There were hollows in the cheeks, shadows under the eyes. 'I look exhausted.' Lisa spoke out loud, addressing her reflection in her bathroom mirror. 'I am exhausted.' Looking at herself critically, she saw a face which was abnormally pale after weeks of winter. Also, there was no denying that she had matured, that a certain plump, dewy youthfulness had gone, perhaps for ever. Lisa peered closer into her own eyes. She was not sorry that she had changed. After all, a woman in her mid-twenties should be grown up. It was time to stop mulling over pointless regrets about the past. There was nothing like a baby to force you to put your own ego on hold, to take a leap towards maturity. "Morning, Lisa, I thought I heard you moving about.' 'Oh, hullo, Mum,' Lisa said, turning to look at her mother who had come to stand in the open door of her bathroom, wearing an old dressing-gown that had seen better days. 'I hope we didn't wake you. The baby's asleep again.
