We spend almost an hour in the playground, far longer than I’d intended. Zach takes a ton of photos and insists we get a group selfie, which I ask him to send me afterwards. Jacob of course pulls one of his obligatory funny faces – I haven’t had a ‘nice’ photo of him for at least 18 months now – which Mila finds hysterical. From her peels of uncontrollable laughter, it has gradually become apparent that she considers my son to be a comedy genius on a par with some of the all-time greats. Charlie Chaplin, Robin Williams, John Cleese can all step aside as far as she’s concerned.
Jacob meanwhile clearly quite likes having Mila follow him around, her eyes wide in admiration. Eventually, he manages to coax her up the steps of the slide as Zach and I stand at the bottom to watch.
‘Way to go, Mila!’ he calls up, then murmurs to me out of the side of his mouth: ‘She’s never going to do this. I’ve been up and down those steps like a yo-yo.’
‘How many times has she bottled out at the last minute?’
‘I’d say sixty to a hundred.’
And then—
‘HURRAYYYY!’ Jacob is cheering from the top as Mila whizzes down, looking admittedly more stunned than joyful. When she gets to the bottom, she blinks a couple of times, a dazed look on her face, before leaping to her feet and running to Zach.
‘Daddy, did you see?’ she cries, as he lifts her up and smothers her with kisses. She’s so overjoyed that she promptly wants to do it again. And again, and again – while Jacob heroically accompanies her to the top of the steps every time.
On approximately her twelfth go, at the moment her feet touch the ground, she gasps. ‘MOMMY!’
I follow her gaze to the gate, where a woman in a cute denim dress and chunky leather sandals is closing it behind her. She has tousled, chestnut hair that reaches halfway down her back and is sprinkled with natural highlights. She is wearing little to no make-up and has this wide Julia Roberts smile, all warmth and gleaming eyes. She is stunning. I mean,of courseshe’s stunning. How could I ever have imagined Zach’s ex would be anything else?
‘Mommy, come and look!’ she says, ‘I went down the slide!’
‘No way!’ she replies.
‘Come and watch!’
She looks up at Zach and waves a hello, before seeming to register me a second later. Her expression wavers and, although Mila is now out of earshot, she’s clearly trying to persuade her daughter that it’s time to go.
‘I’ll be right back,’ Zach says, as he heads towards them.
I suddenly feel like a loose end, so go to join Jacob, now at the swings.
‘Do you want a push?’ I ask.
He gives me a doubtful look.
‘I think I’m all right, Mum,’ he says, before flinging up his legs until he’s higher than my head.
I sit on the swing next to him and begin to rock, trying to look anywhere other than at Zach, Sara and Mila. They must have been a gorgeous family and, despite the fireworks Zach described, are clearly pretty amicable now.
‘BYE JACOB!’ calls out Mila, as she runs towards us, stopping at the edge of the swing area.
‘Bye Mila!’ he replies, returning her wave.
‘Can we have a sleepover one day?’ she asks.
‘Yeah, maybe!’ he laughs.
Then she skips away, her day apparently made.
Zach heads back to us after they’ve driven off.
‘What have you guys got planned for the rest of the day?’ he asks, as we stroll to the exit.
‘Well, I’m going to be panelling the living room and doing some Pilates. But Jacob has a more exciting afternoon than me,’ I tell him.
‘I’m going to seeWar Horsewith my grandma,’ he pipes up.
‘Oh, the thing with the huge puppets? That looks great,’ Zach says.
