'Ooo, who's a pretty girl? You are my little gem, you certainly are.'

Shane grinned as he scooped water over Petra's tummy, which made her smile. She loved baths, loved being in the water; she was going to be starting big-girl swimming lessons soon too. Beside him, Jojo wrinkled her nose in delight.

'She is a good baby, Shane. Was I a good baby like that?'

'Oh yeah, except for the part where you got a little rash from some soap every now and then. But you didn't have colic or anything like that, not like Devon did.'

'What's colic?' Jojo asked, reached over to play with Petra's adorable little toesies.

'It's when babies have tummy pains and they cry a lot.'

'No crying!' From over at the bureau, RJ gave a stern holler. 'Petra, no crying! You're a great baby!'

'Well, right now we are going to get her all ready for bedtime so that when Alexis is ready with our supper Petra will be ready for a bottle and then a nap. Right sweetie?'

Petra responded with a giant gooey sneeze, but unlike most times when she smiled that silly little smile she always charmed people with she crumple up her tiny face and began to whimper. In a flash RJ was there, using his best big-bro voice to try and soothe her, just as he'd done when his own little sister had been the same size.

'Oh no, what's wrong little Petra? Did you scare yourself? Are you cold from the water?'

'Actually I think she isn't feeling so hot,' Shane commented, noting the way that Petra had grabbed his fingers and was gnawing on them like she was trying to grind something out of her mouth. 'Jojo, can you get Alexis for me?'

'Oh sure, Shane!'

Jojo darted off, following her nose to where Alexis was making a pot of the delicious three-bean fajita chilli she just loved. Jojo knew her sister was making a special siblings supper for her and RJ to celebrate her first ever speaking presentation in front of the whole school. She went over to wear Alexis was setting the table, gave her a hug from behind.

'Lex, Shane swants you to come in and see Petra, she's sneezy.'

'Oh, okay.'

Jojo followed her into the nursery where Petra was still fussing away, now in her pyjamas; she saw RJ hovering around Shane trying to figure out what he could do to help. She grabbed his hand, patted his shoulder. 'Petra's fine, RJ, her mumum and daddy will figure it out.'

'She's still cranky?' Alexis inquired and Shane nodded.

'That cold's hanging around, I think.'

'RJ, can you look in the cupboard above the sink in the bathroom for the white bottle with the pink label? That's Petra's cold medicine.'

'Oh sure!'

The boy zipped off, leaving Jojo to shake her head. 'He worries too much,' she told Petra, giving her a gentle kiss on the hand, 'but you'll be just fine, you'll get some medicine and a nice nap and a snack, and you'll be right as rain.'

'That's exactly right,' Shane agreed, hoping the practiced calm in his voice wouldn't betray him. His baby was sick and he was her daddy, she needed him to fix it, that was his job. 'In fact, can you grab me one of her bottles with the red lid from the fridge?'

'Sure!'

The second youngster taken care of, Shane looked at Alexis. 'How worried should we be?' he asked his wife, who simply smiled and gave his dark hair a gentle stroke.

'Cook said it's not uncommon for a baby to get a simple cold this time of year. We should bring her in if symptoms persist for more than twenty-four hours after being given the dose of fever meds.'

'Okay.' With Petra still fussing in his arms, Shane rose to get the thermometer; he popped it in Petra's ear, nodded. 'Body temperature is ninety-nine even. Probably still a little warm from her bath.'

'Probably,' Alexis agreed. She put her fingers to Petra's forehead, heard her give a contented little sigh. 'Apparently my fingers are chilly which she likes.'

'Or the salsa, given how much Mexican food you ate while pregnant.' When Alexis gave a silly little giggle, Shane looked at her. 'What is it?'

'It's just...I finally feel it.'

'What?'

'It, that thing that I felt was escaping me as a new mumum. It.'

'I see.' Shane leaned over, gave her a kiss. 'Better go see what's up with the in-laws.'

'Back! Got it!'

RJ produced the pill bottle, Jojo the bottle of breast-milk-formula cocktail. Alexis promptly dropped in the quick dissolving tablets as Shane sat down to give Petra her medicated bottle. The little girl sucked it down like it might run away from her. 'Easy girl,' he murmured, then caught RJ staring at him. 'What's up bro?'

'Um, Shane? Why are her legs all red? They look like Jojo's when she gets itchy-bumps from Bouncy sheets in the dryer.'

'They're just bright pink from being in the warm water. Petra gets that from me. Remember when we were in the Hamptons and I got that sunburn the summer before I was pregnant,' Alexis pointed out to them.

'What if she has allergies, like Lanie or she's diabetic like Dell?'

'She would have other sin-tones,' Jojo announced regally, proud she'd remembered that word from listening to Trini and Tessi. 'And Petra is little she still needs to build her eye-moon system, like a stereo.'

'Something like that,' Alexis giggled.

'Oh, she is sleepy already!' RJ smiled, secretly relieved Petra was nodding off. He didn't want to miss out on chilli night because his stomach was all knotted up with worry about his niece.

'She is,' Shane agreed, just as relieved as his brother-in-law. 'Let's get her tucked in, then we'll tuck into our supper.'

'Not quite,' Shane laughed, but close enough.'