“A boy!” I lie back and smiled. It was the best bet I ever lost. “A wee little muffin man!” The doctor laid him in my arms. “My goodness, he has the biggest cheeks I’ve ever seen!”

“He’s a chipmunk!” Oliver grinned, “We’ve had a monkey, a James Bond clone and now a chipmunk! We’re so bloody lucky!”

“Oh, he’s very handsome! Look at him!”

“His tongue’s all stuck out!”

“He’s still lovely.”

“Aye, he is.”

Not as many people gathered around us that time. Sandra sent another bear and a note saying that she’d reschedule our get together for the following year. Lance phoned in his congrats and gave us the details on his upcoming wedding. He said he’d be by in a day or two to check on us. Penny sent flowers and best wishes. Merlyn was in Sweden on business, but he promised to call later that evening.

Ana and Edmond came to see us while Alexander and Lucy looked after the children. There were just too many and the twin girls were too small at that point to bring them in. When they left, Alex and Lucy came out and stayed for an hour or so. I was too tired to be very talkative. Lucy asked if she could come to the cabin with Nattie, Annie and Bess during the days while Alexander was at work and Nigel went off to school.

“You’re calling them Annie and Bess? How precious!”

“They are,” My sister’s eyes filled. “I’m so glad they’re healthy. Annie gave us such a scare when she was first born.”

“Don’t be silly about asking if they can come out!” I told her, “I’d like it more if we built on a few more rooms and you all moved back in, but I know you need your family to yourself. Just remember how much I love you all, Sissy. Please know that there will never be a moment that you cannot come to me for anything.”

“Same here, Silvia. I hope I can be half the mother that you are.”

“Trust yourself, Lucy. Have faith and you’ll be just fine.”

“I love you so much!” My sister hugged me, “Thank you for what you did for me when I was having my babies. I don’t know what happened. Something snapped inside me. I was so frightened I just completely lost my head. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I must have been a nightmare.”

“Don’t be sorry about it!” I waved my hand at her, “That crap hurts!”

Alexander sat in a corner with the baby propped in his hands, speaking quietly to him in Welsh about things I couldn’t hear. Oliver was beside him, adding to the conversation here and there. They were both grinning and sniggering like outlaws.

“You better watch what you’re telling that sweet little boy,” Lucy warned, “Both of you! Send him off in the wrong direction and his mother will have your heads on a plate!”

“Lucy!” Alexander protested, “I’m hurt!”

“Yeah!” Oliver added, looking stricken, “Me, too!”

“We were telling him about helping ladies across the road!”

“And holding doors open for old people!”

“Oh, stop your lies!”

“She doesn’t believe us, Oliver!”

“No, Alex, I’m afraid she doesn’t trust us at all!”

I sat there and giggled at the three of them.

The truth was that I was more tired than I’d ever been in my life and I was relieved when they decided it was time to go. Oliver went down to the cafeteria to grab a bite while I took a long, hot shower. When I came back to my room, Ollie was sitting in a chair. “They took the baby down to the nursery,” He told me, standing to help me into the bed, “They had to do a couple of tests, nothing to worry about.”

“Come lay with me,” I pushed to the side, “Hold me. I need to be close to you.”

“Of course, Silvia,” He kicked off his shoes, “My pleasure.”

We lay together for a long time in silence. After an hour or so, the nurse brought our new son, “I suppose you want this little guy?” She was an American girl with large teeth and a wonderful smile, “He’s a cutie patootie!”

“Yes, please,” I reached for him and received him into my arms, “Thank you so much.”

“If you need anything, just buzz!” She told us, “Congratulations, Doctor Dickinson! He really is beautiful.”

“Thank you, Jeanne,” Oliver smiled down at our son, “I think so, too.”

She gave me a wink and hurried out of the room.

“Oliver,” I whispered, “It’s time to do our thing.”

Oliver took our son from me and laid him between us. We sat for a long time and said nothing. We just admired that beautiful little boy.

“He has no name,” I said finally.

“I know. We hadn’t decided on what to call a boy.”

“He doesn’t look like a Simon, does he?”

“No, he does not. I know a Simon anyway and he’s a dick.”

“We could give him a mighty, manly name. Like Spike.”

Oliver laughed. Our little unnamed son squirmed a bit, but decided that sleep was more important than complaining. “No, Spike is a bit Spartan in my book.”

“You think so, Sweetie? I mean, Spike Dickinson would command some respect at school. ‘Oh, look out, Mates! Here comes Spike Dickinson …oooooh, he’s very rough!’”

“Yes, yes, it’s a very intimidating thing to be called Spike, but I am thinking something a bit more subtle as not to frighten the other children,” Oliver stared at his son for a long moment, “I am thinking that I’d like to name him after by grandpaddy if you have no objection.”

“You never told me his name. Everyone calls him W.D.”

“It was Warren.”

“Now that’s a lovely name, isn’t it?” I looked at the baby, “Warren.”

“It’s all right then?”

“It’s better than that! I think it’s a brilliant name! He’ll have loads of friends with a name like Warren. ‘Look, Mates, here comes Warren Dickinson!’ No one will fear him and no one will make fun of him either, not like if we’d called him a sissy name like Patsy Dickinson.”

Oliver laughed and kissed me on the head. We were quiet again for a time. He was thoughtful when he spoke again, “It’s not all up to us this time. Have you thought about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re not on our own anymore. It’s not just us. This one’s got a brother and a sister older than him. And cousins, too. And he’s got his Auntie and his Uncle and his grandparents. It’s not just up to you and me to teach him.”

“But we will.”

“We will. We’ll teach him all we know.”

“There are things about the wood only you can show him. There are secrets there that only you know.”

“Well, you, too, Love! You’ll show him your tree and how to be friends with it.”

“I will. And you can teach him to skip rocks on the pond.”

“And what the difference is between a lake and a pond, too,” He told me and I giggled. “Cause you can’t teach him that since you don’t know.”

“We’ll teach him how to have fun. Oh, Warren, you have no idea how much fun we have and now we have you to chase, too!”

“He has no idea how happy he’s going to be.”

“He has no idea how much we love him.”

“But one day he’ll know.”

“Because we’ll show him.”

“Each and every day, Warren,” Oliver’s hand looked positively huge as he caressed the baby’s head, “We’ll show you how much we love you.”

“And we’ll love you always and forever…”

“To bits…”

“And that’s our promise, Little Muffin Man. That’s our very first and most unbreakable promise to you.”

“It is…”

I wanted to stay up and look at our new son for a while longer, but I was so tired my eyes were closing on their own.

“Sil,” Oliver whispered, “Stop fighting sleep.. We’ll both be here when you wake up.”

“Thank you, Oliver,” I nuzzled my head under his chin.

“No, thank you, Sweetheart.” He kissed my hair.

I closed my eyes and I fell asleep thinking about what a lonely child I had been growing up with a father who didn’t have enough love to pay me attention and then sent me off to boarding school where only my physical needs were met. None of my children would ever know that kind of life. They’d never know it because one happy day I ended up at a place called Bennington and a handsome, good natured, rebellious young man had hit me in the head with a rubber ball. He’d made all my dreams come true, that Oliver Dickinson had. Now I had him and his parents and his brother and my sister and seven fantastic children who had filled every inch of my life and every corner of my heart. My life was worth living because of all of them.