Jayden left them to it. He suspected he’d never quite grasp the dynamic of Paul-and-Darren-and-Ethan, the weird ease and friction between the three of them, and he left them to work their magic. They’d always managed to make Darren feel stabilised, if not better, so Jayden took the empty mug, kissed the top of Darren’s head as he passed behind the sofa, and disappeared into the kitchen to leave them alone.
Mum was washing up, barely able to reach the sink over the bump, and Jayden stared while the kettle boiled. “It’s perfectly natural, darling,” she said tartly, and he shrugged.
“It’s not…it’s just, you know, I figured…you know, you’ve been married years. Why now?”
“We couldn’t really afford another baby until now,” Mum said simply. “Dad’s always wanted one. Of his own, I mean—not that
