When the story had been told, Christy looked thoughtful.
"Questions?" my employer asked.
She nodded slowly, looking out at the dreary weather. "Yes, but in a minute. Not just yet." She turned back. "Let's talk about something else, while I wrestle with this."
"Well, we could show you pictures of our child, but we don't have any, and you already know her."
Christy nodded. "And I must say that it has surprised a lot of people that you've adopted her as you have."
Jan spread her hands wide. "She selected us. We didn't have any choice in the matter."
"Actually," I said, "we had all kinds of choice. We chose her, just as much as she chose us."
"Jan," Christy said, "let me make one comment, from a mother's perspective. You can joke like that, and we three all know that you're kidding, just like you know I'm kidding about the bikini. But Ron doesn't know what we know, she's just a kid. And, as I say, lots of people are surprised that you've adopted her, and they may even point this out to her. So, just be aware of how things may appear from her perspective."
Taking criticism was not always Jan Sleet's strong suit, but she looked quite struck by this as the servers started to bring the soup.
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