Leo

Leo, the fourteen-month-old son of Joy Dalton and godson of Rachel Elliot, is a brief but consequential presence in Rachel’s life. His visit gives Rachel a small, vivid experience of caring for a child: first a test of her nerves, then a moment of closeness that changes how she understands her desire for motherhood.

Identity and Relationship with Rachel Elliot

Rachel Elliot wants more than to discharge a godmother’s sense of duty. While composing a letter to Joy Dalton, she suggests that Joy bring Leo for a break and some shopping, offering to look after him so that she can get to know her godson better. Her anxiety that he may soon be absorbed in older children’s interests makes the request feel time-sensitive: she wants a relationship with him while he is still very young.

The visit is shorter than Rachel’s hopes might imply. Joy Dalton comes over from France with Leo for a brief holiday and stays with Rachel for two nights; Rachel is left caring for him alone for only a couple of hours. Even within that limited window, the encounter gives substance to their godmother–godchild relationship. Leo is not merely a child Rachel hopes to know better; he becomes someone she attends to closely, reading his needs and responding to his particular ways of exploring the world.

A Short Spell of Childcare

At fourteen months, Leo approaches objects with unrestrained physical enthusiasm, embracing things with a bear-like grip that could cause damage. Rachel’s chief worry is the household cat. When Leo lunges for it, squeezes it, and rubs it with alarming energy, Rachel fears that her worst expectations about looking after him may come true. She shuts the cat outside, but Leo cries inconsolably, and the cat appears affronted too. Rachel relents, reuniting them and watching the animal hop out of reach when it has had enough. The scene reveals both the force of Leo’s affectionate impulses and Rachel’s effort to protect him without denying him comfort.

Rachel has bought books for him, including one with buttons that make animal noises. After consulting Joy Dalton’s instructions about bottles and naps, she sees that Leo has forgotten the cat and is dragging a book across the floor toward her. She lifts him and the book onto her lap. He curls against her, sucks his thumb, and settles in as Rachel helps his small fingers press the buttons, making the cow moo and the mouse squeak. The episode’s intimacy comes not from a dramatic milestone but from its ordinary physical details: a child leaning into her, a book shared between them, and Rachel giving her attention to his delight.

Effect on Rachel Elliot

Holding Leo recalls Rachel’s tentative cradling of him as a baby the previous summer and the wound of longing that followed. This time, the longing recedes. Rachel recognizes that she has four godchildren who have been part of her life all along, though she had not fully noticed their presence as a source of connection. She reframes the experience as a form of parenting with pleasure and closeness, but without the heartache she associates with her own unmet desire for a child.

Leo’s narrative importance lies in this change of perspective. His brief visit does not resolve Rachel’s broader questions about motherhood; instead, it lets her experience care as a concrete relationship rather than an imagined future. His lively, sometimes worrying demands give way to a quiet moment on her lap, and that small shift helps Rachel see that affection and belonging are already present in her ties to her godchildren.