Epilogue
Griffin shifted anxiously from one foot to the other, wanting to do something with his hands and unable to. Never-Land was just as anxious as he- he could feel it in the ambient like some great maroon blotch on the normal playfulness of the place.
His mother was almost quiet now. Griffin wasn't sure if it were good or bad- at least she wasn't screaming, but that didn't mean anything. Sometimes that was worse than screaming, really.
Trying to calm himself, Griffin sat down on the floorboards and tried to sink into Never-Land's pulse, the way Janus had taught him after everyone had realized why Peter felt head-blind suddenly. After the Great Catastrophe, Never-Land had latched onto a new anchor- Griffin, only five at the time, now a great deal more mature and the grand old age of seven and a half.
It wasn't working. His own thoughts kept him floating along on the surface of the island's aura. Irritated, he began counting cracks in the floor.
The door opened. Griffin was on his feet in an instant. Peter smothered a laugh, which Griffin thought highly inappropriate.
"Calm down, 'Fin," he said. "It's all right now. You can come in." He stepped back to allow Griffin access and gestured for him to enter. His nervousness redoubled, Griffin entered the dimly lit room.
He could see Levi sitting up in the big feather bed, holding something. Suddenly intensely curious, Griffin crept forward to the edge of the bed. Levi looked up at him and smiled.
"Hey," she said, speaking softly. "Look what we found." And she shifted some of the blankets in her arms, and lo and behold there was a baby inside. Griffin leaned closer to try and see. He'd never seen a baby that close up before- babies were little fat blobs the grown-ups kept out of reach until they learned to fly.
"This is your new sister," Levi said. Griffin made a face, eliciting laughter from both his parents.
"What're girls good for?"
"I'm a girl," Levi said, intensely amused. "Besides, you're her brother so it's your job to look out for her and keep her safe if Da and I can't. It's a big responsibility."
"I get to do grown-up stuff?" Suddenly this baby idea wasn't so bad, Griffin decided, if it meant he got to do more stuff.
"A little," Levi agreed. "Sit up here and you can hold her."
Griffin scrambled up onto the bed and sat cross-legged on the coverlet beside his mother. Once he was situated, Levi eased the sleepy baby girl into her brother's arms. Peter sat on the edge of the bed to give added security, should Griffin loose his grip or some other equally ridiculous disaster take place.
Griffin examined the baby's face. She was all red and squashed-looking, and wrinkly. There was a light fuzz of dark hair on her head. Griffin looked fascinated when she yawned.
"What's her name?" he asked, realizing he didn't know his own sister's name. Some brother he was.
Levi and Peter exchanged a glance that Griffin found extremely confusing.
"Spring," Levi said softly. "Her name's Spring."