Eighteen months after the verdict, Louis stood in the nursery of their newly purchased brownstone in Park Slope, one hand resting on her eight-month pregnant belly while the other held paint samples against the wall. The apartment had become too small for the life they were building, and the book advance combined with Ral's consulting work had finally made home ownership possible.
"I still think the sage green is too yellow," Ral called from the hallway, carrying boxes labeled "baby clothes" in his precise handwriting. "The cloud blue photographs better and won't clash with whatever furniture we eventually choose."
"We're not choosing nursery colors based on how they photograph," Louis replied, though she smiled at her husband's analyst tendencies extending even to interior design. "We'r
