The lilting sound of the rattle didn't exactly echo around the cabin, but it did seem to fill the room; notes flitting into nooks and crevices, the way the first rays of morning sun pour in through a window.

Little eyes, blue as the ocean, peered up out of the bassinet parked next to the piano, tiny little hands reaching up for the sparkly crystal that made the wonderful sound - currently in the hands of her mother. Opposite her, Daddy watched with that look; oh, we've all seen that look. Daddy's little girl, and nothing else can quite come close.

A little closer to those hands, two faces peered over the bassinet. Three-year old Maurin rested her chin on the wicker-like rim, dark eyes watching her littler sister avidly - while little Reinette (not *quite* a year and a half old) could only be recognized by a pair of equally blue eyes and her wavy curls of pure gold.

Each of the girls had their bracelets on, Reinette's almost up to her shoulder so it would not slip off her dainty little arm. Selene occasionally turned her head to peer at them, but the rattle held her attention almost completely caught. Even the occasional black tail waving past as the three dogs wandered about to see what was going on failed to dissuade her.

Behind and slightly above them, a dark blue sphere about the size of a pool ball hovered, a lens at the 'equator' line pointed at the scene. With a murmur from Toby, the sphere emitted a brief flash, and the scene was captured for all time.

That image would be printed and applied to gold paper, with little signatures from all three girls 'helped' by Mommy and Daddy, as well as thanks from Toby and Tabitha as well. Sealed in a frame, the picture would find its way into Eless's employee locker at the Inn. (It helped that Daddy had one not too far away.)

The single line of elegant writing read simply "Our great thanks for the gifts - hope this makes you smile nearly as much in return!"