Scout, George and baby Alis fell asleep together in the back bedroom, as Alfred and Sunil fed and watered the dogs and let them out for their morning run. Then they, too, fell into well-earned sleep, Alfred in the living room and Sunil in the lounge, as quiet descended on Farraway Mist.

Alfred was awakened by brisk knocking on the front door around noon, and he opened the door, rubbing his eyes, to find a tired looking Dr. Summerville standing on the porch, holding her large black bag.

"Doc!" he exclaimed with a smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Last I heard from George yesterday evening was that you and young Master Patel were coming out here to pick up Miss Lawson and bring her to the birthing center in the village," she told him as she stepped over the threshold. "Then nothing, all night long. I realized early this morning that none of you had ever turned up, and I knew something must have happened out here, but things got rather hectic at the clinic last night, and I wasn't in a position to pop round myself, until now." She looked around the living room, which was empty and quiet except for the dogs, who were sniffing around her legs interestedly.

"You're still here, and I see Mr. Patel's car parked outside the gate, so I'll assume he's still here as well?" she asked.

Alfred nodded, peering out the window past the yard. "How'd you get in, Doc?" he asked. "We squeezed between the bars, but you, erm, couldn't--fit, could you?" he asked delicately.

She shook her head, laughing. "I pulled my car up as close as I could, then climbed on top of the roof and used it to get on top of the pillar and climbed over, if you can believe it," she answered.

She looked around some more. "Where's Miss Lawson?" she asked. "Is she all right?"

Alfred nodded, leading her toward the back bedroom. "She had the baby!" he informed her. "Early this morning! A healthy little girl, Doc! Sunil and I delivered her ourselves, if you can believe it," he said.

Sunil heard the talking and came out of the lounge, scratching his head and buttoning his shirt, smiling at the doctor. "Good morning, Doctor," he said, nodding.

"Good morning, Mr. Patel," she replied. "Sounds like you two had quite the night."

They'd reached the door to the back bedroom, and Alfred quietly opened it. The three of them stepped in, but the new family sleeping on the bed was so exhausted that they they didn't even twitch.

Scout and George were both facing the middle of the bed, with baby Alis between them. George, whose hair was in crazy disarray, had a protective arm over both the baby and Scout, his hand spread to cover Scout's back, pulling her close. His leg was draped over Scout's calves, and he and Scout formed a little cocoon around the tiny newborn, who slumbered like a doll between them, lashes like black soot against creamy, newborn skin.

The three people gathered in the doorway gave a collective sigh and smiled for a moment. Then Dr. Summerville moved to the window, opening the curtain slowly, but with authority.

"Good morning, Wilders," she said cheerfully. "Sorry to awaken you, but some things need to be taken care of as soon after the birth as possible, and this young lady kind of jumped the gun a bit, it seems, hm?" She smiled at George and Scout. "And the storm threw a bit of a spanner in the works, didn't it?"

George sat up, grinning. "Doctor Summerville, are you a sight for these wretchedly sore eyes," he said. "I don't think I've ever been so glad to see anyone in my entire life," he said, getting out of the bed.

Alfred and Sunil melted away into the kitchen, presumably to make tea, because they were just wonderful boys like that, Scout reflected, sitting up with some difficulty. She winced as she felt the soreness and pain between her legs.

Dr. Summerville quickly and efficiently examined Scout, had George help her stand briefly so Alfred and Sunil could put clean bedding on the bed, and magically pulled a scale contraption out of her bag to weigh and measure baby Alis. She neatened up the cut off of the umbilical cord and disinfected everything, examined her, declared her to be perfect, re-swaddled her and handed her back to Scout before taking a seat, picking up her tea and turning to talk to everyone.

"Well, I must say, you did an absolutely amazing job," she said, addressing her remarks to Alfred and Sunil for the most part. "I mean, obviously Scout was an active participant, and George here was an integral part of everything, but it sounds as though you two took care of the majority of the delivery?"

Everyone nodded. Sunil and Alfred looked bashfully at the ground.

"Don't be shy, boys, you were amazing," George said, and Scout nodded agreement. "We would've been nowhere without you two. I don't know how you knew when she was supposed to start pushing, or how long she was supposed to wait in between, or how you knew to wait to cut the cord or whatever--" George shook his head. "They were brilliant, Doctor, simply brilliant," he said. "And now we have our beautiful baby--" and his voice got trembly as he leaned his head against Scout's.

"We're probably going to send you on an all expenses paid trip to Euro Disney or something," Scout said playfully.

Alfred and Sunil looked at each other, faces blossoming into expressions of delight.

Doctor Summerville smiled tiredly at everyone in the room as she rose.

"Well, I'll get the cleaning service in the village out here as soon as the electric's back on to turn out the room, though I don't know if the mattress or rug will be salvageable, to be honest," she said to George and Scout. "And they won't be able to call you about an appointment until the phone service is re-established, okay?"

