Really?’ she asked, looking shocked.
‘Yes,’ I smiled. ‘We’re all thrilled!’
‘Who’s the father?’ Heidi asked and, even though it had been the first question Magnus and I had asked Freja, I found myself feeling a prickle of annoyance at the question from Heidi.
‘A lovely chap called Sunny,’ I said. ‘You’ll meet him at Christmas.’ I decided not to go into details at this stage, such as the fact that they were no longer together and that Sunny didn’t yet know about the pregnancy.
‘Sunny?’ Lucas asked, finding beers in the fridge and offering them round. ‘Not Mikkel’s friend?’
‘Yes, that’s the one.’
‘He was a lovely kid. Is he still the same?’
I was surprised at Lucas saying this. I always thought Sunny was quite a strange child. But then Lucas sees the best in absolutely everyone.
‘He seems very nice. Now, why don’t you all go through to the sitting room with your beers while I just check on the chicken, then I’ll be with you. I want to hear all your news.’
***
The food duly checked on, I went through and found everyone sitting around the fire exchanging news. Violet had woken and was now being burped by Lucas, a near-empty bottle of milk beside him.
‘Can I?’ I asked him and he lifted the baby to me.
‘Hello, my gorgeous,’ I said to her, kissing her sweet little head, then I nestled her into me for a cuddle while I caught up on everything.
‘Heidi’s going back to work,’ Magnus said, filling me in on the conversation I’d missed.
‘I have had six months with her,’ Heidi piped up, looking guilty.
‘Of course!’ I said. ‘You’ve done a wonderful