‘So you do love each other.’
Damn it, Immy had walked straight into that one.
‘I mean, if we did decide we loved each other, we would want to spend the rest of our lives together.’
‘But I love Daddy and want to stay with him forever too.’
‘When you’re older you’ll find your own person that you want to be with always. That you will love too. And you’ll still love your daddy and see him but you’ll be living with the person you love.’
Etta shook her head and eyeshadow smudged across the side of her head. ‘No, I’m going to live with Daddy forever.’
‘Well that’s OK too. Your daddy loves you very very much, I’m sure he’d be very happy if you lived with him forever.’
‘Would you be happy?’
‘Yes, of course. I love you too.’ She grabbed a baby wipe and cleaned off the offending eyeshadow before starting to blend the eyeshadow on the other eye.
‘Where will the baby sleep if you live here?’ Etta asked
‘In here with me and your daddy.’
‘Why?’
‘Because babies need a lot of feeding in the beginning and so we will have to get up several times in the middle of the night to feed the baby and change their nappy. So it makes sense to have the baby in a cot next to the bed so we can do that.’
‘So you and Daddy and the baby will be sleeping together in here and I’ll be upstairs by myself.’
Immy’s heart broke that Etta was already worried that she would be pushed out.
‘Do you ever come into your dad’s bed for a cuddle?’ Immy asked.
‘Sometimes. But most days he is already up before I am. But sometimes I do. I like cuddling Daddy.’
‘Well, you can still do that when me and the baby are here. We can all cuddle together. But when the baby is older he or she will have their own room just like you have.’
Etta frowned. ‘Where will the baby’s room be?’
‘We will probably have to move out and get a bigger house.’ Immy bit her lip. She obviously hadn’t discussed this with Xander and it was probably something they should have talked about before she blurted it out to Etta. But it made sense. Xander’s tiny flat was hardly big enough to hold two children. They would both have to sell their flats and pool their resources to buy a bigger place together. Oh god, she was jumping way too far ahead. It had only been a few days but Immy already had a whole future planned.
Etta opened her eyes and she looked distraught. ‘I don’t want to move house. We moved after Mummy died and I didn’t want to move then because my room had a little secret room at the back of it, where Daddy hung some fairy lights and put in some cushions and beanbags, and I would read in there and play with my toys. My room here doesn’t have a secret room. But now, I like my bedroom because it’s bigger and it has dinosaurs on the walls and I like the tree swing in the garden and we have hedgehogs and we feed them once aweek. There are baby hedgehogs called hoglets and they are so cute. Who will feed the hedgehogs if we move?’
Immy cursed under her breath. She shouldn’t have said anything about moving. They should have broached the subject if and when the time came.
There was a noise behind them and she looked round to see Xander leaning against the doorframe.
He smiled at her sympathetically and then came into the room, kneeling down in front of Etta.
‘Ifwe move, it will be a year or so down the line. It won’t happen yet. And if we move, it will be to a house that has a secret room in your bedroom, and a big tree with room for a tree swing and a treehouse. And if we lived a little bit nearer the countryside we might get foxes, badgers and deer in the garden as well as hedgehogs. If we put food out the animals will come. And we will make sure that whoever moves in here after us is left strict instructions on how to feed the hedgehogs.’
‘No milk,’ Etta said, tearfully.
‘No milk as that makes them poorly and we’ll make sure the new owners know that.’
She sniffed. ‘I’ve always wanted a treehouse.’
‘We’ll make sure you have one,’ Xander said. ‘But it won’t be for another few years yet.’
Etta nodded. ‘OK.’
