Just as she did
last year, a family friend is making a special birthday cake for
Madeleine.
Only this year she is hoping the little girl, who turns four on
Saturday, will be home to taste it.
Madeleine's great-uncle, Brian Kennedy, said the cake has a Dr
Who theme because the toddler is such a big fan.
'Last year the friend made Madeleine a cake with a Wallace And
Gromit theme,' he said. 'This year she's making a Dr Who one and
we have told her to carry on making
it.'
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Pride and joy: Madeleine blows out the candles
on a birthday cake |
More....
It typifies the response of Madeleine's family, who remain in Britain: they
are striving to remain positive and strong, yet they live with
pain and uncertainty.
They will the phone to ring with good news, yet at the same time
they fear it ringing - because it might just be heartbreak on
the end of the line.
As Mr Kennedy, a retired headmaster, said yesterday: 'We fear
the worst but we are hoping for the best.'
Mr Kennedy said prayers were being said in the family's home village of Rothley, Leicestershire, and he and his
wife, Janet, attended a prayer meeting last night at the village
church, close to the McCanns' home.
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Kate McCann, Madeleine's mother,
with son Sean |
Mr Kennedy, who lives just a few roads away from Madeleine's
parents, added: 'It is a very difficult time. You lose a child
for a few minutes and you worry about them.
'They are highly responsible parents who are absolutely devoted
to their family. I can only imagine what they are like at the
moment.'
He added: 'Madeleine is a lovely girl, an intelligent, bright
child. We are the only close relatives the family have in the
area and we see them most weeks. You won't find more caring
parents.'
Last night more relatives flew out to
Portugal
to help the search, as most of the rest of the family gathered
at Mr McCann's mother's home in
Glasgow.
Mr McCann's sister-in-law Diane, 39, said: 'Gerry is trying to
keep things together. All three children are their pride and joy
but Madeleine was the first. They'd spent five years trying for
a child through IVF treatment before Madeleine appeared.
'It's the sort of situation no parent would ever want to find
themselves in and we just hope and pray Madeleine will be
found.'
