Megabyte gave her a seriously goofy grin. “Well, you know he has to be bored. No television, no Xbox, not even an MP3 player. At least we have the joys of fishing, foraging and laundry. He only gets to hear us complain about the joys of fishing, foraging and laundry. Oh yeah, and in our case, our lovely matching sunburn.”

“As for the little linebacker being a troublemaker, it’s what they do. Drive you crazy. From what I understand.” He stopped suddenly, realizing that this was not a good direction to lead the conversation in considering Claire’s revelation that she was going to give the baby up for adoption. Then deciding that he’d well and truly already put his foot in it, he forged ahead, turning a bit more serious. “This is the part where I preface what I’m about to say with the standard ‘Tell me to go to hell and none of my business if you want’ disclaimer. But, why Los Angeles?” Megabyte peered up at Claire from his position on the floor of the shelter, thoughtfully. “There had to be plenty of waiting and willing parents in Australia. Why a family – and a flight – all the way to Los Angeles?

“And again, feel free to tell me to go procreate with myself.”