The moment I knew: Out of the blue, he said he’d never wanted children but would have a baby with me

Carmen Pavlovic had always wished to become a mother but a family wasn’t on the cards for Pete. Then one night in Beijing, he made his ‘outlandish statement’

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In 2003 I was in my early 30s, working for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s company The Really Useful Group in Sydney. I don’t remember who introduced Pete and me but I’d seen several shows he’d designed and really liked his work. We immediately got on and I invited him to drop past my office to show me his portfolio.

A few weeks later he did. It was a balmy evening and after I’d looked over his work we decided to grab a beer and sit on the office stairs, where we chatted for ages. Between meeting him and him stopping by I’d unexpectedly taken a job in London, but I was genuinely interested in putting him forward for some projects so we agreed to stay in touch.