Jane dried her eyes, and they left the office together. But her tears began to flow again as they approached the crib on the second floor of the adoption agency. Her arms went out impulsively toward the child that lay in peaceful slumber on the sheet.
"Oh, he's adorable!" Jane breathed. "Oh, Dan, he's just what we always wanted!"
"How soon?" Dan said tightly. "How soon, Mrs. Purdy?"
"Just a few days. We'll work as swiftly as we can, Mr. Bryan. In a few days, you can take your new baby home."
The few days turned out to be a week. Then the phone rang in the Bryan household, and Mrs. Purdy's cheerful voice said:
"Today's the day!"
At five o'clock on a Monday afternoon, Jane Bryan carried her new son across the threshold of their apartment.
At two o'clock, the baby set up a hungry howl, and Dan Bryan stirred and sat up in bed.
"Wake up," he said to his wife.