"You're welcome, lad," Dad said gruffly. It wasn't the sort of gruffness of someone ashamed or embarrassed of the emotions they were displaying; it was the sort that came from those emotions, unashamed. He clapped Barney on the shoulder and squeezed--firm but not painful, and comforting.

"Now, it ain't our intention to take up all your time with your little lady. Ain't gonna gatecrash on your dinner. So c'mon, Barn. Let's say see ya later."

Allie looked at Ghastly, squinting a little with the intensity of her examination. "I don't believe you," she announced. "You have to prove it. Not now, 'cos there's too many people, but sometime. It can be my Christmas present."

The last was added as a flash of inspiration and with an impish grin just as Daddy and Grandad came back to the bed. Allie turned that grin on her father, a beaming expression to make him feel better again. She knew he'd been crying. Sometimes he couldn't help it.

It wasn't hard to see the teddy-bear. He was holding it a bit gingerly, like he wasn't sure what to do with it or whether he deserved it, but Allie squealed when she saw it. "Now Nicholas has an uncle," she announced, holding Nicholas out with his arms spread as if to demand a hug. "Come give him a hug."