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her sisters and her aunt. Bernice and Carla usually ended up cheating. Dot usually lost interest and quit. And Aunt Irene was too bossy. Sometimes she’d even slap your hand if you accidently grabbed the dice out of turn. But every now and then, Adine played games alone. For hours. She’d make up exotic names for the different playing pieces (Selena, Dominique, Juanita), keeping track of how many games each player won on a pad of paper. That was the way to play games.
    â€œHe’s really cute, isn’t he?” Mrs. Vorlob said.
    â€œYeah,” Adine replied, smiling at her brother.
    The three of them were on the floor in the nursery. Baby was lying on his stomach on the middle of a large blue blanket, a pinkish island surrounded by an ocean. Adine and Mrs. Vorlob were on either side.
    Adine didn’t know how long they had been there. She was daydreaming. Looking at the fairy on the F wall, the falling star. Looking at her mother, at Baby. Adine heard voices from the kitchen periodically: Bernice and Carla—screaming, Dot—singing, Effie—cooing, Mr. Vorlob—laughing, and Aunt Irene—bellowing. Adine was happy to be where she was. She placed her hands on her stomach and wondered what it would be like to have a baby. One night, while Mrs. Vorlob was in the hospital, Adine had taken a pillow from the couch and stuffed it under her shirt. It had felt funny.
    â€œDo you smell what I smell?” asked Mrs. Vorlob.
    Adine did. “I think so,” she said, giggling.
    â€œThen it’s time to go to work.”
    Mrs. Vorlob pulled Baby’s dirty Pampers off and quickly wiped him. Adine sprinkled powder on him and secured the fresh, puffy diaper around his thin waist.
    Adine picked Baby up; the Pampers slid down. Mrs. Vorlob tried her best to tighten it. “This’ll have to do,” she said, gently bouncing Baby. “Grow,” she said to him with a grin.
    Adine thought he grinned back.
    Before Mrs. Vorlob laid Baby down for the night, Adine placed her head over Baby and sniffed under his chin. She loved the way Baby smelled (except when his diapers were dirty). Clean and white and light. The small amount of hair he had was dark and fine. Adine cupped her hand over it like a helmet. “Good night, Alexander,” she whispered.
    â€œ Alexander? ” said Mrs. Vorlob.
    â€œWell,” Adine explained, “I thought that if we gave Baby an A name, because he’s the first boy, that I’d vote for Alexander. It sounds important. If I was a boy, I’d want a name like that.”
    â€œSounds hoity-toity to me,” said Mrs. Vorlob. “Al is a nice name, though. Simple and to the point.”
    Adine instantly became aware that her mother’s taste in boys’ names was similar to her taste in girls’. She wasn’t surprised.
    â€œAdine,” Mrs. Vorlob said peaceably, reaching for the rolled-up diaper to throw away, “tomorrow Aunt Irene will be bringing some more things over from her apartment. She told me today that your Uncle Gilly is getting married soon to someone in Iowa. She’s a little upset. She asked if we’d mind if she ended up staying longer than we had planned.”
    Adine swallowed. She didn’t know what to say.
    â€œWill you do this for me, Adine? Think of it as a favor for me , not Irene.”
    Adine nodded and looked away. She blinked hard, holding back tears.
    Mrs. Vorlob rested her arm on Adine’s shoulders and sighed. “What a day this has been, huh?”
    Adine said nothing.
    â€œI guess I just made a major understatement,” Mrs. Vorlob admitted, her voice less gravelly than usual.
    There was a sudden burst of laughter from the kitchen.
    â€œWell, Adine, what do you say we go play a game of Chutes and Ladders? We can be a team and beat their pants off.”
    Adine didn’t want to, but she said she would, anyway.
    And as they walked down the narrow hallway to the