Shivers 7 by Stephen King, Clive Barker, Bill Pronzini, Graham Masterton, Rio Youers, Ed Gorman, Rick Hautala, Norman Partridge, Norman Prentiss

nothing confrontational. Nothing like that. In fact, something pleasant. I had a patient who was having a difficult time getting her husband to come in. They’d only recently come into some money and her husband still had some of his old attitudes about designer babies from the days when he’d been so well off. But she surprised him. Invited him to his favorite restaurant, which just happened to be near her, and after the meal she just happened to steer him in our direction—and four days later, he came in and signed the papers and started creating not one but two children. Twins.”
    “Well, one of Jen’s favorite restaurants is near here, too. We go there for our anniversary every year.”
    “When’s your next anniversary?”
    “Two weeks from tomorrow.”
    Dr. Carmody smiled his Dr. Carmody smile. “That’s not very far off, is it?”

    * * *

    She was late getting into the city and for a frantic half hour Kevin was afraid that Jen had known that this would be more than an anniversary dinner. He couldn’t contact her on her comm, either. Maybe she’d decided not to meet him. Maybe she was in the bedroom, weeping as she once had. He stood on their street corner lost in the chill April dusk and the shadow crowds racing to the trains and the freeways.
    And then, golden and beaming, tossing off an explanation for her tardiness that was both reasonable and reassuring—then she was in his arms and they were walking like new lovers to the restaurant where their reserved table waited for them.
    After her second glass of wine, she said, “After dinner, let’s go for a walk. I don’t get down here very often. And I still love to window shop.”
    The center of the city gleamed in the midst of darkness, an entity constantly reinventing itself, taller, faster, more seductive in every respect, the streets patrolled by android security officers. The androids were without mercy.
    The store windows Jen stopped at were alive with quickly changing holos of haute couture. He was happy to see her interested in her appearance again. She even talked about making one of her shopping trips.
    He made sure that they kept moving in the direction of the Baby Store. As they turned a corner, entering the block the store was on, she said, “I think I’ve got a surprise coming up.”
    “A surprise?”
    She leaned into him affectionately, tightening her grip on his arm. She laughed. “You’ve been steering us in a certain direction since we left the restaurant.”
    “I have?”
    “We’re going to the Baby Store as you’ve always called it.”
    “We are?”
    But of course they were.
    A small staff kept the three-story building open during the nighttime hours. As Kevin had arranged, Dr. Carmody had stayed late. He greeted them in the lobby and led them back to his office.
    “Happy Anniversary to both of you,” he said.
    “Thank you, Dr. Carmody. I guess I knew in the back of my mind we’d end up here tonight. Sometimes I can sort of read my husband’s mind.”
    “I hope you’re not disappointed, Mrs. McKay.”
    She shrugged in that sweet young-girl way she had. “No, maybe Kevin’s right. Maybe this is what I need.”
    “We’ll certainly do our best,” Carmody said.
    And so they began.
    Coffee cleared their minds and numerous holos of designed girls—that was the only thing Jen knew for sure; a girl this time—sharpened their imaginations. They began to form a picture of the infant Jen would carry. And what this infant would look like at various stages of her life. And what kind of intellectual acumen the child would have. In a world as competitive as this one, superior beauty without superior intelligence was nothing.
    Dr. Carmody had left them alone in front of the enormous holo console. They were so infatuated with the prospect of a new child that they became infatuated with each other, friendly kisses giving way to passionate ones; a breast touched, long lovely fingers caught behind Kevin’s neck pulling him