Fish Babies

When I was putting Tayja to bed tonight, we paused to feed and count the fish.

One of the new Silver Mollies was laying on the bottom of the tank laboring to breath.

"Is Katie dying?" Tayja asked as a fry (baby molly) popped out of the birth canal. Note: Tayja named all of the Mollies "Katie" as in big Katie, bigger Katie and biggest Katie - after the manager at the pet store where I work.

"Wow! That's a baby Katie!," Tayja shouted. "Why did she come out of that Katie's butt? I thought babies came out of your stomach."

We'll talk about all that when you are thirty, I answered, with a sigh.

I counted five babies before I turned out the light and mommy Katie was still laboring. With a little luck all the babies will be eaten before morning.