But Etienne doesn’t think it’s a wonderful idea – not at first. He chokes on his Chinese spare ribs.

“You want a – what? You can’t be serious, Kaz! That’s crazy!”

I don’t like Chinese food so I’m eating a tomato sandwich. “I think it would be lovely, Etienne. Just imagine: a little baby. A combination of me and you, born out of our love for each other.”

Etienne puts his arm round me and holds me close. He says he understands why I would think that. But in fact, babies are not the cute, adorable little beings you see in Huggies adverts. No, he says, babies are a real pain. Always screaming and crying and getting sick and puking and crapping in their Huggies. Usually just after you’ve put a clean Huggie on.

“Trust me, Kaz. I’ve lived through the reality – not the fairy story. Babies are a nightmare. And toddlers are ten times worse, throwing tantrums all over the place. You don’t want a baby cluttering up your life.”

“But I do,” I say. “It would stop me feeling so lonely when you’re not here.”

Etienne eats for a while in silence. So do I. I’m waiting for him to change his mind, hoping he will change his mind.

We tidy up and then lie together on the bed. Etienne puts his strong arms around me and holds me close.

“I’m only thinking of you, my darling. How would you cope with all those sleepless nights? And you’d have to give up work, at least for a while. How would you manage? You know I can’t help much financially, not with all my commitments at home. Plus, you’ll lose your lovely figure. You know how you enjoy being slim and fit – well, that would all go out the window, my darling.”

I think about that for a while. Yet even that doesn’t put me off. I can feel it deep inside my stomach, this utter longing for a baby of my own.

“And things would change between us, Kaz,” Etienne continues. “You would stop being a lover and you would become a mother. I can’t tell you how much Mary has changed since the kids came along. I hardly recognise her. She’s boring. She’s put on weight. She couldn’t care less how she dresses! You should have seen her in the old days – before she became ‘Earth Mother’! She was really hot back then.”

Of course, I have never seen Mary – not before or after she’s had her children. Somehow it has always felt better for me, not knowing what she looks like.

Once Etienne wanted to show me a picture of her on his phone. I shook my head and refused to look. And once when I was walking down the street, he passed by in his car with Mary beside him. But she was looking out of the window, so I never got to see her face that day either. I prefer it that way.

“Now I’m lucky if I get a kiss off her,” Etienne continues. “Our love-life died the day our first kid was born. I don’t want that to happen to us, Kaz. The passion between us is amazing. I don’t want to lose it.”

He switches off the lights then and makes love to me, as passionately and as gently as if it were our very first time.

And one thing I know for sure: nothing will ever stop me being Etienne’s lover. Not a hundred children.

“Just think about it, OK,” I whisper afterwards. But Etienne is already asleep.

***

Tell us: Etienne gives many excuses why a baby is not a good idea. What do you think his main reason is?