No Matter What (93 page)

Michael gently kissed her tears away and leaned over to kiss his son.
 
His beautiful wife and his baby boy.
 
The two most important people in his life.

“He’s just perfect,” he smiled, stroking his face with his fingertips.

India
leaned back against her famous husband, turning her head slightly to receive a kiss from him, closing her eyes as his mouth moved gently on hers.
 
Suddenly all the pain was forgotten.
 
None of that mattered because every second of it had been worth it.

“I love you so much, Michael Walsh,” she whispered.

“And I love you too, baby. You have no idea … no idea.”

He kissed her again, so happy he couldn’t begin to describe what was going on inside his head, it was still all kind of surreal at the minute.

“He’s absolutely perfect,” Dr Goldman smiled.
 
They both looked up at him, both so grateful for everything him and his team had done to make this possible.
 
“You had a fairly easy and quick birth there actually,
India
, although I know it probably didn’t feel like it at the time.”

“You got that right,” she said, stroking her now sleeping son’s tiny face. “Hello, baby.
 
I’m your mum, although you’re probably going to grow up calling me ‘mom’ seeing as we’re going to be living here in
America
...” She looked up at Dr Goldman.
 
“Thank you.”

He smiled at them again.
 
“Congratulations.
 
You have one perfect, beautiful baby boy.”

Bobby once again stuck his head round the door, his eyes widening as he saw Michael and India holding their son, unable to stop himself jumping up and down again, although he managed to keep his squealing under control this time.

“You’ve had him!”

“No, we’re a hologram,”
India
smiled.
 

Bobby stuck his tongue out at her.
 
“You’re too sharp for your own good sometimes, madam.
 
Can I go tell everyone?
 
They’re gonna want to come in here and see him.
 
Can I go get them?”
 

Bobby was like an excitable child and
India
knew for sure, right there and then, that he was going to make a wonderful Godfather to this baby.
 
If not a slightly unconventional one.

“Give me five minutes,” Dr Goldman said.
 
“Then, if mom and dad want to, they can start showing this little guy off.”

Of course they wanted to show him off, and once all the checks had been done and
India
had tidied herself up, Reece and Martha were the first to meet baby Walsh.

“Here he is,”
India
smiled at Reece as he sat down on the bed beside her.
 
“Ethan Michael James Walsh.
 
Your grandson.”

“Oh,
India
,” Reece said, looking at the tiny figure lying in her arms.
 
“He is amazing.”

“Isn’t he?”
India
couldn’t stop smiling.
 
“7lb exactly and just perfect.
 
I really can’t believe he’s mine.”
 
She looked at Michael, kissing him quickly as he squeezed her hand.
 
“I can’t believe he’s
ours.
”

“He’s beautiful,” Martha smiled.
 
“He really is.
 
And I’m not just saying that because he’s your baby, guys.
 
He really is gorgeous.”

Reece looked at his daughter.
 
She looked shattered, worn out, but happy.
 
And he couldn’t help thinking that maybe she’d been right, maybe having this baby
had
been what she and Michael had needed after all.
 
Time would tell.
 
Everyone was emotional and tired right now and, in this situation, that meant everything seemed totally perfect even if, beneath the surface, it might not really be that way.

He leaned over to ever-so-gently kiss his new grandson.
 
No matter what circumstances he’d been born under, whether his parents had thought it through half as much as they should have done or not, it didn’t really matter because this little boy would be loved by so many people.

“Hey there, kiddo.
 
I’m your granddad.”

India
looked at her son.
 
Just a few minutes old and she’d fallen completely in love with him.
 
How could she ever have thought this wouldn’t feel right?

“I think he’s got Michael’s mouth,” she said, his tiny hand wrapping itself around her finger.
 
“I really think he has, you know.”

And she really hoped that he did.
 
She hoped beyond anything else that he did, because for almost nine months she’d carried with her a fear that he wasn’t even Michael’s.
 
She’d carried a fear that one stupid, regrettable night with Kenny had done more damage than she’d dared think about, and if Kenny had ever wondered the same thing, if he’d dared to add up the dates and work out the math then she was only too aware of the trouble that could lie ahead.
 
She didn’t want to think about it now, though, she didn’t want to think about anything that could take away any of the joy she was feeling right now because all she wanted to do was enjoy her baby.
 
And be with her husband.
 
And that’s why she’d deliberately held back from letting Kenny know that Ethan had been born.
 
It could wait.
 
All of that could wait.
 
It was 4.30 in the morning, she’d just had a baby and she wanted to be with her family, because that’s what they were now.
 
A family.
 
She just wasn’t aware that that fear she’d carried with her throughout most of her pregnancy had been felt not just by her.
 
She had no idea that Michael could add up too.
 
She had no idea that he knew about that one night in Vegas.
 
And she had no idea that the trouble ahead was going to be far worse than any of them could ever have imagined.

