‘Your dad’s dog?’
‘Ourdog.’
‘It was your dad who wanted him. He never had to clean the hair up, though, did he?’
Grizzle got down and went to follow Cherie. But after a brief sniff at her skirt, he seemed to decide against bothering her and went back to Zoe.
‘You’re a big hairy beast, aren’t you?’ she cooed as she fussed him again. ‘But we don’t mind, do we?’
Cherie hesitated at the doorstep. Alex understood that he needed to go first and dashed over, beckoning them inside and calling for Billie to come. A moment later, she appeared, cheeks redder than Zoe had ever seen them. It wasn’t a bad thing – her flush suited her. But Zoe still asked the question she always asked.
‘How are you feeling? You haven’t been overdoing things, have you?’
‘I’m boiling. I don’t know why I’m so hot, but I’m all right. I suppose it’s the oven.’
‘Your core temperature will be hotter than usual,’ Zoe said. ‘Especially at this stage.’
‘How long do you have to go?’ Cherie asked, giving Billie a kinder smile than she had Alex.
‘About a month.’
‘Do you know what you’re having?’
‘No. I didn’t ask at first because…well, I didn’t see the point in knowing.’
‘And now,’ Zoe cut in before her mum had the chance to ask why Billie hadn’t been interested in the sex of her unborn baby, ‘you’ve come this far without knowing, you might as well hang on for the surprise.’
‘Nobody does it that way now,’ Cherie said. ‘Everyone wants to know – they have these parties with balloons and everything, don’t they?’
‘Stupid if you ask me,’ Billie said, though Zoe wondered if she really thought that. If the baby’s father, Luis, had been around, would she have felt differently about things like gender-reveal parties? It struck Zoe that as a couple they might have welcomed their baby in a very different way than Billie was preparing to as a single mum.
‘What would you like?’ Cherie asked. ‘Girl or boy?’
‘Not really bothered.’ Billie rubbed her belly.
‘You must have some preference.’
‘I suppose…’ Billie paused. ‘Well, there’ll be nice things about both, won’t there? Girl or boy, I suppose they’re still my kid.’
Zoe looked to see her mum holding back a sceptical frown. She knew some of Billie’s history, though, and so Zoe couldn’t understand why she’d be surprised to hear Billie talk about her pregnancy that way.
‘It smells amazing in here!’ She gave the air a theatrical sniff in a clumsy bid to change the subject. ‘Your dad says you’ve made lasagne. You really didn’t need to go to all that bother.’
‘We had a box of pasta sheets in and some mince in the freezer – it was no biggie.’
‘Billie’s an amazing cook, Mum,’ Zoe said as Alex led them to the kitchen table and bade them take a seat. ‘Better than I was at her age, that’s for sure.’
‘Anyone would be better than you at that age,’ her mum replied with a faint smile. ‘Pot Noodle sandwiches and reduced cakes – that’s all I ever saw you eat at that student house you shared with Ottilie. How is she, by the way? She still at work?’
‘She’s had the baby!’ Zoe said. ‘She’s well – they both are.’
‘You never said! I would have brought a gift!’
‘I’m sorry, it slipped my mind. A lot going on, you know.’
‘Will we have time to see her?’
‘Maybe when you next come,’ Zoe replied carefully. ‘She’s still recovering…probably better to let her have some peace.’
