aOh my God,a she said, ahe is minutea.

aNo heas not, heas huge. He was almost eight poundsa.

Rosa flicked her a glance.

aYou poor girl. You donat weigh much more yourselfa. Kate put a finger out and touched the damp dark spikes of the babyas hair. aIsnat he wonderful?a aYesa.

aI canat believe it. When Iam not snivelling, I just hang over him and breathe him ina.

Rosa reached down to touch his solid little mound of body.

aDoes he cry?a aLike anything,a Kate said proudly. aAnd a" um, feeding him?a aGetting better. Itas not very easy but I am so determined to do ita.

Rosa straightened up.

She said, aThis is all a bit life-changing, isnat ita"a aTelling mea.

aOne minute youare a couple pleasing yourselves and the next minutea"a aEleven hours, actuallya. aEverythingas changed for evera. Kate was still gazing at the baby. aI canat believe he wasnat ever not herea. aIs Barney moonstruck?a aCompletely,a Kate said. aBought me a ringa"a aA ring?a aAn eternity ringa.

aHeavens,a Rosa said, ahow very a" establisheda. She sat down on the edge of Kateas bed and looked at her. aAre you OK?a Kate pushed her hair behind one ear.

aApart from crying and worrying about feeding and being in agony in the sitting department, I am ecstatic, thank youa.

Rosa said seriously, aHeas very lovely, you knowa.

Kate began to cry in earnest. She hunted about blindly behind her for a tissue.

aHere,a Rosa said, holding one out. aSorrya"a aWhat dayou mean, sorry?a aAll this cryinga"a aI thought you were supposed to crya. Kate blew her nose.

aTalk to mea. aWhat about?a aAbout the outside world. About something not to do with the baby, something that wonat make me crya. Rosa looked back at the baby.

aI thought one of the best things about a baby was that you didnat have to think about the outside worlda.

Kate blew again. She gave Rosa a nudge through the bedclothes.

aDo as youare tolda.

Well,a Rosa said, aVivien and Max are playing Blind Date a" she has very blonde new highlights a" Dad has discovered work and I am a" oh God, Kate, something so funny!a Kate bent back towards the baby.

aWhat?a aI went to sleep on Lazloas beda. Kateas head whipped round. aYou what?a aWell, the house was empty and it is my bedroom after all, and I just lay on my bed for a second and next thing I knew it was three in the morning and I was still there and he was asleep beside me on the floora.

Kate sat bolt upright and winced. aOw. Ow! What did you do?a aGot up,a Rosa said, areally stealthily. Head put a towel over mea"a aThat was so sweeta"a aSo I put it over him and tiptoed downstairsa. aAnd next morning?a Rosa looked away. She said, aI havenat seen him sincea. aHave you told your mother?a Rosa turned her head back. aNo. I havenat told anyone. Why should I?a Kate screwed her tissue up and put it on her bedside locker.

aWhen you do see Lazlo again, what will you say?a aOh,a Rosa said grandly, aIall say donat get any ideas. What else would I say?a Lazlo was in the bathroom. He had been in the bathroom, Matthew calculated, for twenty-eight minutes. What any man could find to do in a bathroom for twenty-eight minutes was beyond Matthew, especially a man whose life seemed dedicated, in a manner that was unfairly but unquestionably irritating, to being no trouble to anyone. If he was ill, there was a perfectly good second lavatory downstairs. If he was poncing himself up, he could do that all day while Matthew was at work and he, Lazlo, was doing whatever actors did or didnat do while waiting to go to work. Matthew bent his head towards the hinge of the bathroom door. Silence. He raised his fist and thumped the panels. aHey there!a There was a pause, and then a slight scuffle and then Lazlo opened the door. He was fully dressed and his eyes looked pink.

He said at once, aSorrya.

aYou OK?a Lazlo nodded. He stepped aside so that Matthew could go past him. He didnat even seem to be holding a towel.

Matthew wondered, fleetingly and awkwardly, if head been crying.

He said gruffly, aGot to get to worka"a aYes,a Lazlo said, aof coursea.

He moved away from Matthew across the landing towards the stairs.

Matthew looked after him.

He called, aNo big deal, you know!a Lazlo turned briefly and gave a wan smile. Then he began to climb the stairs to the top floor. Matthew shut the bathroom door and locked it. Someone a" Rosa probably a" had left a towel on the floor and there were red hairs a" Rosa definitely a" plastered to the side of the basin. The shelf above the basin and the ledge around the bath were now crammed with bottles, so crammed that several had fallen into the bath and were lying there in the shallow pool of water left by the last personas shower. The shower curtain a" was this the last bathroom in civilisation to have a horrible plastic shower curtain still? a" clung to the tiled wall in clammy folds, and the plug to the basin, which Matthew attached to its chain a dozen times since returning home, had become detached again and was lying in the soap dish.

