Summary

"The Third Child" – Jane Goldman is forty, married, has a 5 year-old son, and an 8 month-old daughter. They live in suburban South Carolina. Jane is a freelance technical manual editor, while her husband is a consultant. When they lived in Boston before, her husband had been a very successful website designer, but the business had gone under with the economic downturn. Yet in South Carolina in the present, they realize they have longed for a quiet life like this, but know that it will soon be gone. Jane’s son often spends time with Mary Grace, an 8 year-old girl next door whose parents often keep to themselves. Pregnant with a third child, Jane has an abortion because she only wants to be a mother to two children. That evening, Jane is unhappy that her husband has purchased a $345 digital camera. She also...