A new day had dawned and a new life with it. Their son had been born, and Antonia looked like a Madonna as he gazed proudly at them both, and kissed her, as they put the baby to her breast, and they lay there as one. It all seemed like a miracle to him, and Antonia was stroking the baby’s face with a trembling finger, the agony almost forgotten. They took the baby away to clean and weigh him, as Antonia lay in bed peacefully, and Hamish looked down at her adoringly.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered to her. “I’m so proud of you… I’m sorry it was so hard.” She was completely at peace, as though the pain didn’t matter. It had all been worth it when she saw their son.
It was a bright summer morning by then, and they brought the baby back shortly after and said he was perfect. He weighed nine pounds, four ounces, a healthy size for anyone, and startling for a woman the size of Antonia. He was a strapping boy. They named him Dashiell, Dash, because Hamish loved the writings of Dashiell Hammett as a young man, and they both liked the name.
They rolled Antonia into her room an hour later, with the baby tucked in beside her on the gurney, and Hamish following, still astounded by the miracle he had seen, when his son appeared, and how quickly everything had returned to normal, and their little family had been formed.
* * *
—
Antonia spent three days in the hospital and Dash was nursing well by the time they went home. Lara was the first to congratulate them, and Fred Warner, when Hamish called him. Antonia left a message for Jake too. She wanted Lara to be the baby’s godmother, and Lara promised to come to London soon to see him. They had a whole new life to look forward to, and a son to bond them even closer. When Antonia saw Dash, sleeping in the nursery, she wondered how she had been so lucky to be so blessed. She had everything she could ever have wanted, a son and a husband she adored.
* * *
—
They took turns taking care of the baby, and Hamish loved watching him nurse. It was such a peaceful scene, and Antonia looked so beautiful. They spent the summer enjoying him, and in August, someone sent Hamish a screenplay that he fell in love with. The same familiar process began, and after he secured the funding, they were set to start shooting in February. They had to wait several months for one of the stars to be available, but he was well worth waiting for and a big box office name. There was a good part in it for Antonia, a supporting role, in a star-studded cast.
Dash was eight months old when they started shooting. She was still nursing, and they arranged to have a baby nurse on the set. Antonia could nurse him in her dressing room. And she was excited about the actors she was going to work with.
Everything went smoothly as the production got underway, and then after six weeks, they had a problem with the insurers. Hamish had to go to London to see them. They were shooting in the north of England at the time, and Hamish didn’t want to waste time taking the train. He arranged for a helicopter to pick him up for the meeting with the insurers and his lawyers. He told Antonia he’d be back by that evening. He left the assistant director in charge of the scenes they were shooting that day. The AD was experienced and Hamish felt comfortable leaving him to run the actors through the scenes of the day.
Hamish took a few minutes to stop and see Antonia and the baby in her dressing room before he left. The baby nurse was something of a dragon, and stood at the door like the palace guard at the gate as Hamish slipped in to kiss his wife. She was smiling and whispered to him when he bent to kiss her.
“I have something to tell you when you get back tonight.” He looked at her questioningly and she giggled mischievously. He suddenly remembered the last time he had seen that look on her face.
“Wait a minute,” he said, smiling too. “Tell me now, before I go, or I’m going to be distracted all day. You can’t drop one shoe like that.”
“Yes, I can,” she said, playing with him. “It can wait.”
“No, it can’t… I can’t…” He whispered to her then so the nurse wouldn’t hear them. “Are you pregnant again?” She nodded with a jubilant look. They had agreed that they wanted another baby, but didn’t know when, and they had decided to let it happen whenever it did. Dash was nine and a half months old, and a happy little boy. “That’s fantastic! When?”
“I’m not sure. I’m about two months. It happened around the time we started shooting. So that would make it due in November.” He beamed at her and kissed her again. He was thrilled at the news and so was she. “See you tonight. I love you. And good luck with the insurers.” They were giving them trouble over one of the policies, since there were some dangerous stunts in the movie. They were on location to shoot them, which was costly, so the problem had to be resolved quickly. Hamish didn’t want to fall behind in their shooting schedule while they waited for approval, so he wanted to get it taken care of as soon as he could. He was determined to be persuasive, or to get tough with the insurers if he had to.