---

‘Why, oh, why do you organise these things, wife?’ Dan groaned and lay back on the bed, his hands over his face.

‘Because if I don’t, no one else will.’

He was always like this about going out. Henry’s birth had given him even more excuses to not leave the house. Tonight, he was coming.

Dan splayed his fingers to look at her. ‘Maybe because they don’t actually want to meet up with a bunch of random people when the only thing they have in common is that they managed to pop out a baby at around the same time?’

‘It will be nice.’ Jenny was firm. ‘Stop moaning.’ Dan hadn’t guessed that she was hoping to get some material from the husbands and she wasn’t about to enlighten him, because he might sabotage her efforts.

She had sent Mark an email to tell him that she wasn’t interested in writing the column he’d suggested. Email, because she hadn’t trusted herself not to buckle if he’d had the opportunity to persuade her otherwise. This made it even more urgent for her to get some good information. If the girls weren’t going to spill anything juicy, maybe their drunk husbands would.

‘It will be nice for you men to get a chance to talk to one another.’

Dan took his hands away from his face and laughed. ‘What do you think we’re going to talk about? Which of us has changed the biggest nappy? The merits of a three-wheel over a four-wheel pram? Or maybe, “Changing bags: practicality over aesthetics?”’

‘Stop being sarcastic. You need to be nice to me this evening because they all think we’re a lovely couple.’ She threw a pillow at him. ‘You need to pretend to be interested in them.’

‘I’m interested in you.’ He pulled Jenny on top of him and rolled her over on the bed.

‘Stop it!’ She was laughing. ‘I have only just managed to make my hair look halfway presentable and my parents will be here to babysit in a minute.’

‘I only need a minute…’

---

Ruth and David were already at the restaurant when they arrived.

‘I’m so glad you came.’ Jenny had been worried that Ruth would pull out at the last minute. She wanted Ruth there. Sitting at home brooding was no good for anyone.

‘David said we had to come.’ Ruth smiled.

‘And I’m such a ruthless tyrant she could do nothing but agree.’ David held out his hand to Dan. ‘Hello, mate, couldn’t get out of it, then?’

‘Tried my best, but apparently there was a three-line whip on this one. Drink?’

‘I’ll come with you.’ David looked at Ruth and Jenny, wagging his finger at them. ‘You two play nice.’

Ruth smacked his arm as he left. ‘Shall we find a seat? Strangely, I feel nervous.’

‘It’s because you haven’t seen everyone for a while. It’ll be fine once the night gets going.’

Ruth lowered her voice. ‘I have to tell you this quickly before everyone else gets here. Don’t react.’ She glanced over to David and Dan and turned her back to them. ‘I’ve stopped taking the pill.’

Jenny quickly turned her back to the men too, so that they couldn’t see her face. ‘That’s fantastic,’ she whispered. ‘Did you talk to David?’

Ruth shook her head. ‘No, he doesn’t know I was ever taking it.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Nothing has happened yet and I’m still terrified, but “Feel the fear and do it anyway”, eh?’

Jenny squeezed her hand. ‘I’m very proud of you.’

A young waiter materialised and showed them to a table. ‘Are we sitting next to our partners or opposite them?’ asked Ruth. ‘Hang on, there are only eight places – who isn’t coming. Is it Gail?’

Jenny nodded. ‘Joe couldn’t make it and she said she would feel like a spare part. I told her not to be ridiculous, but she was adamant.’ She had tried everything to cajole Gail, but to no avail. It was the final straw. Jenny was going to find out about Joe one way or another. Even if she had to stalk her.

‘That’s a shame.’ Ruth paused. ‘Oh, here are Geoff and Antonia now.’ Ruth smiled and waved. Antonia came straight over and Geoff joined the other men at the bar.

‘How lovely to see you, darling,’ Antonia said to Ruth. ‘How are you? I’m really sorry about…’

Ruth cut her off. ‘I know. Thanks. I’d rather we just ignored that huge subject tonight.’

‘Of course, of course, whatever you want,’ said Antonia. ‘My husband is driving this evening so I intend to get very drunk. Will either of you be joining me?’

‘Well, we’re getting a taxi home, but I only got Dan here on the promise that I would do the early morning stint with Henry tomorrow.’ The morning after Jenny’s night out with Lucy was still a painful memory. No amount of Chablis was worth that. ‘Are our husbands going to join us, or are they staying there?’ She motioned to Dan and he gave her a mock salute.

