"What?" I asked.

"I just came to see how the lovely mother-to-be is," she said, very cheerfully.

"I was great. Until I saw you," I said.

"Well, can we come in?" she asked.

"No," I said. And I stepped out onto the veranda and closed the door behind me.

I noticed that it was unusually warm for this time of year. The temperature was bordering on hot, even though it should have been getting ready to snow by now. It was supposed to be that cold transitional period, ...