at each other, at a loss for what to say. she still had a few months to go in her pregnancy and they had agreed that the mother would go stay with them two weeks before her due date and then would stay for a month after. the father would come after the birth and stay for a week. he had to wait as was custom for the four days to pass after she had given birth before he could see her and the baby. he wished that was a tradition he could break.
two weeks after that christmas eve call, the mother woke in the middle of the night and 