Esther Goldstein waddled out of the elevator and into the maternity ward of the hospital. Immediately, a nurse walked over to her and asked her name.

"Esther Goldstein," she said. She stopped to take deep breaths.

"How frequent are your contractions?" The nurse asked.

"Every five minutes," Esther said. "My husband is parking and will come up soon."

"If you have a car phone, I would suggest having him stop off ad admissions on his way up to have you admitted," the nurse advised.

"We don't have a car phone," Esther said. Her face screwed up in pain as if her insides were ripping open.

"I guess we'll have to send him back down when he comes," the nurse said ruefully. "Let's get you into A&E."

A few minutes later, Esther was on a bed, surrounded by nurses.

"I want an epidural," she said firmly.

"First we need to confirm that you are in labor," the head nurse said.

"I'm in labor," Esther protested. "I want an epidural."

"We need to do an exam first to verify that you are in labor," the nurse insisted. "We can't go by your word alone."

After a brief exam, the nurse exclaimed, "You're ten centimeters dilated! You're definitely ready to be admitted."

"I want an epidural," Esther said again.

"I'm sorry honey, but it's too late for the epidural. The baby will be born very soon."

At that moment, Meir Goldstein walked into the triage room.

"Did you go to admissions?" the nurse asked.

Meir nodded.

"I'll make sure you're in the system and get you into a room," she said, exiting the room.

A few minutes later, Meir and Esther were settling into the delivery room. Esther shoed Meir out when the nurse walked in.

"Your doctor should be here in around an hour," the nurse said. "He is just leaving his home now. Try not to push until he comes."

The head nurse rolled her eyes. "Push when you want," she said. "We know how to deliver babies here. Your doctor just wants to make sure he gets paid for the delivery."

Esther was relieved when the doctor walked into the room an hour later.

"Let's get this show on the road," he said cheerfully, as if it wasn't four o'clock in the morning.

After a painful fifteen minutes, a cry was heard.

"Mazel tov, it's a boy!" the doctor exclaimed.

Meir ran over from the spot near the door where he was pacing.

"Why is he so dark?" Esther asked, looking confused at the purple faced baby.

"That's only because the cord is wrapped around his neck," the doctor said. "I'm cutting it now."

Esther tried to rest for the few hours she had before she could call people. Finally, at six thirty, she called her mother.

"Hi, mommy!" she said cheerfully. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I was up for a half hour already," her mother said. "Nu?" she asked curiously.

Esther decided to drag it out as long as possible. Just because her baby was four days late doesn't give everyone else the right to be impatient.

"I'm not home," she said.

"I figured as much," her mother said. "Well?"

"Yeah, I'm at the hospital," Esther said slowly.

"And?" her mother prompted her.

"I had a baby over two hours ago," Esther said, "but I figured you were sleeping, so I didn't call earlier."

"What did you have?" her mother asked eagerly.

"A boy," Esther said calmly.

"Mazel tov!" her mother exclaimed. "We'll have to plan the shalom zachar and bris."

"That can wait a few hours," Esther said. "I didn't get much sleep last night."

"Go to sleep," her mother ordered. "I'll talk to you later."

A few hours later, Esther woke up and saw Meir sitting in her room.

"Do you know what you want to name the baby?" Meir asked.

"I thought we already agreed that we're naming him after your father," Esther said.

"What about an English name?" asked Meir.

"What for?" Esther scorned. "Nobody in our family has an English name."

"I wished I did when I was at Hogwarts," Meir said.

"Do you think this baby is magical?" Esther asked.

"It's too early to tell," Meir said, "but some witches and wizards are very prejudiced. I think we should give him an English name that doesn't sound Jewish."

"I don't like that idea," Esther argued. "We don't know if he will be going to Hogwarts. Hopefully, he isn't magical, and even if he is, I'm not about to send away my little baby."

"Not now," Meir said. "In eleven years, you will have to."

"I don't see why," Esther protested.

"I already told you," Meir said. "My family asked Rabbi Kohn since he's the only one who knows that my parents are magical. My parents and grandparents saved many Jews during the holocaust with their magic, but six million died who they couldn't get to. Rabbi Kohn said many more lives may have been saved if they would have been allowed into magical school in Germany. In case there's another war, if the baby is magical, he needs to know what he can to protect as many people as possible."

"I'm not sending my baby out to war," Esther said.

"No," Meir agreed, "But when he's an adult, it would be better for him to be trained."

"What name were you thinking of? Aaron?" suggested Esther.

"No," Meir said. "Aaron is English for Aharon, and besides, it's too Jewish sounding."

"Alex?" Esther suggested.

"No," Meir said again. "That's more for kids who were named after Alexander the Great. We're not having a little Sendy."

"So what name do you like?" Esther asked.

"I was thinking of Anthony," Meir said hesitantly.

"That's as not Jewish as you could get," Esther exclaimed. "That name has Christian roots! It's not a good name for a Jewish boy."

"Did I tell you that there's a war going on in the magical world now?" Meir said. "Hopefully it will end before the baby is Hogwarts age, but prejudice will always exist. Goldstein is such a Jewish last name, that I want a first name that will confuse people and make them question his Jewishness. Also, my father's name was Aryeh Tuvia. If we're not going to be calling him by both names, at least his English name could use both initials."

"I still don't like it," Esther said. "Maybe you should get Rabbi Kohn's opinion."

"I'll call him later," Meir said. "I have to anyway to find out if we could do the bris in his shul."

A week later, Esther handed her baby, dressed in white, on a white pillow, to her younger sister who passed the baby to her husband. The husband brought the baby to Meir. Esther clutched her siddur as she heard her baby cry. She waited anxiously until Rabbi Kohn's voice called out, "Aryeh Tuvia ben Meir."

Esther eagerly took her baby from her sister.

"Come, Ari," she said softly. "Let's get you fed."

"So you're calling him Ari," the new aunt asked.

"I think so," Esther said. "Aryeh Tuvia is too long. I like the name Ari."

She didn't tell anyone that the birth certificate that was filed during their hospital stay listed his name as Anthony Goldstein. After all, what are the chances that this little baby will be magical?