At her niece’s question, Tracy Hayden looked up from the stack of invoices she was logging into her business’s accounting system. She smiled at Emily, who was playing a game on the other home-office computer. “They don’t have bar codes on their bums, so you can’t just pick them up at a grocery store.” Tracy’s sister, Maggie, had gone to the hospital early that morning, when her water had broken. The latest update from Maggie’s anxious husband, Jake, at 5:00 p.m., had been that all was progressing well, if a bit slowly. Now, at seven-thirty, ten-year-old Emily’s excitement was stretched thin by the lack of action. “Very funny, Auntie Tracy.” The soon-to-be older sister rolled her eyes. “Do you think Mummy’s having a girl or a boy?” “Hmm.” Tracy pretended to consider the question seriously. “I have a feeling the sproglet is a boy.” Her niece leaned forward eagerly.
