We were at another birthday party. I’d lost track of exactly how many we’d been to over the past six months. Apparently when you have kids, it’s a lot.

I glanced over to where Hayden and Maddy were talking and smiled. After the horrible day when Maddy tried to take Alfie, things had finally been sorted.

Robert hadn’t been as keen on the idea of Alfie joining them in Paris as Maddy had been. In fact, he’d objected so strongly that Maddy had not only ended her relationship with him, she’d quit her job as well. She had, however, found a part-time job a few days a week.

The three of us had come to a co-parenting arrangement, whereby Alfie spent half the week with Maddy and the rest of it with Hayden and I. Hayden’s company had finally shown some flexibility and had agreed to him working from home two days a week. I was able to start my internship and they were impressed. It was working out pretty well, although once I’d told Hayden my news, I was certain it would change again.

When we’d told Tom and Laura we were in a relationship, they were both ecstatic. Laura wanted to know if she could be a bridesmaid and, after he’d gotten over the shock, Tom was fully supportive of us, saying he always knew we’d end up together. I wondered how he’d react to my next announcement.

I couldn’t wait any longer; I needed to speak to Hayden now.

“Hi, Bea, how are you?” Maddy was always super polite to me these days.

“I’m good, really well.” I linked my arm in Hayden’s. “Can I borrow him for a few minutes?”

“Of course.”

I took Hayden over to the side of the room, watching Alfie and the rest of the kids being entertained by a magician. Secretly, I thought the parents had wasted their money; it wasn’t as if the children knew what was going on. There was still a lot of one-upmanship going on when it came to parties.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Oh God, you’re not breaking up with me, are you?” Hayden’s face took on an expression of horror.

I shook my head. That was the last thing on my mind. Nervous about saying the actual words out loud, I leaned close to his ear and whispered, I’m pregnant.

There was a split second where Hayden didn’t respond, not one single word. My body went cold. We hadn’t spoken about starting our own family. What if it wasn’t what he wanted?

Then he broke into the biggest smile and picked me up, whirling me around and around, laughing. “Really? Alfie’s going to be a big brother? That’s fabulous news!” Suddenly, he dropped me back to the ground. “Sorry, I didn’t want to make you feel sick; Maddy suffered terribly when she first got pregnant.”

“I think I’ll be okay.” I chose not to tell him about the wave of nausea that was threatening to overcome me.

“We need to tell Alfie.” Hayden dragged me over to where he was and picked him up, taking him away from the group.

I screwed up my face. “I’m not sure he’s going to understand.”

“Alfie.” Hayden held a hand over my stomach. “Bea has a brother or sister in there for you.”

The little boy frowned. I knew he was too young to make much sense of it. He looked between us, then pointed to my tummy. “Baby!”

That set the tears off again; seriously, my hormones were going to be a struggle during pregnancy. Hayden was crying too, and the three of us cried and laughed together.

The family we’d made during six weeks was going to be extended, and we couldn’t be happier.