Chapter 62: Kirstie's Christmas, Part 2

Transfixed on her baby, "She's so beautiful..." she murmurs. "I still can't believe she's real." Her face rises to mine. "Don't you think she's beautiful?"

I regard Charlotte's baby daughter. Only a few days old, red-faced and with a thin swirl of dark hair, her dark eyes are vague and she blows small bubbles from her mouth.

"If I'm truthful, no, I don't think she's beautiful..." Charlotte's jaw falls slack... Then looking around, I realise everyone is staring at me.

Oh, crap...

"... but I do think she's completely adorable..." I keep talking, trying to rescue myself from my faux pas... "... Like a puppy that you know is one day going to be all silky fur and sleek muscles. But when they're just born, they all look like a furry sausage with a leg at each corner."

Richard bursts out laughing. "But people-puppies are never as cute as the real thing? Is that it, Kirstie?"

"Um..." I mumble. "Something like that."