Aside from the anxiety about his health, I'm having the greatest of times with my boy. He was all I needed to be happy, now I know. It's real fun to be with him and watch him grow older, by the day. I'm excited about the future; I wouldn't like to die today.

After the clock had finished announcing the new year's entry, and after she had complied with the rituals attached to the occasion, I noticed Julia discreetly slipped off to the room Mika was placidly sleeping in, to kiss him happy new year. Nobody else realized she was absent while she was; she said nothing when she came back to the party --that's Julia's way. But it was so tender an act, so basic and intimate a celebration, that I got moved. No doubt hers are the true colors of love.