Wonder, Part 2-Set 3 (West)

"You would know if you had come back to check on me," I said spitefully, "like you said you would."

"I know, I know." I nodded indifferently.

"Of course she has a MetroCard!" answered Dad, fully exasperated.

The title of the chapter is "Genetics 101."

Not one person in the exotic mix of my family gene pool has ever shown any obvious signs of having what August has.

I've pored over grainy sepia pictures of long-dead relatives in babushkas; black and white snapshots of distant cousins in crisp white linen suits, soldiers in uniform...

They were told that August had what seemed to be a "previously unknown type mandibulofacial dystostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemifacial mocrosomia characteristic of OAV spectrum."

They were told that August had what seemed to be a "previously unknown type mandibulofacial dystostosis caused by an autosomal recessive mutation in the TCOF1 gene, which is located on chromosome 5, complicated by a hemifacial mocrosomia characteristic of OAV spectrum."

If I have children, there's a one-in-two chance that I will pass on the defective gene to them.

Geneticists use these Punnett squares to determine inheritance, recessive and dominant genes, probabilities and chance.

I stopped going to lunch for about a week, though, to make the transition easier, to avoid the fake Oh, shoot, there's no room for you at the table.

This I never did, not to spite Miranda, but because August was in his own world these days.

Instead, she immerses herself in getting August's costume ready, since we all know Halloween is his favorite time of year.

Even though I was well beyond the trick-or-treat stage myself, I usually threw on some mask or other to accompany him up and down the blocks, watching him knocking on people's doors, giddy with excitement.

"But this is crazy, Auggie!" I said emphatically, pulling the new comic book away from him, too.