As the three men strolled over, Naomi and John arrived. ‘Blimey, she scrubs up well,’ whispered Dan to Jenny. She could see by the looks on the other men’s faces that they thought the same.

Jenny had to admit that Naomi looked very good. She hoped for John’s sake that he had been suitably complimentary.

‘Is that a wine list?’ asked Geoff. ‘What are we ordering?’

‘That’s what we were just deciding,’ said Antonia.

‘I think we should have a couple of bottles of champagne,’ said Geoff. ‘It is, after all, the first time we’ve all been out together since the last antenatal class, and weren’t they an absolute hoot?’

‘We’re not all here,’ said Antonia, pointedly.

‘Well, almost all. I’m buying,’ Geoff continued, plucking the wine list from Antonia’s hands and beckoning the waiter over. ‘No, no, it’s fine.’ He held up his hand as the other men tried to argue. ‘I’ll expense it – I’m due a few treats after the amount of time I’ve spent with clients this week.’

‘It’s true,’ said Antonia. ‘Let him buy it.’

‘How’s the nanny working out?’ Naomi asked Antonia.

‘You have a nanny?’ Ruth looked over the top of her menu. ‘Are you going to work?’

Antonia shook her head. ‘She just started and she is absolutely amazing. She knows so much, and Jessica behaves like a perfect baby for her.’

‘I still don’t think I’d like it, to be honest,’ said Naomi. ‘I like being the one that looks after Daisy and does everything that she needs. I like being there for her.’

‘I’m still there most of the time,’ said Antonia.

Geoff took his eyes off his menu and looked at her. ‘Really? Because every time I call the house, you seem to have just gone out.’

Really? Where was Antonia going? Jenny stuck up for her all the same. ‘You have no idea what it’s like being at home all day – we need to go out for our sanity.’

‘Just ignore him. I do.’ Antonia waved her hand. ‘When are you going back to work at your magazine?’

Jenny sighed. ‘Next month. I can’t believe it’s come around so quickly. I should be going in to speak to my boss about it, but I’ve been putting it off. There may not be a column for me when I go back.’ No one from Flair had called her, either. That was ominous.

‘So, what else could you do? Oh, I know!’ Naomi closed her menu and wriggled in her seat enthusiastically. ‘Why don’t you try one of the baby magazines? Think of all the things we’ve been through in the last couple of months. There must be tons of things you could write about.’

Jenny felt her face freeze. She didn’t dare make eye contact with Dan. Would tonight be a good time to tell them about the blog? There was a friendly vibe around the table. Everyone would have had a glass of wine…

‘As long as you don’t write about us, darling.’ Antonia pulled a face. ‘Exposing our inadequacies to the world.’

‘Crikey, no!’ agreed Naomi.

Jenny laughed weakly. ‘As if I would.’ Dan kicked her under the table. She kicked him back.

‘Oh, I don’t know.’ Geoff raised an eyebrow at Antonia. ‘I’d quite like to find out what you ladies get up to during the day.’

Just then, the waiter arrived at the table with the champagne and a couple of ice buckets. He took their food order.

‘Let’s have a toast,’ said Naomi. ‘Who wants to make it?’

‘Geoff bought the champagne,’ said David. ‘It should be him.’

Antonia cut in. ‘No. I’ll do it.’

Everyone raised their glass and looked at her.

‘Here’s to friendship.’

---

After David and Ruth had dropped them home, Jenny’s parents had left and Dan had fallen into bed and was snoring, Jenny sat and watched Henry asleep in his cot. There was something soothing about his little chest rising and falling with his breath.

The evening had been a success, apart from Gail’s no-show, and she was still thinking about Antonia’s toast. She had called them friends. Would she feel the same if she knew that Jenny was writing about her? Probably not.

This wasn’t the only thing troubling her. Although Jenny had picked up a couple of ideas that evening which might be useful for the blog, she had nothing that was likely to make Eva jump up from behind her desk shouting, ‘Stop the press!’ And if she couldn’t make the blog good enough, she didn’t have a Plan B.

And, on top of all that, she’d returned home to a voicemail message from her sister, insisting that she meet her for lunch on Monday.

Maybe she should just crawl into the cot next to Henry and refuse to ever come out again.