"...if you don't want to, no, it isn't."

"I brought it up, I just wouldn't suggest it recreationally."

"We would have to be very certain of never being found. Not this year but - maybe next."

"Do you mean local years or Amentan?"

"I was thinking Amentan - until the new babies are too big -"

She nods. "We can take the next two the stork bring or pick from the ones who are there now - the one who looks almost orange is a sweetheart -"

" - he is - him and the next one the stork brings, maybe -"

Nod.

"They probably won't actually be blue-haired, it'd be a great-grandparent, but we'd get to anticipate them and everything and debate over who they take after and that's most of the thing I want."

"Likelier red, I suppose, then." Frown.

"No one here will think anything of it."

"What about you?"

"It's not the hair color and if it were the - everything else - well, I wouldn't have kids who I wished were different."

"All right."

"What?"

"I wish we could have done right by you on a bigger scale than this."

"It would have been nice."

Nod. Sigh.

Kalatha knocks something over and Shasali runs to fix it.

And they take two more tiny babies home!

A little orange and another black-haired one! "Do you have names in mind?"

"We were considering Atanale."

"I like that." And the creche has already named the orange one, Idran.

Their co-workers think they're weird, although one is considering taking up having-a-kid-at-home as a hobby.

Babies are so so tiny and so soft and so good and theirs.