“At last Stuart looked away from Helen and back to the piano as he picked up on Helen’s cue. In the Mood filled the small living room the way fragrance fills a garden after rain. Helen felt almost tipsy, perhaps from the music or the look Stuart had given her, or because people so rarely dance without being tipsy. Lyric bounced on Helen’s hip, the girl’s thin legs bopping against Helen’s body. Then as Helen swung and spun the child over the rug, the most remarkable thing happened. It started like a freshly sprung leak, then the moment before it came, Helen saw it in Lyric’s eyes. The leak busted, a water main of laughter bursting and arching into the room. Lyric’s laugh was the most beautiful sound Helen had ever heard. Her first thought was that Mum had been right—there is magic on this earth, and at last Helen had found it, hiding, inside this little girl. To Helen, it felt as though she'd spent so many days in the cold of winter, and was now hearing the birds return.” LoveJoyHopeMusicMagicLaughterDancingPianoChildTipsy Book:The Ocean's Daughter : Source: The Ocean's Daughter :
“I never thought it would be hard to leave. People say it is, but to me it seemed that it was the waiting that was most difficult, the trying to keep alive something precious inside me buried so deep. Staying was killing it off for sure, no matter how hard I tried to keep it beating.” HopeWaitingLeavingStayingHeartbeatRun Away Book:Where Green Meets Blue Source: Where Green Meets Blue
“And sometimes, if she was brave enough, she would turn to the memories of little James. Not the end, but the days before. When she would slide her pinky into his open palm and his tiny fingers would close tight around it. He would peer around the room with his brand-new eyes, and Helen thought that perhaps after the womb, this dark, tight space probably seemed about right. He was wonderfully oblivious to the danger they were in. She became his protector, and for those days, that was all she was. It changed everything. It changed her. And somehow, he in turn protected Helen. He was the sun that couldn’t reach them—he broke away the darkness. As she thought of him, of those red curls and blue eyes, Helen found herself feeling the warmth from him, even though he was gone.” LoveHopeLossGriefBabyChildGuardianRememberingNewbornProtector Book:The Ocean's Daughter : Source: The Ocean's Daughter :