Matthew took off his bathrobe and attempted to hang it behind the door. The hook on the door, never large enough, now bore his fatheras bathrobe, his motheras cotton kimono a" that must be fifteen or twenty years old now a" some peculiar oriental garment of Rosaas and a large towel mounded on top. The cork-seated chair in the corner was piled with clean but unironed laundry, several newspapers and a telephone directory. The towel rail, never adequate for a family of five in the first place, was draped with a large, drying duvet cover.

Matthew let out an exasperated breath.

aNowhere in this whole bloody house even to put down a towela.

He dropped his robe and towel on the floor and yanked the shower curtain rattling along the length of the bath. It was patterned with starfish. It had always been patterned with starfish but for some reason this morning, the starfish looked completely unbearable. He leaned down, turned the bath taps on and pressed the chrome button that would divert the water through the shower-head. The button sprang out again and ice-cold water deluged Matthewas feet. He swore and pressed again and ice-cold water cascaded on to his back.

Someone thumped on the door.

aSod off!a Matthew shouted.

aI need a shower,a Edie called.

Matthew turned the taps off and climbed out of the bath.

aThereas no hot watera"a aNonsensea.

Matthew bent and retrieved his towel. He wound it round his waist and unlocked the door. Edie was standing outside in her nightgown and a long purple cardigan.

He said distinctly, aThere is no hot watera. Edie looked at his towel.

aWhy all this modesty? Iam your mother, for goodnessa sake. Iave seen it all before, Iavea"a aI canat have a shower,a Matthew said. aYou canat have a shower. No one can, unless they want it stone colda.

Edie pushed the sleeves of her cardigan up.

aWhoas taken all the water?a aI donat know,a Matthew said. aDad, Rosa, Lazloa"a Edie peered past Matthew into the bathroom.

aLook at the state of ita"a aYesa.

aItas like living in a student flata.

Matthew said nothing. He was aware, suddenly, of how uncomfortable he was, standing there in nothing but a bath towel with his mother three feet away in nothing but a nightie.

He said, aDoesnat matter. Iall get a shower at the gyma.

Edie stared at him.

aWhy?a aBecause I want a shower and thereas no hot water here and there is therea.

Edie said loudly, aAre you intending to leave this bathroom looking like this?a Matthew hesitated, then he said childishly, aItas not my messa.

aReally?a aI keep all my things in my bedrooma"a aBut you use the bathrooma"a aOf coursea.

aYou all use the bathroom. But none of you seems prepared to pick up so much as a socka.

Matthew wondered if Lazlo could hear them.

aI pick up my socks, Mum. Iam sure Lazlo picks up hisa.

aDonat be so idiotically literal,a Edie said crossly.

aThen donat be unfaira.

aUnfair?a aYes,a Matthew said.

Edie wrapped the edges of her cardigan tightly around her and took a step towards him.

aMatthew,a she said, aI am working, in case itas escaped your notice. I am working six nights and two afternoons a week. If this play transfers, I shall be working like that for months. I am also, for some reason, expected to shop and cook and clean for five adults, never mind the laundry. How dare you suggest that lending a hand isnat your responsibility?a Matthew said, aIt isnat like it used to bea.

aWhat isnat?a aLiving here. Living as a familya. aWell of course it isnat,a Edie said. aYouare twice the size and paying taxesa.

aExactlya. aExactly what?a aMum,a Matthew said patiently, aweare paying to live herea.

There was a short pause.

Then Edie said with incredulity, aYou mean that absolves you from being obliged to contribute anything except money?a aNoa.

aWhat then?a Matthew said desperately, aOh get a cleaner, then. Get someone to do the ironing. Get the hot water fixed. Stop a" stop being such a martyra.

Edie watched him for a moment.

Then she said sharply, aGo to your gym, thena.

aIt isnat easy,a Matthew said. aNone of this is. It isnat easy for anyone. Weare all too old to live like thisa.

aOnly if you want it to be like a five-star hotela.

Matthew looked back at the bathroom. His robe was still lying on the floor. He felt a wave of rage and hopelessness flood through him.

aI wish,a he said bitterly.

