? What, Len?"

He made an irritated noise. "Why not try the English edition?"

"Leo wants to learn German. What were you going to say?"

Len closed his eyes for a moment. "About this PTA business--you sure
you want to go?"

"Well, of course. It's pretty important, isn't it? Unless you think I
look too sloppy--"

"No. No, damn it! But are you feeling up to it?"

There were faint violet crescents under Moira's eyes; she had been
sleeping badly. "Sure," she said.

"All right. And you'll go see the doctor tomorrow?"

"I said I would."

"And you won't say anything about Leo to Mrs. Greer or anybody?"

* * * * *

She looked slightly embarrassed. "Not till he's born, I think, don't
you? It would be an awful hard thing to prove--even you wouldn't have
believed me if you hadn't felt him kick."

This experiment had not been repeated, though Len had asked often
enough. All little Leo had wanted, Moira said, was to establish
communication with his mother--he didn't seem to be interested in Len
at all. "Too young," she explained.

And still--Len recalled the frogs his biology class had dissected last
semester. One of them had had two hearts. _This disorderly cell growth ...
like a cancer._ Unpredictable: extra fingers or toes or a double dose of
cortex?

"And I'll burp like a lady, if at all," Moira assured him cheerfully
as they got ready to leave.

* * * * *

The room was empty, except for the ladies of the Committee, two
nervously smiling male teachers and the impressive bulk of
Superintendent Greer when the Conningtons arrived. Card-table legs
skreeked on the bare floor; the air was heavy with wood polish and
musk.

Greer advanced, beaming fixedly. "Well, isn't this nice? How are you
young folks this warm evening?"

"Oh, we thought we'd be earlier, Mr. Greer," said Moira with pretty
vexation. She looked surprisingly schoolgirlish and chic; the lump
that was Leo was hardly noticeable unless you caught her in profile.
"I'll go right now and help the ladies. There must be something I can
still do."

"No, now, we won't hear of it. But I'll tell you what you can do--you
can go right over there and say hello to Mrs. Greer. I know she's
dying to sit down and have a good chat with you. Go ahead now, don't
worry about this husband of yours; I'll take care of him."

Moira receded into a scattering of small shrieks of pleasure, at least
half of them a