I'm not a kid person at all, so the reason I even gave this book a chance was because, truth be told, I wasn't ready to let Cole and Jon go after having read Strawberries for Dessert. I needn't have worried. I loved this.

"There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope." ~Baruch Spinoza

Part One – This was painful to read, because Cole is depressed and not quite being himself. His wish for a child and the adoption process is wearing him down.

I have so much to give, Jared. Not only money or things, but love. I have so much love in my heart, and not enough people to share it with.

The way Jon handles him and the patience he has is amazing, though. Then there was the whole debacle of having Cole's bitch of a mom over. Fail of epic proportions.

Part Two – This was... erm... uncomfortable to read. It's written from George's–Jon's father–POV, and he gets it on with Cole's mother, Grace. So, ew.

Part Three – This one's heavy on the hope and fear theme. Lovely, really. Especially the 69, if you know what I mean... ;-) And that heart-warming moment when George tells Cole he's going to be an incredible father...

"You'll be fine, son. Don't you worry. You don't need to redo the nursery. You don't need another goddamn toy. And you don't need the wipe-warmer. You have everything you need right here."

I couldn't have cared less about Grace reconciling with her son after being such a bitch, but at least she apologized, I guess. And the whole baby delivery scene at the end made me gag. But then Cole's happiness made it worth it.

The way he gazed at her took my breath away.

And last, but not least, this book made me crave bread pudding. *drool*

Scientists reported Wednesday that they had taken a significant step toward altering the fundamental alphabet of life — creating an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code in its DNA.

 

The accomplishment might eventually lead to organisms that can make medicines or industrial products that cells with only the natural genetic code cannot.

 

The scientists behind the work at the Scripps Research Institute have already formed a company to try to use the technique to develop new antibiotics, vaccines and other products, though a lot more work needs to be done before this is practical.

 

The work also gives some support to the concept that life can exist elsewhere in the universe using genetics different from those on Earth.

 

“This is the first time that you have had a living cell manage an alien genetic alphabet,” said Steven A. Benner, a researcher in the field at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Fla., who was not involved in the new work.

 

But the research, published online by the journal Nature, is bound to raise safety concerns and questions about whether humans are playing God. The new paper could intensify calls for greater regulation of the budding field known as synthetic biology, which involves the creation of biological systems intended for specific purposes.

 

“The arrival of this unprecedented ‘alien’ life form could in time have far-reaching ethical, legal and regulatory implications,” Jim Thomas of the ETC Group, a Canadian advocacy organization, said in an email. “While synthetic biologists invent new ways to monkey with the fundamentals of life, governments haven’t even been able to cobble together the basics of oversight, assessment or regulation for this surging field.”

It's not exactly breaking news, but Cole and I are incompatible. My curiosity got the best of me and I read this book. I shouldn't have.

There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.

This novella gets 3.5 stars from me. It was the follow up story to [b:Strawberries for Dessert|8578533|Strawberries for Dessert (Coda Books, #4; Strawberries for Dessert, #1)|Marie Sexton|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1279069656s/8578533.jpg|17436699]. As Cole decides that he wants, no needs, to have children, the stress, hope, and pain of the adoption process becomes the primary focus of this story. The thing that grabbed me most about the story was how ordinary it actually was. All of the emotions that the Cole and Jon go through are the same as any other person or couple goes through waiting and hoping for a child in a process that is largely out of their control. The emotional journey was well done.

The resolution of Jon's relationship with his mother was an added bonus. The assumptions that both had made about the other's feelings were so wrong and had unnecessarily kept them apart for so long. The "interlude" which was an interesting way to give us some background information about Jon's mother Grace, but I would have like more time spent on Jon and Cole together and less about George and Grace.

I am in looove! =)