About a boy
When Toni Street and Sophie Braggins are told to cuddle up for a photo, Toni instinctively goes to place a hand on her friend’s belly.
“Wait, we can’t do the baby bump thing any more!” she laughs. “What are you even going to write about that, like, ‘She cradles her abs?’”
There is, after all, no evidence by looking at Sophie that a little more than a year ago, she was in a studio like this one, for a story like this one, and six months pregnant with Toni’s baby. There is, however, plenty of evidence that said baby exists. Instead of the calm and serenity that described the previous shoot, today’s vibe is decidedly more hectic. Against the hum of a wind machine and the pop of a flashbulb, Toni’s four-year-old daughter Mackenzie – who arrived wearing a tiny ballgown and sparkly gold boots – is stomping around in a pair of lilac Mi Piaci mules, size 38. Adding to the cacophony is the rhythmic thud of a rubber ball on a concrete floor, being bounced over and over for the pleasure of baby Lachie by his beloved nanny Kate. He giggles and gurgles in response, enchanting the dozen or so adults that in amongst all of this activity, are trying to do their jobs.
It’s fitting that Lachie is commanding all of our attention, being the reason we’re here in the first place. Born last August, he was the long-awaited and much-desired son of Toni and her husband Matt France. Genetically he’s all theirs, but because of Toni’s Churg-Strauss syndrome – an autoimmune illness she was diagnosed with in 2015 – she was advised against carrying any more children. Unwilling to risk her health or that of an unborn baby’s, the 35-year-old radio host for The Hits, who had always pictured herself with a big family, tried to come to terms with the disappointing development, berating herself for being, in her own mind, ungrateful for what she already had. But despite her best efforts, Toni couldn’t shake the feeling that her family wasn’t complete. That’s when best friend Sophie Braggins stepped in.
“If you can bring ultimate happiness to those closest to you, why wouldn’t you?”
