"You're not helping," comes a voice from floor-level, one that sounds rather unhappy.

"At all. For the record. Why does Daddy have only one arm, she'll ask me, and I'll answer that it's because I had to rip the other off to beat him senseless with it. And yes, how very interesting a story that will--oh God."

Which may be why there is silence for a few minutes, except for the periodic wince-inducing sound.

And then Kate, after having sat for a moment with cool tile against the back of her neck, blinks.




"Don't contractions normally get closer? And not, well. Stop?"