The retainer flashed a wide smile and ran a hand-held scanner along the baby’s eyes, causing their soft green to flutter momentarily. He took a step back and then nodded to the doctor on his right. The man opened up an index and seemed to select an entry randomly. He cleared his throat and then addressed Adelle sternly.

“What is the Division, Class, and Order of the flowering plant: Actaea pachypoda?” The new parents held their breath, worried. The baby’s eyes darted back and forth quickly, finally resting on her mother’s face. It licked its lips.

“Well?” The doctor frowned. His brows furrowed deeply and he risked a quick glance to the retainer, who shrugged uneasily.

“The flowering plant Actaea pachypoda belongs to the.. uhm.. Magnoliophyta Division… Magnoliopsida Class… of the Order Ranuncl… Ranuncul… Ranunculal-” Adelle stuttered.

She winced at her mother’s reaction, and began to cry. Her father took the bundle of blanket and offered it back to the retainer, stepping back and grabbing his wife.

“How could this have happened?” The man demanded. “Your warranty guaranteed a child of at least average intellect! This… This thing is addlebrained!” He was shaking now, clutching his wife’s shoulder with white knuckles. The doctor waved his technician away with the baby and attempted to calm the young couple down, as he punched in the request for a new child into a terminal. He apologized profusely until his assistant returned with a new order.

© Shannon Peil, 2009

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