By: Jeff Watkins

“You have a beautiful baby boy, Miss Selnick. You can hold him for a while, and then we’ll get him all cleaned up.”

“No. I don’t want to hold him. He’s so icky! His ears—he has black hairs growing out of his ears! They look like pig bristles. You’ll have to pull those out.”

“That would hurt him, Miss Selnick. And anyway they look so cute.”

“He’s my baby, nurse, not yours, unfortunately, and I say they’re ugly like the rest of him. But oh well, leave them alone. I’ll do it myself later. His dad has them, too, the pig. Why is his head misshapen? And he has a big lower lip. ”

“Miss Selnick, many new babies have misshapen heads because they are compressed during birth. In a few days he will be the handsome boy you expected. “

“Really? Well, I’ll have visitors in a few hours, not a few days. At least you can clean him up and give him some formula so he won’t keep squalling with company here.”

“So you aren’t going to breast feed him?”

“Are you kidding? I can’t even bear to look at him.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say! You’ll grow to love this little guy, I’m sure. What’s his name?”

“Daniel. He’s named after his father.”

“And will his father come to see the two of you?”

“There’s only one of me. And yes, My sister and her husband will be here in about an hour.