Page 86 of Against Ebony Irish Seas

Kissing the top of her nose, he smiled broadly. “As you said, we’re a grand pair, and I love you for all those things you said and more. Now, you really should turn your phone on. I wouldn’t put it past Ghislaine to pop over again, would you?”

“You’re right,” Sophie said with a laugh, rising to find her phone. “I’ll grab my phone and some water and be right back. I’m too hot for tea.”

“You certainly are,” he joked, “naked as you are and with the sheen of desire flushing your skin.”

“Talk like that is going to limit my screen time,” she called as she left the bedroom.

Balancing her phone under her arm, she brought back the water glasses only to find him lying blissfully naked with his eyes closed.

“If I did paint nudes professionally,” she said, lying down beside him, “I would paint you like this.”

He opened one eye. “As I know my brother enjoys it when Angie paints him nude, I just might let you. Of course with the understanding it would be between us.”

“Doesn’t Angie show the nudes she’s done of Carrick?” she asked, intrigued.

Laughing, he blushed a little. “He’s struggled mightily with it. They’ve settled on a couple of agreements. First, that she not make his likeness unmistakable, and second, that the nudes are only shown at galleries outside of Ireland where no one would know him. I told him anyone from Caisleán could go online and see the paintings, but he says it’s not the same. He’s a mad lunatic sometimes, my brother.”

Chuckling at the logic, she turned her phone on. “I understand the conditions. Mostly. But Jamie, if I were to do a nude of you in my medium, I don’t believe I’d have enough glass.”

It took him a moment to snort at her joke. “It’s a grand instrument, this, and only for you,mo chroí.”

“I’m glad we agree on that. Now, let me start with the text from Ghislaine.” There was one from her mother, too, which simply saidBravo!

She opened the Press Insights document Ghislaine had sent, something familiar to her from other campaigns. The first thing that struck her was the hashtag at the top of the page—I Support Sophie—and the impressions. One million plus so far!

“Holy—”

She pulled up Twitter first and started scanning the tweets. Some were from artists she knew—her mother included—as well as others in the community. But it was the surge of support from women that had her pressing her hand to her mouth.

“Jamie! Look at this.”

They huddled together and started reading, but when she got to the first tweet with the hashtag #PregnancyIsBeautiful, tears started streaming from her eyes. Tweet after tweet from women who had taken photos of either their naked bellies or bodies. And she’d been tagged in past tweets from celebrities who’d posted nude pregnancy photos after Annie Leibowitz started the trend by photographing Demi Moore for theVanity Faircover in 1991—Beyoncé, Rihanna, Serena Williams, Kim Kardashian, Christina Aguilera, and many others.

“OMG!” she whispered in shock.

“Holy mother—” Jamie breathed out before whistling. “Your situation seems to have sparked a powerful outcry.”

Her head suddenly felt like lead. She’d never had this kind of publicity before. “No wonder Ghislaine left a note. She must be in publicity heaven.”

“This is good,mo chroí,” he said, tucking his arm around her. “Listen to this tweet from someone named Helen Marcozi.Sophie Giombetti gifts the world with her glass sculptures, and her new design of a nude pregnant goddess is beautiful. Ireland is lucky to have her. I’ll be visiting it when she finishes.Well, that’s a smart woman. Wearelucky to have you, Sophie.”

She touched the screen as her head went light. “You don’t know who Helen Marcozi is, do you, Jamie?”

“Is she another artist then?”

Laughing, she brushed back the locks from his forehead. “She won the Best Actress Award last year.”

His brow knit. “Like at those Oscars things?”

“Yes!”

“We don’t get many movies out this way,mo chroí. The closest movie theater is—”

“Don’t tell me,” she joked with a watery laugh. “Oh, Jamie. This is big. I kinda can’t believe it. I never imagined.”

“This tweet says it all for me.If someone thinks it’s indecent or immoral to portray the beauty of a pregnant woman in glass, paint, or any other kind of medium, then they need their heads examined.If I had the Twitter myself, I would do that retweet thing.”

Jamie with a Twitter account. “Now that’s a supportive partner.”

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