The new mother has reacted intensely with "whatever that primal thing is, the need and desire to keep her very protected," Kidman says. "People say, 'Oh, it would be so much easier if you’d just let them get a photo of her.' And I can't. I'm like, 'I don’t want to. I want her to stay out of that.' Maybe that will wane as she gets bigger, and I’ll be easier with it. But for now, I'm still keeping her in a bubble." Her eyes turn red and moist.

"I'm raw and emotional," Kidman admits. "I cry even thinking of her. But they are tears of joy. Because I suppose I never thought I would get to have it. To have been given it so late in life -- I'm so ready for it. And I think giving birth to a child, as a woman, is what we're born to do. I don't mean that to sound sexist, because many women don't get to do it, and I thought I was one of them. But at the same time, if you are given that gift, it's an extraordinary thing.”

*****

Kidman and Cruise share custody of their adopted children and, as she confirms, they were raised in Scientology. When the subject comes up, though, Kidman stiffens. "I just don't talk about it," she says.

*****

With Kidman's marriage to Urban, the nitty-gritty turned up sooner than either of them expected. "We were thrown into his alcohol problem three months into the marriage, and that was big," she says. "We became the closest we could become, because we had to bare our souls. We did 10 years of marriage in three months. You go to hell and back with this--when the addiction takes control of the life, it's terrifying. But there is hope, and we work on it every day, and we are in a place of actual peace right now, which is a beautiful place. I love him so deeply, and he has done an amazing amount of work, and he is an amazing husband, and I am just very, very grateful. I think we are both in a place of humility."

*****

I'm not enamored with youth. There isn't wisdom in youth. My own sense of vanity is not that strong. I get ready in five minutes. I'm not a mirror person. But I like to look healthy -- the youthfulness is in health. It's very important. Maybe that comes from my mom having breast cancer. I've seen people suffer. So my desire to stay agile -- I want that! I want to be able to run and walk and hike, and get out there. I love being outdoors and I feel caged if I can't get out. To see the sun come up -- it puts me in a place to go, 'What a great day.'