“Oh, no, honey. No one has a baby here,” Janette said, still smiling but a note of sadness in her voice. “You bring your baby with you. Either you have one or you don’t.”

“What?” Cadence asked, pressing down harder on her abdomen. “But... I want one.” She didn’t feel like that had always been the case, but seeing Aislyn talking to her child, she knew in her heart she also wanted to be a mother, to have a beautiful child and speak to him or her as if they were the most important person here. Because they would be.

“Sorry, dear. Unless you brought a baby with you here,...