‘This is like feeding tiny stuffed toys, only better,’ whispers Maisy as we feed our babies for the first time.

Their little bodies feel so warm in their pouches and their tiny eyes peep out at us confused. At first I am scared that I won’t do it properly, but then my possum starts sucking on her teat and closes her eyes. I relax. I can’t believe I am getting to do this. I am already in love with them all!

Chelsea, Maisy and I have sorted out who will look after each of the nine babies. We have named them already:

I hear a roar from outside. ‘Mum!’ calls Max, sticking his head in the door.

‘SHHHH!’ we say together.

Max tries to whisper. ‘Dad’s helped me set up my lizard tank and now we’re looking for snails and grasshoppers for it to eat. Can I have him soon? I’m gonna call him Killer.’

‘He’s going to get way too attached to that lizard,’ I say to Chelsea, shaking my head.

‘Mmm, I know,’ she says, as we look down at our babies adoringly.

‘Can Chelsea and I keep our babies in my room, Mum? Max is allowed to have his lizard in his room. Maisy’s mum is going to let her keep hers in her room . . . ’ Maisy nods.

‘Actually, I can’t keep them at my house because of Princess,’ says Chelsea. Princess is Chelsea’s beautiful cat.

‘They’re not pets, Juliet.’ Mum is looking really tired and frustrated as she tries to get the tiny koala to take his bottle. He keeps rolling into a ball and tucking his head down. His little back legs are bandaged and obviously very sore.

‘We won’t get them out unless it’s feeding time, we promise,’ I say. ‘We just want to set it up like a little hospital where everything is quiet.’

Mum sighs. ‘You’re going to have to ask Dad. You haven’t got a great track record for managing to keep animals in your room in the past, Juliet. And I’ll need to check on them every day. Mrs Brown is going to be keeping a very close eye on Maisy’s possums.’

Maisy nods again vigorously.

‘When they get a bit older and need to go into the cages for climbing practice and stuff, I promise we’ll bring them back out here,’ I plead.

Mum just looks at me. I decide I’d better leave it at that.

After we have fed all the babies, Mrs Brown takes Maisy and all of their patients home to get organised. Chelsea and I go into my room to see how it can be set up – once I’ve told Dad about it, of course.

‘Um, maybe we should clear away a bit of this mess first?’ says Chelsea.

‘Good thinking,’ I say as I look at the floor. Well, what I can see of it that’s not hidden by clothes and books. I push it all under the bed and pull the bedspread up. I clear my desk into a box with one swipe and look around with my hands on my hips. ‘There. Tidy. Now, let’s go and get their cages.’

Chelsea grimaces and smiles. She is a bit of a neat freak.

As we walk past Max’s room I can see Dad has set up the glass tank for him on his desk. There are dinosaurs surrounding it, staring in at the lizard.

‘I hope they don’t scare it,’ I say.

‘They’re his friends,’ Max says confidently.

We head out to the shed to get the first load of cages and pet carriers. Back in my room, we place them side by side. It really does look like a hospital.

‘I’ll make labels for their cages with their names and the times they need to be fed and how much to feed them,’ says Chelsea, sitting down at the computer.

‘I’ll go back out to the surgery to get some teats and bottles,’ I reply.

Being a vet can be very busy work.

I meet Chelsea’s mum and my dad on the way. She’s just been up to the pet warehouse to get some more teats for Mum and has a present for Max and his lizard; it’s a box of crickets. Dad is very pleased because now he can stop hunting for bugs.

‘I didn’t even know they sold bugs in boxes!’ says Dad, holding it up with two fingers to look inside.

‘Oh, they sell all sorts of things for reptiles to eat, even boxes of cockroaches!’

Dad pulls a face. ‘Thanks for not getting those, Helen! Even if the lizard prefers cockroaches, I certainly don’t.’