heers rang out from the foyer of the manor near the center of town. Passersby could hear the celebration through an opened window and smiled at one another at the news spreading out. 

     "Did you hear?" said a woman hurrying down the cobblestone street. She made her way toward a richly dressed couple with a large smile on her round face. "Baron and Baroness Fenwick have a little girl!"

     The couple's eyes grew as large as their smiles, and they hurried to join others at the wrought iron fence surrounding manor. Everyone oohed and aahed as the sound of a crying newborn wafted over the lush gardens of the small estate. 

     "Mina!" called out a man from inside. 

     He hurried past nursemaids as they left the room where his wife had given birth. 

     "Mina!" he called again as he joined her beside the bed. "How are you, my dear wife?" 

     Mina looked up at him with a weary smile. She smiled more as he straightened the blankets over her and fluffed her pillows. He lightly touched the baby's cheek and wiped away a joyful tear as the child grabbed onto his finger. 

     "I'm just fine, James," she quietly replied. "Isn't she beautiful?" she asked and gave the baby a gentle hug. 

     "She is, darling," he replied. "May I?" he asked in a timid nature. 

     Mina softly laughed at his nervous struggles to hold his daughter. 

     "You won't hurt her," she assured him, helping him hold her correctly. 

     James cradled the baby in his arms and gently stroked her cornsilk hair.

     "She's beautiful, Mina," he breathed. "You created an angel." 

     Mina smiled and laid her hand gently across his. "We both did." 

     He looked into his wife's eyes filled with love and leaned down to kiss her forehead. 

     "Have you decided on the name you like most for a girl?" he asked. "Genevieve was your favorite, as I recall." 

     She quickly nodded. "Yes, Genevieve Grace Fenwick." 

     He kissed the little fingers that were still wrapped around him and smiled at her glistening eyes. 

     "I am honored to finally meet you, my beautiful daughter," he said with a teary voice.

     Mina sighed as she watched her husband rock their baby. He seemed content but she worried. 

     "Are you upset you have a daughter instead of a son?" she asked.

     James kissed the baby's forehead and looked down at the concern in his wife's eyes. 

     "Son ... daughter ... It wouldn't matter to me, Mina dear," he answered. "You're safe and the baby is healthy. That's what's important." 

     He quickly lifted his hand to shield the infant's eyes from a beam of sun suddenly breaking through an open slit of the curtains. 

     "Our Genevieve has brought the sun from behind the clouds on this fine day," he said with a chuckle. "She'll bring light wherever she goes. I'm certain of it."

      Mina sighed again, this time contentedly, and let her eyelids drift closed. James noticed and watched Genevieve do the same. He chuckled again and rested into the cushioned chair to watch over mother and daughter as they soundly slept.