- AW's best friend, who's about to give birth any day now.
- My major ex-girlfriend and best friend, who has 3 kids.
- AW's major ex-boyfriend and closest friend in the USA, who has 2 kids.
- My work colleague and his wife, a couple very close to us, who have a six-month-old son. He confided a lot of his 'new parent' feelings to me during the pregnancy and early days. Because we're close, he didn't hold back on the negatives as well as the positives. I thin he's regretting his frankness now.
- My Parents - my mother had pretty much guessed, after seeing AW in her first and worst bout of sickness.
- Aw's sister, at whose birth AW was present and which made her swear off ever having kids.
- Her Parents in the USA - AW's sister sat them down and told them, just as AW had done when that same sister got pregnant years ago. Then they called together and were nicely excited and positive, healing some of the rift from our recent trip to Italy. We're still going to wind them up by telling them we're calling the baby 'Jamal', though.
- Two old friends from America I've done some theatre with. One of them is a Republican book dealer and lecturer we stay with when we visit Washington DC. He played Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream when I was playing Bottom. The other was the lead in the first play I ever directed, and we stayed with her in Japan during the World Cup. She is living in London with her Columbian boyfriend, and has just discovered she's pregnant herself.
- My fellow Arsenal-season-ticket-holder mate and his wife, at whose wedding I gave the main speech.
- AW's work and coffee-bitching-session colleague.
And the RAC repairman, who was the first person in the world I told, while he was fixing AW's shitty Renault.
