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darted through the traffic around them.
    They wound up in a traffic jam on Madison and Seventy-fourth, and she decided to get out and walk the last three blocks. The air felt good on her face after being cooped up all day. And there was a real spring in her step, as she swung her briefcase beside her, and thought about getting home to Annabelle. Maybe Sam would even be home. Her smile deepened as she thought of him. She was still crazy about him after more than seventeen years of marriage. She had everything. A fabulous career, an adorable little girl, a husband she loved deeply. She was the luckiest woman alive, and she knew it. That was the best part. She never took any of it for granted. She was grateful for every blessing in her life, every day. And if she didn't get pregnant again, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Maybe they'd adopt. Or maybe they'd just have Annabelle. She and Sam were only children, it hadn't done them any harm. On the contrary, people said only children were smarter.
    Whatever happened, she knew they had it made. Just thinking about it made her smile broadly as she reached their building, and smiled at the doorman as she strode confidently into the lobby.

Chapter 2
    A s Alex opened the front door, the apartment seemed strangely quiet. There was not a sound anywhere, and she wondered if Carmen had taken Annabelle to the park for longer than usual. On most days, they were home by five o'clock, and then had a bath before dinner. But when Alex walked into her bathroom, she found Annabelle sitting like a little princess in a mountain of bubble bath that almost hid her completely. Carmen was sitting on the edge of the bath, watching her, and Annabelle was pretending to be a mermaid. She wasn't saying a word, she was just “swimming” up and down the tub nearly hidden by the huge froth of bubbles. Using her mother's deep marble tub had been an extra treat, and was why Alex hadn't heard her as she came into the apartment. The master suite was at the end of a long hallway.
    “What are you doing in here?” Alex grinned broadly at both of them, happy to see her baby. She was the cutest little girl Alex had ever seen, and her bright red hair shone like a beacon in the bathtub.
    “Shhh …” Annabelle said seriously, holding her finger to her lips. “Mermaids don't talk.”
    “Are you a mermaid?”
    “Of course I am. Carmen said I could use your bathtub and your bubble bath if I let her wash my hair tonight.” Carmen smiled at her employer and Alex laughed. Annabelle loved to make deals, and Carmen was as much putty in her hands as her parents were, Annabelle didn't take unfair advantage of it, but she knew that she was everyone's darling.
    “How about if I take a bath with you, and we both wash our hair?” her mother suggested. She wanted to take a bath anyway before Sam came home for dinner.
    “Okay.” Annabelle thought about it for a minute. She hated to have her hair shampooed, but she was beginning to suspect there would be no way out this time.
    Alex slipped out of her black suit, and high heels, and Carmen went to check on dinner, while Annabelle continued to play mermaid, and a moment later they were both in the big tub, having a conversation about their respective days. Annabelle liked the fact that her mother was a lawyer, and her father was a “invention capitalist,” as she called it. She always explained that it was sort of like a banker, and he gave away people's money, which was not exactly the way her father described what he did, but it satisfied Annabelle. She knew her mother went to court and argued with the judge, but she didn't send people to jail, which was simpler.
    “So how was your day?” Alex asked, luxuriating in the warm water and the bubbles, feeling like a mermaid herself after a day at the office.
    “Pretty good.” Annabelle looked at her with obvious pleasure. Her mother had kissed her hello when she got in the tub, and Annabelle was happily sitting beside