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rather than risk triggering her paranoia by venturing out of the house.
    Overnight guests didn’t usually cause Hannah the same kind of anxiety as Josh, but today she was very definitely stressed. She’d been working until late the night before on a feature about analysing sex dreams. ‘Chance would be a fine thing,’ Josh had said when she told him the subject, but she hadn’t risen to the bait. Their sex life, or lack of it, was too sensitive a subject for jokes. Then Lily had got up in the night and come into their bed with them, so she was tired and out of sorts, and not in the mood to host this summit meeting, which is what they’d unofficially christened this morning’s visit.
    ‘Mummy, Mummy, where’s my pink dress?’
    Lily appeared in the doorway of the living room wearing only a pair of flowery pants. Josh’s heart turned over at the sight of her still rounded little belly. She had been such a chubby, happy little thing, sitting on his lap and leaning back so that he could blow raspberries into the soft skin of her tummy. But now she was lengthening out. Already she’d lost the dimples in her knees and elbows, and occasionally he’d seen a worried look he hated on her face in place of the usual shy smile.
    ‘It’s in the wash, Liliput,’ Hannah told her. She was busy sweeping up dirt and paperclips and batteries from the remote control and old pencils from under the sofa cushions with a dustpan and brush, so she didn’t see their daughter’s face crumple.
    ‘But I need it!’
    ‘You’ve got lots of other lovely dresses, Lil.’ Josh got up from the table where he’d been attempting to mark some essays and stood in front of her. ‘Shall we go and find one?’
    ‘No, I want that one. All my other dresses are stupid.’
    ‘Who says that?’
    ‘’Tember.’ Lily started crying, great, fat, round tears rolling down her pink cheeks.
    Josh knelt down so that he could give her a cuddle. ‘September is just jealous,’ he said to her. ‘Remember how she wanted your wizard outfit so much her mummy and daddy had to go out and buy her one just like it?’
    Lily didn’t reply, but he felt her head nodding into his shoulder.
    ‘Well, I’m going to have words with Sasha about it.’ Hannah had put down the dustpan and brush and was sitting back on her heels, looking across at them. ‘September shouldn’t be saying things like that. It’s not kind.’
    Josh turned round to her and made a face. ‘I really think we could leave this to the girls to sort out, don’t you, sweetheart?’
    Hannah raised her eyebrows at him behind Lily’s back, but merely said, ‘OK, you’re right. I keep forgetting Lily’s a big girl now.’
    Josh took Lily into her room to help her into her second-best dress – a scale that was decided, she explained solemnly, by how big a circle the skirt made when she twirled round in it. She was just demonstrating when the doorbell rang.
    ‘Hello, strangers,’ they heard Hannah say in the loud, over-bright voice she reserved for socially uncomfortable situations.
    Josh was surprised by how nervous he felt suddenly, as if Dan and Sasha really were two strangers rather than their best friends.
    By the time he and Lily made their way into the living room, the visitors were already installed on the sofa. Both Dan and Sasha had dark shadows under their eyes and were looking unnaturally pale, but Josh was shocked to see that they were holding hands. He shot Hannah a questioning look, but she was busy rearranging the magazines he knew for a fact she’d rearranged just minutes before.
    ‘So this must be a bit weird for you,’ Dan started.
    ‘September, Lily. Why don’t you go off into Lily’s room to play?’
    It wasn’t like Hannah to interrupt anyone, but Josh was glad she had. If they were going to have this chat, far better the girls were out of earshot.
    On her way out of the room, September paused and surveyed the sofa, with her hand on her hip and her head to one side.