Baby's Family

Baby's heredity was replete with numbers. Both her parents had careers with numbers. Her mother preceded all in-person purchases with a question about inventory. As she prepared to buy a set of pens, she would inquire how many the store had. Only then would she place her order. Her father similarly took great comfort in knowing precisely how many there were of anything. He knew, for example, that the roof had recently been re-shingled, but that was not enough. Although the roofers told him how many shingles they had used, he insisted on propping up his own ladder and counting. Baby's brother took a position in corrections, due to the importance of counting inmates. Dinner conversation usually meant recitations of counting various items during the day. 

After engaging the owner of the music store concerning how many metronomes were in stock, Mrs. Baby took it upon herself to order a high quality metronome for the family's amusement. While other homes featured entertainment centers and large screen TVs, the Baby family took great pleasure in placing their communal metronome in the center of the table after dinner. As tock followed tick, each member of the family would count the beats and mimic the noise the metronome made. There was general if unimaginable glee by the Baby family. 

Baby herself became aware that her becoming a mathematician was the true north of her existence. Her parents procured the services of a Harvard educated teacher renown for stimulating children's brains and guiding them to make a difference. The teacher saw immediately the wonder of Baby's brain. Her eyes looked intelligent, and she made few sounds, but looked ahead and sponged all knowledge made available to her. Baby wore a white outfit with pink rabbits and little roses. Her teacher modeled the behavior Baby's parents most applauded: She counted the rabbits on Baby's clothes, showing not telling, thereby instilling in Baby yet more appreciation of the act of counting. 

A great career with numbers was the inevitable future for Baby, to the delight of her mother, her father, her brother, and the award-winning teacher they hired to help Baby.