The loud sound of a baby crying echoed off the hospital room’s walls.

“Oh, she’s…” Jenevive Fowl said shortly after giving birth. All the pain she was going through had been quickly overshadowed by embarrassment and disappointment.

“Ugly.” her husband George finished her miserable sentence. He stood beside Jenevive’s hospital bed with his arms crossed. The baby had a long, narrow face, and big blue eyes so pale they looked transparent. She had a large head, much larger than a normal baby’s head.

The doctors swarmed the baby, trying to figure out why she looked so strange. A few minutes later, a doctor came to the couple and asked what the baby’s name was. George had no hesitation, he just said the first name that came to mind.

“Mariel,” Jenevive nodded in agreement, not even looking up.

The couple decided they would talk in the waiting room, while the doctors tested Mariel. They headed to the large room, not saying a word. Cushiony baby blue couches were placed along two walls. In the corner of the room, near the door was a childrens’ area. It had a colourful mat with dinosaur toys, barbies, and vehicles spread out. Across from the door was the secretary’s desk. She had blond hair cut to a bit above her shoulders, dark purple glasses that complimented her light green eyes. She wore a blue collared shirt, and from behind the desk you couldn’t see what she was wearing on the bottom.

George and Jenevive sat down on the farthest couch from people. 

“What do you think about Mariel?” George asked. Jenevive was still in shock from giving birth, and wasn’t great with her sentences, but she managed to mumble:

“I don’t understand how she got to look like that. Whose side did it come from?”

“I don’t know. Were you cheating on me?”

“Of course not!” Jenevive looked over at all the other people in the room. There were two girls in the childrens’ corner playing with barbies. They looked no older than three or four.

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Sitting on the couch next to them was a teenage boy on his phone, and next to him a father and son that looked maybe seven years old. He was crying and wailing and thrashing his arms. But there were people that really caught Jenevive’s eye. In one corner, next to where the little girls were sitting, a couple rested in two large armchairs. They cradled a small baby in their arms. The baby had a few strings of red hair, big brown eyes, and had a bright pink blanket wrapped around her.

Jenevive looked back at George. Tears began to roll down her face. Her makeup began to smear, and she looked like a miserable clown. Jenevive leaned on Gearge’s shoulder, and he mumbled that they would have a better child, but he didn’t sound sure.

Jenevive choked up tears for what seemed like hours, and finally she looked up at her husband and said:

“I don’t want Mariel.” she whispered, and immediately started crying again, feeling guilty of what she said. 

“Neither do I.” George said quietly. He said what Jenevive had been wanting to say very badly. “Let’s leave before the doctors come back.”

They stood up from the leather couch and walked to the door. Before leaving, Jennevive quickly asked the couple with the baby what her name was.

“Jane.” said the mother. She looked just like her daughter, big brown eyes and thick curls of red hair. The father only had the same mouth as Jane.

Jenevive nodded and walked out of the rose smelling room without another word. George followed her and they found their way to the front entrance. They stepped out into the chilly morning air. The sun was just starting to peek over the buildings. It made large shadows, and a pretty pink sky.

The air smelled of dried out leaves, just starting to frost on the ground. A cold wind passed by, making all the leaves flutter in the air. It would have been a great date, except for Mariel.

George and Jenevive walked to their bright blue car with no conversation. Neither of them knew what to say. No words were said in the car, either, as both were lost in their own guilty thoughts.

They got home and did their own things for the rest of the day. Jenevive checked Facebook on her phone, and George watched movies.

A few minutes after they’d arrived home, the hospital called. They asked the parents to come back and take their daughter. The couple refused, and offered that she could go up for adoption. Then, the hospital put Mariel's doctor on the line. He explained that the baby had a new kind of brain tumor that would kill her in the next couple months. He offered to keep her in the hospital for medical research. After a moment's hesitation, the couple agreed.                              

The poor child was left in the hospital, to be raised and taken care of by doctors.