Shelagh had just finished changing Roisin and was running her hand gently over her daughter's stomach, preparing to pick her up and carry her back into the kitchen where she could watch her while she got on with Timothy's tea, when the little girl suddenly grimaced, her face twisting unpleasantly.

Her face was twisting as it often did when she was about to start crying and Shelagh tensed. Her daughter wasn't an unholy terror, but her crying fits were no walk in the park for all that. They still sent stabs of guilt and anxiety through her very heart, especially when there seemed to be no reason for them.

"What's wrong, Mo muirnĂ­n?" she whispered, scooping Roisin up.

"It's all right, Mummy's here. Mummy's here."

But the soft endearments did nothing to calm her baby, though they did cut off her wails before they could begin. Roisin continued to squirm in distress.

Shelagh put her back down to examine her more closely, and was rewarded with the sight of the little legs being pulled up repeatedly as though in a reflex.

Comprehension sparked.

"Ah. Mummy didn't burp you properly, did she not? Not to worry though, we'll soon have that sorted."

Putting one hand on her daughter's belly and the other on her right ankle, she hoisted her leg up and began to circle it expertly in the air. How many times had she done this with the babies in the clinic, some of whom were far more vocal about their discomfort than her little angel was? Gas was fine. Gas she could handle.

Having done the right leg, she did the left and then alternated several times before her daughter's mouth finally opened and she gave a loud belch, relaxing instantly.

Shelagh laughed and patted her daughter's cheek, "That's better. Better out than in, as Nurse Noakes would say. Come on, let's get your brother's tea."

She picked her daughter up again, her heart leaping when her daughter's lips suddenly twitched back upwards. That wasn't gas. It couldn't be, not after that huge belch just moments earlier. That was a smile. That was her first smile!

"Oh, well done, wee one! Well done! Mummy's so proud of you. So proud!"