Finally, back in my arms. After a frantic 30 minutes of searching, she stood unperturbed in aisle twelve near the pots of mayonnaise and bottles of ketchup shaking a jar of gerkins which she watched as they turned in their own vinegar. I grabbed her little shoulders and pulled her to me as the relief escaped from the corners of my eyes.

‘Sophie, my god! Where have you been. I’ve been..’

‘Look mummy’. She pushed back from my grasp and shook the jar.

‘Darling never ever ever ever do that again. Never ever leave mummy again, okay? You get that?’

She nodded. ‘Yes. Can I have this please’ and she held out the gherkins.

I took the jar from her and placed it back on the shelf, picked her up and made my way out to the car, my legs still jelly like. I nodded my thanks to the security guards and what had become quite an audience of concerned shoppers. Once in the car, I burst into tears.

‘Mummy why you crying?’

I ignored her as I took a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition.

The ride home was the same it had always been. The same signs, the same traffic lights, the same trees stood where they had always stood. But despite this, not everything was the same. My state of mind was different from how it was on the journey to the supermarket, and when I looked in the car mirror to check on Sophie in the back, I noticed too that her eye colour had changed. No longer the bright blue that had looked up at me adoringly from birth, but instead a greyish green that was unfamiliar. We caught each other in the reflection and she smiled.