“Mom, where do babies come from?”

“Oh Lord!” Amy thought, as she paused her dishwashing and regarded her son.

“Tommy said when a man kisses a woman and hugs her tight, later a baby comes out of her butt.”

“Tommy’s an idiot. Don’t listen to him.”

“Then where? How?”

“The birds and the bees?” Amy thought. “The stork?” But she didn’t know how to adequately narrate these. “Well…” she began, and then the front door opened.

“Hey y’all! What’s cooking?”

Wiping her hands quickly, Amy burst upstairs. “Your father’s home now,” she called back to Billy. “He’ll tell you.”