Public Secrets Part 33

She didn't care about fame or beggars or anything else. She only wanted

to see her brother. The moment the door opened, she pulled her sweaty

hand from Johnno's and shot down the hall.

"Let me see him," she demanded.

Brian bent over, shifting the blanket from the bundle in his arms. For

Emma, the first sight of her brother was love. Unconditional,

allencompa.s.sing. It was so much more than anything she'd expected.

He wasn't a doll. Even as he slept she could see the gentle flutter of

his dark lashes. His mouth was small and moist, his skin thin and

delicately pale. He wore a little blue cap over his head, but her

father had told her that he had hair as dark as Bev's. His hand was

curled in a fist, and she touched it, gently, with her fingertips.

Warmth, and the faintest of movements.

Love burst through her like light.

"What do you think?" Brian asked her.

"Darren." She said the name softly, savoring it. "He's the most

beautiful baby in the world."

"Got that pretty McAvoy face," Johnno murmured, feeling foolishly

sentimental. "Nice job, Bev."

"Thanks." And she was glad it was done. None of the books she had read

had prepared her for the exquisite, draining pain of childbirth. She was

proud to have brought her son into the world naturally, though it had

been touch and go during those last hours. Now she wanted nothing more

than to settle down and be a mother.

"The doctor doesn't want Bev on her feet much for the next few days,"

Brian began. "Do you want to go up and rest?"

"The last thing I want is to get into another bed."

"Come on in and sit then, and Uncle Johnno will fix you a nice cup."

"Beautiful."

"I'll go up and put the baby down." Brian grinned at the way P.M.

stood back and gawked. "He doesn't bite, old man. He doesn't have

teeth."

P.M. grinned and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Just don't ask me

to touch him for a while."

"Entertain Bev. She really had a rough go of it. We've got a nurse

coming in this afternoon, but I don't want her doing anything strenuous

in the meantime."

"That I can handle." He wandered back toward the parlor.

"We'll put the baby to sleep," Emma announced and kept one hand on the

edge of the blanket. "I can show you how."

They started up the stairs with Emma leading the way.

The nursery had been finished with frilly white curtains and rainbows

painted on the pale blue walls. The ba.s.sinet had a skirt of snowy Irish

lace dotted with satin ribbons of pink and blue. An old-fashioned pram

stood in the corner guarded by a six-foot teddy bear. An antique rocker

waited by the window.

Emma stood beside the ba.s.sinet as her father laid Darren down. Once the

little cap was removed, she reached in to carefully stroke his downy

black hair.

"Will he wake up soon?"