A Bit More of You

Chapter Twenty-Two: Baby Blue

(Photo from Scrapbook: Dad and our newest addition - baby Dhani)

Mum and Ringo came rushing when I told them there was an "emergency" happening at home. Serenity practically ran me over the second I dropped the news. She and I scurried home (leaving poor old Adam alone in a confused daze) and pleaded Mum to let us take part in what was inevitably about to happen.

Mum stared at us like we were mental. "No way! This is not a suitable situation for you girls to be in!"

"Hey, it is too!" Serenity snapped, her face glowing peony pink. "He's my dad! And this is my baby brother! So I want to be present!"

Mum and I blinked at Serenity in amazement. She never rose her soft princess voice, not even a little bit, and especially not to adults. It just wasn't natural for her to shout and cause a fuss.

"Let me see my dad!" Serenity demanded. She paused for a moment then added, "Please, Aunty Michelle?"

Mum placed a hand to her face and rubbed the space between her eyebrows. She closed her eyes. A heavy sigh escaped her thin lips.

"All right, sweetheart," Mum said quietly. "Only be quick about it, and be extremely careful. Your daddy is in quite a lot of pain right now."

Serenity nodded then practically flew into George's bedroom. I peered around the doorway and saw my silly little half-sister fling herself at George. He was lying on the bed, propped up by a thousand and one pillows and his swollen stomach clearly visible underneath the duvet cover. He looked, in all honesty, a complete worn-out wreck: pasty white and sweat pouring down his forehead in streams. However, the second Serenity opened her arms and grabbed onto him, all of the pain and anxiety melted away from George's face. He hung on to her and rocked her from side to side, burying his flushed face into her soft blonde hair.

"Oh, Daddy!" I heard Serenity weep. She didn't say much more after that; she was sobbing too hard to speak.

George gently shushed her and whispered, "Don't worry, sweetheart. Daddy's going to be okay. You and Georgia can go and wait in your bedroom, Reeny, okay?"

"But I want to stay with you, Dad!'' Reeny protested. ''I want to stay here and hold your hand the entire time."

George's painfully pink face softened; he looked truly touched by Reeny's offer. "Sweetie-pie, I don't -"

Serenity's face crumpled. "Daddy... You always need me to hold your hand at the dentist, so it makes sense that you'd need me to hold your hand now."

George hesitated, biting down on his lip. He seemed to actually be considering letting Serenity be present during the birth.

However, Ringo had plenty to say on the matter. In the end, Serenity and I were shooed out of the room and banished down the hall to her pretty, pink candyfloss machine of a bedroom. Serenity made a fuss and demanded to be present at rhe birth - "he's my dad, y'know!" - but Ringo stuck to his guns. There was no persuading him in any way whatsoever.

"Gee," I said once Ringo left the room. "Your uncle may look like a soft old teddybear, but he's pretty damn persistent."

"He's always been a bit like that," Serenity said, almost fondly. "He makes Dad melt sometimes and convinces him to do pretty much anything. Apparently it's always been a bit like that, even before I was born."

I muttered something indistinctly. Perhaps it was a further comment, but I can't be entirely sure. I took a quick peek at my watch.

"It's nearly six o'clock, Reeny," I said.