While Andrew and Becky were engaged in conversation in the living room, Kyrstyn went to the hall closet and removed a portable playpen. A few minutes later, Krystyn returned to the living room with the portable playpen under her arm. After giving a nodding signal to Becky, she began to unfold the sides of the collapsible mesh-sided playpen for the Becky’s baby. The conversation ground to a halt while Becky waited expectantly for Krystyn to make suitable arrangements for the baby she held in her arms. While he waited for the baby to get settled and the conversation to renew itself, Andrew looked at the baby boy in Becky’s arms. By any standards, he was adorable; dressed in nothing but a thick disposable diaper, he had the fine thin hair of that infant boys have in their first year and middle-aged men acquire as their maturity approaches seniority. His chubby cheeks were obviously those of a baby who obtained most of his nourishment from suckling and the soft, uncallused skin of his feet and red spots on his knees attested that he had not yet learned to walk and still crept about the floor on all fours.
The baby seemed to huddle to his mother’s breast in fear of his surroundings. His tiny fists gripped the folds of her blouse tightly as his little fingers kneaded the silky fabric in apparent anxiety. Then the baby turned his head to look directly at Andrew. The direct penetrating stare of the infant alarmed Andrew briefly, before he noticed the wet drool running down the infant’s chin. For a moment, Andrew had the distinct impression of intelligence behind the baby’s eyes before the rest of his face belied the benign befuddlement of infancy. Nevertheless, Andrew was disturbed by the unthinking gaze of the infant; his blue-in-blue eyes seemed to emanate a look of demoralized helplessness. Becky put the baby in the playpen and dropped his diaper bag on the floor beside the couch. Then she rummaged through the bag and to find the baby’s pacifier and put it in his mouth before sitting down to drink coffee with Andrew and Kyrstyn.
The three of them sat on the couch to enjoy Krystyn’s brew and chat together. Krystyn asked Andrew if he would like to stay for dinner later, but after stammering his apologies, he declined as politely as possible, explaining that he had an exam in the morning to study for. There was something about baby Joey’s look that had disquieted him. An ominous feeling of impending doom made him want to disengage himself from a potentially embarrassing evening no matter how beautiful Krystyn was. Andrew had no doubt in his dream that it was Becky who made him feel so intensely uncomfortable. There was a feel of malicious intent about her that made him want to run and hide his face in Krystyn’s bosom for protection. Unfortunately, he could think of no way to politely get up until he had at least shared a cup of coffee with the two of them.