Mica, my wife, was in the kitchen getting the lamb ready to roast. My son Mik and his wife Katia were coming over for lunch. They would be bringing our grandson Nicolai, and to our delight, Nicolai would stay with us overnight, and then Mik or Katia would pick him up tomorrow afternoon. We would get a whole twenty-four hours with Nicolai; it gave them a break, but importantly for Mica and me, it gave us bonding time. It also meant, as he got older, it would be easier on Nicolai if ever he needed to stay with us for a few days. Well, you just never know what is in the future.

Mica had prepped the lamb and studded it with rosemary and a dusting of garlic salt. The Yorkshire batter was resting, potatoes peeled and coming to the boil, ready to be roughed up and then roasted. Greens were a hispi cabbage and some peas. I think we were having some honey-roasted carrots too. For dessert, Mica had made a strawberry flan. It was going to be a good lunch. Nicolai had the same as us, just a bit mashed.

The front door opened, and I rushed to grab my grandson; he gurgled and laughed. He is walking but doesn’t really have any words yet, but they will come. I took Nicolai from Katia and tickled him as I cuddled him. He laughed, and then I put him down, and he toddled off into the kitchen to see Mica. “Incoming,” I shouted to give Mica the heads-up that he was on his way.

I went and sat in the conservatory; Mik and Katia followed, and they grabbed the sofa. I was in the armchair opposite.

“Are you good?” I asked.

“Yes, pops, all good,” Mik answered, and Katia simply smiled.

“Oh well, after your mum has given you your feast, you two can go home and have some alone time, just the two of you, whilst we play with Nicolai. You can relax with each other without having to worry about a toddler.”

“Thanks, pops, we’ll probably just sleep. He is waking up in the night, teething, we think, so we aren’t getting a lot of quality sleep at the moment,” Mik said.

I noticed that Katia was quiet; perhaps she was just tired from a disturbed night. She was usually chattier. I looked across to her from Mik and noticed her skirt was a little awry, and I could see her knickers. I immediately looked away, but her face showed me that she knew where I had looked. I expected her to put her knees together, but she didn’t.

Nicolai toddled in, a bottle in his hands. He came across to me and put his arms up; he wanted a cuddle. That was the end of any conversations I may have thought I was going to have. I scooped him up, and he lay across me, his bottle firmly plugged into his mouth.

Mica came in. “It’s all on the go, lunch will be in about an hour,” she said. “Right, mister,” she said, coming across to me, “give me my grandson.”

Nicolai put his arms up to Mica, and she took him and swung him on her hips as he chugged on his milk. It was perfect, and I knew that my face was beaming, and as I looked around, again my eyes fixed on Katia’s knickers. Again I knew she saw me looking.

Nicolai wanted to go down, and Mica gently deposited him on the floor. He put his milk down and went wandering off. Mik got up and followed him; Katia watched him go and then turned to me and winked and smiled.

Mica sat on the sofa next to Katia and looked across at me and smiled; it was a happy house when our grandson was in residence. We all chatted, Nicolai wandering in and out, Mik having closed the kitchen door so Nicolai couldn’t get in there where there were hot pans and other things he could hurt himself on. Nicolai happily toddled back and forth, occasionally stopping for a gulp of his drink.

“Do you think Nicolai might get a brother or sister anytime soon?” I asked Katia. Oh dear, that seemed to be the wrong question; her face darkened, and she scowled.

“Maybe,” she said, “we will have to see.”

“Good fun practising though,” Mica chimed in laughing, again a scowl from Katia. How odd.

“Oh yes, lots of practice,” I added, “especially when the Grandies have the little monster, and you are all alone.” I smiled across at Mica and Katia and watched Mik as he played with Nicolai on the floor, seemingly oblivious to the adult conversation going on.

After Mik and Katia had eaten, they hugged and kissed us and went home, leaving Nicolai with us. Nicolai was a little grumpy, so I took him up to the nursery, changed him and put him in his cot for a nap. He cried for a moment and then settled down, and his eyes closed. I checked that the baby monitor was on and went down to help Mica in the kitchen with the clearing up.

“Great lunch, baby,” I said to Mica, “that lamb was superb.”

“Yes, thank you, Mik enjoyed it. Did you think Katia was a little quiet today?”

“Funnily enough, I did. Oh well, let’s hope there is no trouble in paradise.”

“Indeed, oh well, at least they have got some time to themselves, and they can do whatever they want without a baby disturbing them.”

“Indeed.” I wondered if that was where Katia’s problems lay. Did one of them want alone time for shagging, and the other didn’t? I recalled how difficult it was for Mica and I to get quality bedroom time when Mik was a baby and his sister Katarina too, for that matter, but we managed; we found time for sex, and that was important to us both. We may not be as prolific now, but we still found time to enjoy each other. Unlikely whilst Nicolai was here, though.

Nicolai woke up in the night, probably around three. Mica went in and gave him some milk, changed his nappy and settled him down; he soon went off to sleep again. I rolled over and cuddled Mica when she got back into bed, and we soon went off to sleep ourselves.

I heard Nicolai crying at around six, so got up, put my robe on and went into the nursery. Nicolai was standing up in his cot, looking very annoyed. I smiled and laughed and tickled him and then hoisted him out and changed his nappy, dropping his nightclothes into the washing hamper, dressed him and took him down.

He sat on the kitchen floor whilst I made him a bottle; that would do for now. He would have his breakfast later, and then we went into the lounge to watch some TV. In the Night Garden is his current favourite, but to me that just looks like a drug trip, it is weird and bizarre and Nicolai loves it.