Roberts was right, it was dead. I went back to the car and after making a couple of trips back and forth, I had all my gear in the hall. “Kitchens,...�� I thought, and started the hunt for them. It took a couple of false starts before I lit upon the right passage. The kitchens were gray and gloomy as if designed and decorated to produce the maximum depression in whoever used them. It looked as if the equipment had been haphazardly upgraded over the years, with old solid fuel stoves still in. The clerk thought nothing of it as I paid and stuffed the package into my coat pocket and went out the door. I don’t remember any thing about the ride home. I probably didn’t say much. I know I didn’t as we unloaded the seed. My mind raced as I thought about what I had….and what I had done. I barely slept that night….in anticipation of what having these condoms meant. I worked through my chores that morning, and it was noon before I was able to catch up with Jeri and give her the news. I could. But Tuesday, weirdly, the baby monitor surfaced again...It shouldn’t have. Lucille would have sworn that it was an accident -- and probably passed a lie detector test. But her subconscious wouldn’t have...She was where she shouldn’t have been - at her desk at her laptop. The quiet sounds of Kanye’s nightly ritual drifted into the living room -- just whispers, but Lucille’s mind filled in the rest. It wasn’t enough, though, so she turned on the receiver and pulled up the display application. .... I breathed through my mouth and climbed up next to them, wrapping my arms around them slowly. At first she must have thought I was Patty, but she quickly jerked in surprise and twisted around to look at me. Her face was miserable and she collapsed into my arms, sobbing miserably for a long time. Her sobs reminded me of the screaming I’d done in the soundproof cell at the hospital.I did the only thing I could. I let her cry herself out. When she was calm, I stroked her hair and cuddled her while.