Page 61 of A Wish For Wilma
‘Exactly. Three people — well, otherworldly beings — we’ll always be grateful to, even when they drove us to distraction. They shook up our humdrum lives and I’ll miss them,’ said Jinnie.
‘You know they’re still at your place and desperate to see the baby?’ said Wilma.
Jinnie grimaced as Dahlia sucked with all the fervour of a vacuum cleaner. ‘Yes, but now you’ve refused to make a wish. Why can’t you just make any wish? Then we can say goodbye to our genie friends and get on with … well, whatever we need to get on with. You and Gus, for example. Shouldn’t you hear him out?’
Wilma puffed her chest out in a show of bravado. ‘There’s nothing to sort. We had a dalliance, then he decided to get swirly with Shirley again. They have history, and you can’t fight that. I’ve made it crystal clear to DJ that I don’t want a wish, so he can put that in his pipe and smoke it. Maybe he’ll go all Popeye in his next reincarnation.’ Wilma’s defeated tone and watery eyes told a different story to her flippant words.
‘But what if she lied, Gran?’ Jinnie lifted up a sated Dahlia , burped her and handed her to Sam.
‘Why are you so keen to believe her version of events?’ said Sam, rocking on the balls of his feet and patting Dahlia’s back.
‘Gus claimedshe lied the first time, but I’m way past playing games. I’ve seen the evidence in that photo she sent, you have too, and I don’t have the energy to discuss it. The here and now is where I need to be. Besides, Gus hasn’t messaged in days. It’s over.’
Given the all-clear to leave, Jinnie gathered her stuff. Home awaited, with promises of leftover Christmas dinner and a special song composed by Archie.
The nurse reappeared as Sam and Wilma checked that nothing had been left behind. Certainly not Dahlia, who was strapped into the car seat, swaddled in a primrose-yellow blanket. ‘It seems a friend of yours has just arrived,’ the nurse said, with a grin. ‘Angela, I believe? She was asking for you, between contractions and giving her partner a hard time.’
‘Wow, what are the chances of us both giving birth at Christmas? OK, I know it’s Boxing Day now, but that’s so exciting!’
Jinnie’s parents greeted her and Sam with whoops of joy and buckets of happy tears. ‘She’s absolutely perfect,’ Kath choked out, cradling a slumbering Dahlia in her arms. ‘A wee Christmas miracle, that’s for sure. And she’s the spitting image of you, Jinnie, when you were born. Rob, can you dig out the baby photo album?’
‘I think that can wait,’ said Wilma. ‘Let’s wet the baby’s head, then we can tuck into some food and hear what the music maestro has come up with.’
Rob fetched a bottle of the outrageously expensive fizz and removed the cork. The loud pop startled Dahlia, who screwed her face up and began to wail.
‘There, there,’ soothed Sam, taking her from Kath and holding her with exquisite tenderness, one hand cupped around her head. ‘Welcome to a very noisy family, Dahlia.’
‘But a very loving one,’ added Wilma.
‘Indeed.’ Archie strolled into the room, an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder. ‘Can Uncle Archie get a cuddle, too?’
Removing the guitar, he took a still-grizzling Dahlia from Sam. With remarkable ease, he sat down and laid her on his legs, cradling her head with both hands. ‘Well, hello there, little one,’ he whispered. ‘I always thought babies were pretty ugly, but you’re a wee beauty. Now, I was going to play you something, but as my hands are full…’
Archie began to sing. Not his usual style of music, but an old-fashioned song.
‘Every day, the world around, the miracle of life is found
Bringing hope and bringing joy, the blessing of a girl or boy.
A tiny being, shape unknown,
But one day we’ll see how you’ve grown.
With flaws and fancies, songs and dances,
Stepping out and blooming fast
Into the future and leaving the past,
Making waves and giving hope
With nothing certain, nothing dope.’
He looked at his enraptured audience.’Sorry, that jars a bit, but I’m getting to the big finale.’ He tickled Dahlia under the chin.
‘Oh baby girl, it’s all out there,
Just know that you are drowned in care
