"I can't let you go, Bobby. They wouldn't celebrate your birthday at the Home. They wouldn't know how."
"I'm afraid it wouldn't be much like a birthday there; not after this one," said the man.
The Lady put Bobby down and he seized the opportunity to readjust his hold on the puppy and to look into his blouse pocket to see if the precious bit of paper was still there.
"May I, Alfred?" he heard the Lady Who Likes Little Boys saying to the man in the 'mobile.
"Alice!" cried the man. "I love you a thousand times better than ever!"
That seemed a very funny sort of answer to Bobby; there was no sense in it. He looked up and found the Lady's arms held out to him.
"Bobby, would you like to stay with us and be my little boy? Then, every year when your birthday comes, we could celebrate it together."
Bobby's eyes glistened. He looked from her to the man and back again. They were both smiling at him.
"Will you be my mothers, then?"