"Let me guess," Paul said to his wife after their visitors had left. "You want to go to the city."

"Oh, could we, please? It sounds so exciting!"

"I promise, the next time I have a free Saturday, I'll take you."

"Oh, thank you!"

They left early one crisp fall morning. The weather had just turned cooler, and a gentle breeze blew the red, yellow, and orange leaves from the trees.

"I love this time of year!" Elizabeth exclaimed as they rode along. "Not too hot and not too cold. Just perfect!"

Paul grinned. "Just right for playing rugby."

"Football, you mean."

"You Americans need to learn the proper terms for sports." They both laughed.

Paul drove over a short bridge, and suddenly there were buildings all in a row on either side - stores with big windows, restaurants with tables and chairs in front, a motel that was several stories high across from a bank. Fascinated, Elizabeth couldn't tear her eyes away from the scenery.

"This makes me think of downtown Berlin." Paul drove over railroad tracks, then turned right and went down a street lined with apartments. "Here we are." He parked in front of one of the apartment buildings, and they went to ring the doorbell. Aimee opened the door a moment later.

"Hi! Come on in!" she exclaimed, stepping back so they could enter. Elizabeth's eyes widened as she gazed around at the inside of her friend's kitchen. The walls and cabinets were painted blue, and the floor had a speckled design. Blue and white checked curtains framed the windows, and the wallpaper was the same blue and white checker pattern. A potted plant stood in the corner opposite the stove, and in front of it was a low bar with a stool with a blue and white checked pillow on it.

Max was squirming, so Elizabeth let him down to toddle around while Aimee showed her all the fancy appliances and how they worked. Then they moved into the living room, where Elizabeth saw a blue sofa across from a large yellow sofa chair. A coffee table holding a vase and a tea set was between them, and the wall behind them held a fire place with book shelves on either side.

"Everything looks so nice!' Elizabeth exclaimed. "Where's Roger?"

"He went to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription for me. He'll be back in a few minutes."

Aimee poured tea for her guests, and they sat on the sofa while she sat across from them. Max toddled toward the coffee table and reached a tentative hand out to touch the vase.

"No, no, sweetie!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "That's to look at, not to touch!"

"Pity." Max looked as if he were about to cry.

"I'll see what I can find for you to play with." Aimee hurried to the kitchen and returned with a set of measuring cups and spoons. She laid them on the floor for Max, and he crowed happily.

A few minutes later, Roger came home from the pharmacy, gasping in surprise when he saw the Brimmers sitting on the sofa. "Oh. I didn't know we had company."

"I'm sorry," said Elizabeth. "We should have called first."

"Oh, no! That's all right," Aimee tittered. "I was thinking that perhaps I could show you around a couple of my favorite department stores."

"Oh, yes!" Elizabeth breathed. Max began to fuss, and she wrinkled her nose. "Just let me change Max's diaper, and we can be on our way." Aimee showed her the bedroom and the bathroom, and with some difficulty, she got the dirty diaper off her squirming son and the clean one on, and they rode to the department store.

Once they were inside, Elizabeth's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She saw two long rows of nothing but bins full of folded clothing, with a stand in the middle that had little girl's dresses hanging on it and a box with more folded shirts. A aisle over contained long trays holding dozens of record albums, and another section had rows of counters with smaller items like jewelry and perfume.

"I want to look at the dresses first," Aimee announced. She and Elizabeth went in one direction while Paul and Roger went in another. Elizabeth was fascinated by the beautiful dresses, but the prices dismayed her. The idea of talking to Paul about actually buying one made her quake inside.

Aimee chose two dresses, one black with white polka dots and one white with a pink flamingo print. "I can't wait for Roger to see me in these!" she exclaimed.

After awhile, Max reached up and tugged on Elizabeth's skirt. "Eat," he said.

"It is just about lunch time," Elizabeth agreed. They found Roger and Paul looking at records. The group all walked to the luncheonette together.

"Look at this!" Paul said to Elizabeth, holding up the most gorgeous baby dress she'd ever seen. It was light pink, with puffy sleeves and rows of lace around the collar and waist.

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. "But we don't know yet what we're going to have!"

He only smiled and patted her abdomen.

After lunch, they went to a different department store. Max took a short nap in his stroller, then began to squirm and fuss. Elizabeth took him out of the stroller so he could run around a bit.

Some time later, she was looking at patterns when she realized that her son was no longer playing at her feet. "Max?" she called. There was no answer. Her heart began to pound as she searched the surrounding area, to no avail.

"Max!" she shouted, near tears, and Paul came running, worry etched all over his face. "I can't find him anywhere!" she moaned.