He had to admit—and he did, at great length, to anyone who would listen—that although Joyce’s pregnancy was certainly not planned, now that it was under way he was pleased, even—yes, he had to say it—thrilled. Something about making a baby at his age made him feel younger, more energetic. He no longer saw himself as on the verge of tailspinning off into the Decrepit Decades, doddering along the final highways of his life doing the senior shuffle. For the first time in years he was thinking about the future instead of the past. It was a whole new mindset. And added to that was the fact that Joyce’s doctor had told them it was going to be a girl. Or to put it another way, Rogue was going to have an aunt. Harry had never been the father of a girl before, so he just knew he was in for a whole new experience. He only hoped that Bradley would be able to handle becoming a brother after twenty-seven years of being an only child. In order to break the good news to his son, Harry had invited him out for lunch.
