I looked up at the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" my wife asked me.

I held up a hand. "Can you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"Exactly," I looked at my wife. "I can't hear a thing." i glanced upwards again.

My wife crossed her arms. "Go. You're going to sit here and fret all night until you put your mind at rest."

i got out of my chair and climbed the stairs, treading lightly. At the top, I opened the landing door and looked in. Our infant daughter was fast asleep in her cot, her chest rising and falling beneath her blanket.