"Wait, what?" Scout asked in surprise. "Don't I have to go to the clinic or whatever? Don't Alis and I have to check in for at least a day for observation?"

The doctor shook her head. "No, absolutely not. I'm signing off on both of you right now. This is England, dear. No need for mum or baby to be admitted anywhere unless there's a problem, which in your cases there's not. You're both perfectly healthy." She began packing up her bag.

"Now I'm going home to my bed. I haven't seen it in close to three days, I hope it's still there," she said with another smile.

"Thank you so much, Doctor," Scout said.

"Yes, thank you, Doctor," George echoed.

The doctor waved away their gratitude. "Congratulations on your beautiful daughter, you two," she said as she left.

"George?" Scout said.

"Yes, love?"

"I really want to sleep in my own bed," she said, biting her lip.

"What? How?" he asked. "You can't possibly walk up all those stairs."

"I think I can," she replied. "I feel okay, I really do. What if Sunil or Alfred holds Alis, and you walk with me? Can't we try?"

George's doubt showed on his face.

"Please?" Scout wrinkled her nose. "This room smells funky, you know? Like blood and stuff."

George looked around the room and sighed. "Okay. Okay, let's give it a go." He looked at the boys. "Will one of you carry Alis, please?"

Both boys stepped forward, and neither seemed to want to step back, so Scout finally suggested that they switch off on the landing, which they agreed to, and the little procession left the back bedroom, with Scout and George leading the way. Again, the dogs hovered around, giving the whole cortege that inimitable Wilder touch that made Scout laugh.

Scout took George's arm as they slowly climbed the stairs, stopping on the wide landing so Alfred could hand Alis to Sunil. They continued up to George and Scout's sunny bedroom, where Alfred and Sunil waited while George helped Scout take a quick shower that felt heavenly to her. He helped her into a clean night gown, and she climbed into bed, reaching eagerly for her baby.

Alfred and Sunil just stood, smiling, until Sunil said, "I guess we should head home, then," while looking at his friend. He sounded a little sad.

"I suppose we'd better," Alfred agreed, and he, too, sounded disappointed.

George smiled. "You don't have to go if you don't want," he said. "You're welcome to kip out in one of the beds down the hall, we have plenty of room."

Scout smiled and nodded her agreement.

"No, that's okay," Sunil said. "We should go, I know our families are dying to know what's happened, and you guys should have some privacy, like," he added. "We'll check in on you tomorrow, though, when we bring your groceries from the market, okay?"

"Hey, listen, congratulations," Alfred said, smiling. "We're so happy for you both, and so chuffed that we were here to be part of all the excitement, you know?"

Sunil nodded his agreement, and both boys waved as they left.

George took a quick shower himself before climbing wearily into bed next to Scout and Alis. As he was settling down, the baby began to fuss just a little, and Scout undid her gown and put her to the breast for the third or fourth time since her birth, she'd lost track. It already felt completely natural and normal to feel the tiny, warm head nestled next to her breast, to feel the incredible suction as the little person latched on and took what she had to give, as she laid her miniature fist next to Scout's skin and suckled.

It was the most incredible thing Scout had ever experienced, too.

George put his arm around her as she nourished their daughter, putting his palm on Alis' perfectly round head as it moved rhythmically. He watched her mouth move on Scout's breast, as if hypnotized, a tiny smile playing on his lips. Alis' eyes slowly closed as her need to suck was satisfied, and eventually she simply detached, though she continued to make little sucking motions with her perfect, dark red, Cupid's bow lips, lips the color of raspberries, like her mother's.

"She looks so much like you it's just mind-blowing, you know?" he said softly, stroking her dark hair with his finger.

"George Wilder, are you crying?" Scout asked for the second or third time in twenty-four hours.

"Maybe," he responded, sniffing. He leaned on Scout's shoulder, wiping his eyes on her nightgown. "Oh, fuck, darling, I can't help it," he confessed, looking into her eyes, blinking, melting her heart. "I'm so happy, looking at her, looking at you, I don't know how one person can stand being this happy, honest to Christ--" he took a deep, hitching breath, closing his eyes, laying his head on her shoulder again, snuffling into her neck.

Scout let out a breath. "Oh my god, George," she murmured. "I can't even put my arms around you, I'm holding Alis."

"But don't you see?" he said into her neck, into her hair. "Because you're holding Alis, it feels like your arms are around me anyway."

Scout cuddled the baby into her body with one arm and put the other one around George, pulling him close. He, too, put one arm around Alis and put the other around his beloved.

They stayed that way for a few moments, listening to their child make soft noises between them as she settled into deep sleep. Then they, too, sank into their happy, peaceful bed, arms around each other and the product of their love, to sleep away the afternoon. Their sleep was so deep that they didn't even wake up when all four dogs came and joined them on the bed, curling up all around their bodies, adding their warmth to that of their family as they slept away the afternoon.