The thirty-something woman pees in a
small green paper cup, then dips the test
strip in the liquid for 5-10 seconds, after
which she waits for five minutes before
she can analyze the lines. During this
time, she thinks of her client who wants
six children and the fact that she herself
would be happy with just one. Maybe two.
She revisits her favorite baby names,
like Cora, the name she argued about
with her husband, who wanted to spell
it after the animated fantasy series
The Legend of Korra. Their solution
was to abandon the name altogether.
Now she is thinking about all the times
in her childhood when her solution
was to abandon herself altogether.
She peers at the strip. Suddenly, she
doesn’t know whether to giggle or sob.