Noel’s wife said: “Yes. He used to talk about having one—ten or eleven
years ago, when he loved me. After my accident I never wanted one, for
years, because I thought a child would be frightened by a face like
mine—and I didn’t want a baby that would be afraid of me. But—this
last year or so” (this last year or so—all the time I’d known Noel),
“I’ve thought that a baby wouldn’t mind, if I was good to it. I have
wanted one for a year—it didn’t happen before.”