"We need a stroller," Elias whispered, as if the over-stuffed plush giraffes might hear him. "One stroller. That’s it."

By the time they walked back out to the parking lot, the sun was dipping low over the highway. They didn't have a stroller yet—Sarah needed to "sleep on the wheel bearings"—but they had a bag of tiny socks and a pacifier shaped like a mustache.

Outside, Paramus was its usual self—a relentless river of brake lights and yellow lines. But inside, the world was quiet, soft-edged, and overwhelming.

The sliding doors of the Buy Buy Baby on Route 17 hissed open, exhaling a scent of lavender-scented detergent and pristine plastic. For Elias and Sarah, walking inside felt like crossing an international border without a map.

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