Delivered

Early this morning I took my dog Romeo for his walk. On the way home a man splattered with liquid walked past me.

He was immediately followed by a barefoot woman in a blue bathrobe, holding a baby. She was pursuing him and yelling. When she caught up with him she passed the child to him. He gave it back to her. She followed him down the road.

Looks like a domestic, said Sgt P, the traffic officer parked at the end of our blocked off street.

That was a baby in her arms, I reported.

Oh, I'll definitely call it in, he said. I couldn't see that far. I thought she was just handing him clothes. No, it was a baby, I said.

He opened the police SUV and dialed headquarters. He later leaned in, listening to make sure it was broadcast over the police radio.

Now there's a story, he said. Imagine being that child. I bet there's another woman involved and this one got mad and said, Here, take your baby!

That could be. I'm curious, but I don't really need to know. It's the writer's job to continue the story, I said, smiling. And I brought Romeo inside.