...
There are drawings spread across the table in the kitchen.
"The girls drew them for you," says Parvaneh...
When she sees Ove's eyes reading the letters in the bottom corner of one of the drawings, she looks slightly embarrassed.
"They...sorry, Ove, don't worry about what they've written! You know how children are. My father died in Iran. They've never had a...you know..."
"They can call me whatever they like. No need for you to stick your bloody nose in."
And then he puts up the drawings one by one on the fridge. The one that says "To Granddad" gets the top spot. She tries not to smile. Doesn't succeed very convincingly.
"Stop sniggering and put the coffee on instead,"...Ove mumbles...
And at half past nine...and the girls have fallen asleep on Ove's sofa with...chocolate ice cream around the corners of their mouths, then Parvaneh's hand suddenly grips Ove's upper arm like a voracious metal claw. And when Ove growls, "OUCH!" she growls back, "SHUSH!"
And then they have to go back to the hospital.
It's a boy.