The crash came from the living room and I woke with a start. As I came to, I immediately listened out to see if there was any sound from Alfie’s room. When there was none, I got out of bed to investigate.

As I switched the light on, I saw Bea on her hands and knees in the kitchen, muttering to herself.

“Shit, shit, shit…I’m such an idiot…”

There was glass on the floor around her, evidently the result of her trying to get one out of the cupboard.

“Wait, let me do that.” I didn’t want her cutting her hand and needing to go to A&E. Carefully, I gathered up the larger pieces and placed them in the bin.

She sank back on her knees, and I glanced down at her. Her eyes were glassy and huge, and she looked dishevelled, the cute tea dress she’d gone out in sporting a couple of suspect stains, and her hair hanging wildly around her shoulders.

“Good night was it?”

“Yesh, was fun.” Her words were slurring and I could tell that she may have had a few more drinks than were absolutely necessary. “You should’ve come. It would have been a much better night if you had…so much better.”

If I had, then perhaps she wouldn’t be sitting in this state on the kitchen floor.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” I reached my hands out to her to help her up.

“Water, I need water.” She grabbed my wrists and pulled herself up, wobbling as she became upright.

“I’ll get you some water in a minute.” I guided her into her room, and sat her down on the edge of the bed. “Are you okay if I undress you?”

Bea nodded, her head lolling backwards, eyes beginning to close.

I knelt down in front of her and pulled off her shoes, tossing them to one side. Luckily, it had been warm so I didn’t have to try and take off tights or stockings or leggings. I pulled off her denim jacket, then tugged her dress over her head. She was wearing a gorgeous matching underwear set in a beautiful cranberry colour and I fought the urge to run my fingers across the silky material. Maybe one day I could, but today wasn’t that day. I pushed back the duvet, lifted Bea’s legs and managed to get her underneath it, then pulled it back over her.

“Don’t go, stay with me tonight; you know you want to.” She uncovered herself, revealing that lingerie again. It was oh-so-tempting. When I didn’t respond, she pouted. “You promised me water.”

“I did. Hold that thought—I’ll be back.”

By the time I’d returned with a glass, she was already asleep, the duvet still exposing her. I stroked her forehead, covered her up and managed to resist dropping a kiss on her temple, and waited for a few minutes until her breath was steady. As quietly as I could, I pulled the door closed behind me, checked on Alfie and went back to my own bed.

Hours later, I was still lying there, awake, staring at the ceiling. Two days with Bea and I was struggling to contain my feelings. How was I going to cope for the next six weeks? I could wait until after Alfie had gone back to Maddy, then tell her how I felt. By then, it might be too late. She’d be moving out, starting a new job, meeting new friends, new men… If I told her before then and she didn’t feel the same way, it was going to be mighty awkward. I didn’t know what to do and the one person I would usually talk to about this kind of stuff, I couldn’t. Tom would probably kill me for even thinking of his sister like that. I forced my eyes closed and willed myself to sleep.

My dreams were clouded with images of Bea in that underwear, even more seductively trying to persuade me into her bed, and everything that happened when she finally did. I woke up with morning wood and little opportunity to do anything about it.

The rest of the morning passed without incident. I took Alfie to the park and couldn’t believe how popular I suddenly became with every other mother that happened to be there. At least four of them wanted to take my number, and there were offers of coffee, clubs, play dates and help. I didn’t like to tell them that I was only going to be a single dad for six weeks and that Alfie would then be going back to his mother. I already knew that I wanted to be more involved when Maddy got back.

Bea still hadn’t surfaced by the time I got home, so I settled Alfie in his playpen and stuck on the football. I’d bought him an activity cube, with lights and sounds that I thought would grab his attention, although I seemed to be enjoying it a bit more than him. It played twenty-five different songs, animal sounds and names of shapes. Alfie was more interested in trying to chew it than actually learning from it.

“Hey.” Bea’s croaky voice came from the other side of the room. She was dressed in leggings and a huge hoodie, too big for her slight frame. There were dark shadows under her eyes and her skin was pale.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Horrific.” She hung her head.

“I’m not surprised; you were in a bit of a state when you came in last night. Or should I say this morning?”

She winced. “Oh, God, I’m so sorry. Did I do anything…?” Her question tailed off.

“There was the glass you broke, trying to get water, and then you wanted me to get into bed with you.”

A flush crept up the side of her neck as I imagined her memory kicked in with a vengeance. She screwed up her face and put her fingers to her forehead.

“Don’t worry, nothing happened. And you did give me permission to take your clothes off.”

“I wondered why I woke up in my pants. I didn’t remember getting undressed.”

“You were pretty out of it.”

“Did I wake Alfie?” She looked over at him in the playpen, the activity cube in his mouth, and fluttered her fingers at him. “Hey there, little one,” she cooed.

I shook my head. “Surprisingly he slept through all of it.”

“That’s good. I think I’m going to get a shower, then maybe try some toast.” Bea headed towards the bathroom, then turned back. “Thank you for looking after me, Hayden.”

When she joined me less than half an hour later, we took Alfie out of the playpen, and took it in turns to follow him around the floor on our hands and knees, playing a variation on hide and seek. Then we took his favourite toys and pretended they were real, making them walk, talk and play together. It was like we were putting on a show for him and he laughed and clapped at our antics.

It was exactly the sort of picture I’d had in mind when Maddy first told me she was pregnant and I wished I’d taken more opportunity to be involved.

“Ugh, I feel sick now.” Bea slumped against the sofa, her legs stretched out before her. “I think I might go and take a nap.” She yawned and Alfie mirrored her. “Looks like I’m not the only one. Shall I put him down for a while?”

There was a part of me that wanted to carry on our playing. I was enjoying it just as much as Alfie was. But I knew he needed a routine and, as I glanced at the clock, I knew it was time for him to take a nap too.

“Sounds like a good idea. Tom will be here soon. I promised him Sunday night gaming and a curry.”

“I definitely feel sick now.” Bea struggled to her feet and bent down to pick Alfie up. He snuggled happily in her arms, his little hand reaching for hers.

My heart almost skipped a beat at the sight. I had to stop thinking like that.

“I’ll see you later.” She yawned again and headed off to Alfie’s room and then her own.

When Tom arrived a while later, he looked almost as worse for wear as his sister. He was armed with a six-pack of beer and thrust it into my hands as I answered the door to him. “You should have come out last night.”

“What for? To stop you and Bea drinking your body weight in whatever cheap booze was floating around?”

“Yeah, and you could have listened to her going on and on about you.”

I laughed off the idea. “Of course she was.”

“No, really, mate, she was. If she wasn’t telling someone about the trip or the job, it was how she was helping you out in your hour of need.”

“That’s all it is though, isn’t it? Helping me out.”

Tom cracked open one of the beers and sat down on the sofa, switching channels to one of the Spanish league matches. “I’m not so sure. She got pretty animated when she was talking about you.”

A frown creased my brow. Why would Bea be like that? I tried to quell the bubble of excitement that crept up on me…unless? Did she feel the same way about me as I did about her? That wasn’t possible, was it?