CHAPTER 46

2004

India
lay Ethan over her shoulder and gently rubbed his back as she looked out of the huge French windows at the vast garden and grounds that spread out over many acres at the Hollywood Hills home she’d grown to love so much more since her baby boy had arrived.

He was almost seven months old now and totally gorgeous.
 
He still had all the dark hair he’d had when he’d been born, all spiky and unkempt and cute as hell, with beautiful blue eyes and a mouth she was almost positive was Michael’s.
 
Every day she’d look at him and pray that he looked like Michael.
 
Her famous husband had such a distinctive mouth and if their son had inherited that then that was more than fine by her.
 
Infact, it would be perfect.

The room he’d been delivered in was now a playroom, filled with every conceivable toy a child could want and most of which he was far too young to play with just yet, but when he was big enough he was going to love it in there.
 
He was a very lucky little boy.
 
And a much loved one.
 
But being a mum was something
India
had taken a little while to get the hang of.
 
She loved Ethan, she loved him to the point of fierce over-protectiveness but it wasn’t easy.
 
She’d felt everything from helplessness to sheer panic in the first couple of weeks.
 
If it hadn’t been for Michael – who was just the most perfect father, he was amazing with Ethan – and the help she’d got from Charley, Reece and Martha - the latter of which had practically moved in with Michael and India for the first week or so after Ethan’s birth - she wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to cope at all.
 
But once it all fell into place it felt as though she’d been born to do it.

But being the people they were with the lives they had, getting a nanny was something they’d had to do.
 
Michael had started work on a new movie – in front of the camera this time – a month or so after Ethan’s arrival, and when he was three months old
India
had had to start work on the publicity for ‘The Wedding Convention’.
 
But thanks to Emma, a twenty-five year old Canadian angel – that was the only way
India
could describe her - who adored Ethan and who in turn adored her back,
India
had been able to take him with her as she’d worked.
 
And that was something she’d been so grateful for because being away from her son wasn’t something she enjoyed.
 
She’d taken him everywhere she could, from movie sets to visit his dad when he’d been filming, to TV studios and radio stations when she’d needed to do interviews, and even modelling shoots and publicity appearances.
 
India
figured he was going to grow up surrounded by this business anyway so he might as well start getting used to it young.
 

She’d just started work on another movie, filming mainly in and around
Los Angeles
, but Michael had now finished his so daddy was on duty for a little while and
India
smiled at the thought.
 
Michael did everything from nappy changes to night feeds, so looking after Ethan while she went out to work wasn’t anything near a hardship for him.
 
He loved every second of it.

She turned round as Michael came into the room, carrying a crate of champagne.
 
It was a busy day today, but one they’d all looked forward to for a while.

When they’d heard about Vince and Charley’s secret
Las Vegas
wedding everyone had been a little stunned, to say the least, given Vince’s staunch reputation as a bachelor.
 
But for Vince to have given up that bachelorhood so quickly meant he must really love Charley, and India was glad that her friend had finally settled down with someone who was nothing but good for her.
 
Vince was an amazing man, a kind man, and Charley needed that.
 
She needed the stability that he could give her but in an environment that still created the excitement and fun that Charley wanted.
 
And where better to live her life than Vegas?
 
India
knew she loved it out there.
 
She’d made a name for herself, she was respected, liked and successful.
 
She finally had what she wanted, and although it had been a sometimes dark and dangerous route she’d taken to get there, with consequences nobody wanted to relive again, it was time to look forward, not back.
 
And this wedding blessing, taking place at
India
and Michael’s home in the Hollywood Hills, was a chance for everyone to celebrate the marriage, and a chance for Michael and
India
to give their best friends a day to remember.

“They’ve almost finished setting things up in the garden,” Michael smiled, putting the crate down on the kitchen counter and coming over to kiss first Ethan, then
India
.
 
“Charley’s getting ready upstairs and Vince is en-route.”

“Dad and Martha are on their way too,”
India
said.
 
“And Kenny.”

Michael took Ethan from
India
and held him up in the air, bringing him down for another kiss, smiling at him.

“You’ll make him sick, Michael.
 
He’s just had something to eat so don’t jig him about too much, will you.
 
It would be good if he slept through the service so I’m trying not to over excite him.”

Michael looked at his little boy.
 
He was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him, besides
India
.
 
Sometimes he still couldn’t quite believe it was all real.
 
He’d waited so long for this, he’d waited so long to become a family and there’d been days when he’d thought it would never come, so to have this perfect picture in front of him, his beautiful wife and his amazing baby boy, it was almost overwhelming at times.
 
Even now.

“Your mom’s nagging again, kiddo.
 
If she only knew what we got up to when she’s out at work, huh?”
 
He winked at
India
and she couldn’t help smiling at them.

“Yeah, well, don’t forget I’ve got Emma keeping an eye on you both and female solidarity means she tells me everything.”

Michael kissed Ethan again as he snuggled into his shoulder, his dummy firmly in his mouth as he started to slowly close his eyes.

“Why’s
he
coming anyway?”