'Elinor. If I could ask. Who is Greta?'

Elinor sat awkwardly wedged at the table spooning cereal into her mouth. After the question, she fell silent, looked down and played with the spoon.

'It's just that Jason mentioned her but I don't know who she is.'

She'd found him rummaging through Elinor's baby box, they'd looked through all the things they could repurpose for the new addition. There were a few spare things in there that Jason had said had been for Greta but he'd not had time to elaborate before Fleur had run in and tried to play tug of war with a babygro.

Elinor sighed.

'Jason has always wanted to meet Greta.'

Bernie was confused.

'When did Jason come and live here?'

'A couple of years ago. Marjorie was mum's half-sister. She was born before grandma was married. We only found out about her and Jason when she died and mum offered him a home.'

'So Serena never knew her sister?'

Elinor shook her head.

'So where does Greta fit in?'

'She was my twin.'

'You had a sister?'

'I never got to meet her. She was stillborn.'

Bernie felt like her heart had stopped. To have Serena and Edward's excitement at their first birth devastated by such grief. She couldn't bear to think about if one of her children had died.

'Grandma named her after a character in a book. I never even saw a picture of her. It was like she'd never existed. I only found out about her when they got divorced.'

Bernie wanted to cry.

'You can't blame your mum for being concerned about your pregnancy.'

Elinor noted the shaky voice and unshed tear lurking. Bernie looked truly upset.

'Things are going well. I'm not frightened, really. Just calm her down if she gets upset. Dad said that she got depressed. Really depressed. She'd stay in bed a lot, she'd cry and throw things and sometimes she'd be silent for days on end. I think she had a breakdown at work when she went back. She took some time off and went away and she came back and she was my mum again.'

Serena and Edward had finally gotten divorced when Elinor was nine. He'd carried on philandering and Serena had soldiered on. Nobody had spoken of Greta. Once Jason had heard about her, he had wished that she had been around so he'd have another cousin. Bernie thanked Elinor for telling her and left to go home. Upset for the rest of the day, she told Cam and he helped her put together a gift for Serena. It was a peace offering more than anything.