"That's a wonderful age. You still can't quite believe they're real. And yours."

She beams at Alanna.

"Isn't she?" says Amy. "I think Perry's still sorry she didn't get the freckles and the turned up nose, just a bit.

"Susan was a year in March, and it's early May at home now. So, a year and two months, give or take. She chatters all the time now."

There's a sudden grin. "That, at least, she inherited from her mother."