For Roger Howarth’s first act as his new GH alter ego, Austin, he was tasked with delivering Maxie’s daughter, Louise, and the actor found himself rather in awe of holding a real baby for the first time since the pandemic began. He explains, “Just chemically, to be a machine, a human machine, and to hold another little human baby machine, is really lovely — even if it’s covered with peanut butter and chocolate sauce and you’ve had six rapid Covid tests in the last hour. There’s something really enjoyable for me [about holding a baby], and what I remember about that day is, ‘Wow, it’s got five little fingers,’ and, ‘How amazing are we [humans]? We’re so amazing!’ In terms of the practicality of shooting a birthing scene, it always kind of makes me laugh a little because the prologue is, you know, ‘You’re going to have a baby!’ and by Act One, there’s a clean baby. But it was fun. Kirsten [Storms, Maxie] was great; she was amazing, she was totally in. It’s one thing to deliver a baby in the woods, that’s not a big deal — to give birth to a baby in the woods is really the challenge in the scene!”