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gripped Lily for the first time. “I think we should wait until December, like Beth said. I don’t think I could stand losing—”
    Anna cut her off with a kiss. “We won’t lose anything, sweetheart. Our baby will be perfect.”
    Typical Anna, strong and confident. Lily hoped the same for their baby, and that it would have her crystal blue eyes as well.

Chapter 2
    Lily jiggled the connector cable to her monitor, bringing her document back to life. The equipment at the Braxton Street Legal Aid Clinic was ancient by the standards of most law firms. More than once she had considered buying her own computer for the office, something compatible with the one she used at home. Over the summer she had written a small grant to upgrade their office computer system, but with the recession most foundations were sitting on their funds.
    The intercom button on her phone beeped. “Lily, Tony wants to see you in his office.”
    Their workload had exploded in the past year with the rise in foreclosures and evictions, to say nothing of all of the people clamoring for benefits. She had managed to carve out a specialized caseload of family issues, mostly custody and adoption cases, and divorce. As always her concern was for the welfare of the children.
    She pushed her stocking feet into her pumps, buttoned the cuffs on her striped Oxford shirt and smoothed her navy skirt. It was her typical office attire, comfortable enough for a casual day behind her desk, yet with a matching jacket dressy enough should she be called to court. No sign of a growing belly so far, though she was now eight weeks along. It thrilled her to think she might be showing in only another month, and neither she nor Anna had broken their pact not to tell anyone, somehow keeping their secret for six weeks.
    Walking past the reception area to Tony’s office, she noted the unusual clutter on Pauline’s desk. Clearly they all were swamped.
    “You need to see me, chief?”
    Tony glanced up from his desk, where he was studying several open case files. “Yeah, give me a sec.”
    Last year, soon after his forty-second birthday, he had started wearing reading glasses, and they now sat perched upon his nose. His thin sandy hair was standing up as though he had mussed it in exasperation and his tie hung loosely around his neck.
    Lily took advantage of the chance to stretch her legs, foregoing the offered chair to gaze out the window onto busy Braxton Street. She had the same view from her office but couldn’t see it from her desk unless she stood.
    With a deep sigh, Tony picked up a file and joined her at the window. Over the past three years, marriage and family had cut into his active lifestyle, and Colleen’s home cooking had deposited a spare tire around his waist. They now had three children, two from her previous marriage and the baby they had welcomed just last year. Lily was bursting to share the news of her pregnancy, but was determined to hold off for a few weeks more until their tests checked out. No doubt Tony would panic, just as he had when fellow attorney Lauren had gotten pregnant a couple of years earlier. She had taken only two months maternity leave. Lily planned to ask for six.
    “You’ll never guess who called this morning.” He handed her the file. “Maria Esperanza.”
    Lily knew Maria all too well. In her seven years at the clinic, she had handled two divorces of Maria’s from husband Miguel, four criminal complaints involving domestic violence, and no fewer than seven custody hearings for the couple’s two children, Roberto and Sofia. “It never ends for those two. What is it this time?”
    “First she wants a restraining order. Then she wants Miguel’s visitation revoked permanently. She claims he threatened her with a gun…said he was going to make her sorry one of these days.”
    Miguel already had two assault convictions for battering his wife on his record, and had done eight months in the county jail for the second offense. “If he