The sheep had noticed that Claire looked different and sounded different. She was softer and rounder all over and she glowed. For a while they thought she was sick and they worried, but then she changed and was happy and glowing, so they looked at each other and wondered.

It was Panda who told them – Claire’s going to have a puppy – a lamb – a human small one. The sheep were overjoyed – a little one to play with! A little Claire (or a little David). What fun!

At council one night Baasheepba said, "What shall we do to mark the coming of this little one?" Conversation broke out all over "we could teach her to swim" "we could grow some extra soft wool" "we could teach him to grass ski (that was the group’s current activity). Baasheepba said, "Our wool! We could make a sleeping nest with our wool! Let’s think how." Baach said, "I saw a wood box by the road. We could start with that." Woolight said, "Some of the tree twigs are shaped like the combs that Claire uses to pull our wool." Baahumbug grumbled "We could borrow something off the clothesline to cover our wool for the baby human to sleep on." "Soft – it has to be soft," said Woolight. The ideas tumbled over each other.

The next day they started to work. Baach and Mozart went after the wooden box. It was still at the side of the road and they pushed and pulled it to a private place where Claire didn’t go. Woolight and Braahms combed the trees for the right sort of twigs and found several. Then several days were spent with the lookout in place so that Claire wouldn’t see the sheep working at combing each other’s wool to pull out and collect the bits and pieces. Somehow the other thing that Claire used made lots more wool come off. But this way Claire didn’t notice that any was missing. They made sure that each sheep had some wool in the box. That way the present was from everybody. They even let Panda put some dog shedding in (although they buried it deep, since the sheep thought their wool was much softer than Panda’s).

A second lookout was posted. Each day a different set of sheep patrolled the clothesline – checking out what was hung and waiting for just the right piece to put over the wool and under a human lamb. All sorts of shapes appeared. Some were clearly not useful. Others had potential

This led the sheep into watching what the humans wore over their skin. After a while of watching, they noticed that the humans had different clothes for different times and some were softer than others.

One day Baasheepba noticed that Claire rubbed her face on a shirt that Dave was wearing and smiled. "Aha! That’s what we need," she thought. But the shirt didn’t appear on the clothesline.

Finally, when everything was ready except for the covers, Braahms noticed the shirt lying on the front of the truck. She trotted by and snatched the shirt, disappearing behind the garage as Dave came out of the house.

"Claire," he called, "have you seen my flannel shirt – the red one? I could have sworn I just set it down!" Braahms sighed with relief. Now they could finish the nest for the baby human.

That night when Claire and Dave’s lights were out – according to the watch sheep – the sheep finished the box. A sturdy box, a little smaller that what a lamb would need, filled half way with soft wool donated by each sheep and covered with a lovely red flannel shirt that had both Dave and Claire’s scent on it. The sheep were pleased with their idea and how it had been completed.

They discussed how to give it to Claire and Dave. Some sheep thought they should get Claire to come find it; others thought they should put it by the gate so Claire would see it there. Baasheepba said "Claire isn’t comfortable walking too far these days. Let’s take it to her." So that’s what they did.

One night when the moon was full, they pushed and pulled the box from its hiding place to the back door of Claire and Dave’s house. Baasheepba pushed it so Claire and Dave would see it and not fall over it and it would stay dry if it rained. She was giving it a last nudge when the lights started to go on and much aggitation was heard inside. Claire and Dave hurried out past the box and into the truck.

The sheep looked at each other – what was happening? They left a crew on lookout and went back to the meadow. Nobody saw Claire the next day or the next. The sheep were getting really worried when Dave came home bringing Claire – and a bundle. The lookout gave the call to come NOW and everyone did.

As the sheep skidded to a halt, Dave came around to the other side of the truck and opened the door. He took a bundle from Claire and she got out. She looked around and saw the sheep. "Oh look! They’ve come to welcome us home," she said with a laugh. "Let’s show them the baby." And she walked to the gate. Dave followed with the bundle and Panda roared up to the gate. "Stand back! Don’t touch!" she barked. Claire took the bundle and pulled back some blankets. There was the new human – so tiny that the sheep wondered how it could ever become as bid as Dave. Claire said "Here are our friends" and she called each sheep’s name. Then she turned to go to the house.

All this time the sheep’s box had been waiting. Dave had hurried in and hurried out while Claire was gone and hadn’t noticed. But now they saw it. Wonder crossed their faces. They walked up to the box and Dave picked it up. They looked at it and at the baby human. The sheep watched intently, hoping they’d know what it was for. Then Dave put it on the bench and reached for the baby. He took the baby human and tucked it between the folds of the shirt. "A present from the sheep," he said and Claire smiled. They turned and carried the box to the gate. "See," they said, "she fits just perfectly. Thank you. Not every child has a whole flock of god-sheep. What a lucky child she will be.

And she was.