Ruth chose a French sleepsuit for Kateas baby. It was the only one she could find that wasnat an unsuitable colour for a baby and that didnat have a plasticised cartoon character stuck to the front. Instead, it was white, with a small bear outlined in grey, positioned where a breast pocket might have been, crowned with a delicate galaxy of stars. She took a long time choosing it, mooning along a rack of tiny socks and garments labelled a0-3 moisa in a daze.

In addition to the sleepsuit, she bought Kate a bottle of bath oil and a candle in a glass tumbler. She had seen in a magazine at the hairdresseras a photograph of a mother and a baby in a candlelit bath together, both, naturally, extremely beautiful and deeply contented, and the image had struck Ruth as so completely desirable that it had made her want to cry. She had taken all the presents back to her flat and wrapped them in tissue and ribbons with elaborate care and then sat looking at the package and wondering if she was, in fact, overdoing it for someone she knew as little as she knew Kate. The answer was that yes, she probably was overdoing it but the need to overdo it overshadowed even the possibility of embarrassment. The package sat on the table by the window of her sitting room for almost a week before she had the courage to take it to the hospital and, when she did finally get there, she was told that Mrs Ferguson and the baby had gone home three days ago and hadnat the family let her know?

Ruth took the package back to her office and sat it on her desk where she could see it. It felt extremely important that she should get it to Kate, extremely important that she should see Kate, but she a" she who was all boldness in her professional life a" felt a disconcerting diffidence about telephoning. Supposing Kate was feeding the baby? Supposing Kate didnat immediately recognise her voice and said, aOh a" Ruth!a in that tone of voice people use when they are recovering their social balance? She looked at the baby package again. Then she looked back at her screen which, among all the work emails, showed three unanswered ones from Laura in Leeds. She hadnat even opened them. They would, she suspected, be about weddings and washing machines and she felt no desire to hear anything about either. She took a deep breath and dialled Kateas number.

It rang and rang and just as she was about to ring off Kate said breathlessly, aHello?a aKatea"a aYesa.

aItas a" Rutha.

There was a fraction of a pause.

Then Kate said, aOh a" Ruth!a Ruth swallowed.

aWere you feeding the baby?a aI wouldnat answer the phone if I was doing that,a Kate said. aWhen Iam feeding him, the world goes away. It has toa.

aI was wonderinga"a aYes?a aCould I a" could I come and see him?a aOh,a Kate said, and then, in a different tone, aOf coursea"a aIf it isnat a bothera"a aNo,a Kate said, aof course nota.

aAfter work perhapsa"a aYes,a Kate said, ayes. Thatad be good. Come after work. What day is it?a aThursdaya.

aCome on Monday,a Kate said. aBarneyas back earlya. She paused and then she said, aItas nice of you to ringa.

aI wanted to,a Ruth said. She looked at the package again. aI really dida.

Russell intercepted Rosa on the stairs, her arms full of the sheets she had just stripped from her bed.

aRosea"a aYesa.

aI wonder,a Russell said in the voice of one about to make a philosophical proposition, aif you could take those to the launderette?a Rosa stared at him.

aWhat?a aWell,a Russell said, aI think you heard me. In case you didnat, I asked you, sensibly and courteously, ifa"a aDad,a Rosa said, aIam going to put these in the machine myself, and then Iam going to take them out of the machine and put them in the dryer and when they are dry Iam going to take them upstairs again and put them back on my bed so that no one but me a" I repeat, no one a" will be inconvenienced by my washing my sheetsa.

Russell sighed.

aIt isnat thata.

aWhat?a Rosa said again.

aIt isnat your self-sufficiency. Itas the number of loads going through the machinea"a aBut itas Saturdaya.

aExactly. Two performances for your mother on a Saturday and everybodyas doing their washing and the kitchen is invisible under sheets and shirtsa. aSo Mum has sent youa"a aNo,a Russell said, aI just watched her for ten minutesa. aAnd listened to hera"a aAnd I thought she could do with a bit of a break on the laundry front at leasta. Rosa considered.

aI seea. aGooda.

aSo have you told Matthew and Lazlo to take their sheets to the launderette too?a aUnfortunately,a Russell said, aMatthew has already put his sheets in, on what I gather is an unacceptably long cycle, and gone out. I am on my way to ask Lazlo the same favour as Iam asking youa.

Rosa looked down at the sheets in her arms.

aIall ask him,a she said nonchalantly.

Russell looked relieved.

aThank youa.

aDad?a Russell, about to turn to descend the stairs, paused.

aYes?a aWhy doesnat Mum send all our sheets to the laundry?a Russell hesitated. For a moment, Rosa thought he was going to say something, but then he simply gave a little shrug and started off downwards.