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‘She has a volume super-power,’ said Ezio, who walked into the nursery, looking gorgeous, with dark circles of sleep deprivation under his eyes. ‘Especially at two o’clock in the morning. You,’ he said, walking across to where Tilda was folding tiny baby clothes, ‘Should be asleep. Sleep while she sleeps—that’s what all the books say.’
Tilda lifted her head to receive the warm and loving kiss before she leaned into his body, laying her head on his chest. Her husband had readallthe books cover to cover, and had driven her mad trying to wrap her in cotton wool during her pregnancy.
‘I just like looking at her. She’s so perfect and her hair makes me think of Mum...’ They had named their baby daughter—who had arrived a few weeks early, small but perfectly healthy—Olivia after her grandmother.
‘Right,’ Sam said, extracting his finger from the chubby grip. ‘I’ll be off, but I’ll see you at the weekend.’
‘Good luck at the chess tournament,’ Tilda said, kissing his cheek; it required her to stand on tip toe.
‘I don’t need luck, I have skill,’ Sam said, polishing his chest and looking disgustingly smug. ‘Just make the next one a boy so I have someone to play football with.’
‘I’ll have you know my daughter will run rings around you on the football pitch.’ Ezio reached out with his foot to rock the cradle as sounds of grumpy protests emerged from wriggling, red-faced bundle inside.
‘Probably, I am pretty awful... See you...’ He strolled off just as the baby let out a loud squeal.
‘I’ve noticed that Sam always manages to leave just as Olivia starts to yell!’ Tilda observed, expertly scooping the baby out of the crib, a tired, happy glow in her face as she stared down at their daughter.
‘He’s a genius, that boy.’ Ezio came to stand behind Tilda, who laid her head on his chest. ‘I still have nightmares about that drive to the hospital.’ He sighed. ‘I actually forgot how to start a car.’
Tilda tilted her head and smiled up at him. ‘You remembered, that was what counted, and I got there on time.’
‘Just,’ Ezio recalled with feeling. ‘You might have mentioned you were in labour two hours earlier.’
‘Well, I wasn’t due, and it was in the middle of the fund raiser.’ Her charity had gone from strength to strength over the past year, but she was taking maternity leave from what had become a pretty full-on commitment. ‘I thought it might be Braxton Hicks.’
‘Well, it was no practice, it was the real thing...very real... Oh, God, Tilda, you were brilliant, you know that? I could never do what you did.’
‘Well, darling, you really don’t have the right equipment. But the equipment you do have...’ she added with a saucy grin as her eyes dropped down his body ‘...is pretty much perfect. Is she asleep or...?’
‘Put her down,’ Ezio whispered. As much as he loved their baby, the moments he had his beautiful wife alone to himself were rare enough not to be wasted.
As they carefully laid her down and went on tip toe from the room, there was a loud explosion of angry baby sobs.
Ezio sighed and happily kissed his wife. They had the rest of their lives to be together.
Together but never alone.
