"Nothing that wasn't already interrupted," Cable replied dryly, in the tongue of the askani so Aliya would understand, as he held the crying baby in the air and started telekinetically removing the cloth nappy. One of the advantages of having two telepathic parents is they knew immediately what was the cause of their son's distress and Cable found it surprisingly easy to fall into old patterns of domesticity, to decide to play along with this illusion.

"Please," Aliya added with forced cheerfulness as she ushered Madelyne in properly, "I have no doubt you'll be better company than my husband often is."