Mario's hidden-pregnancy birth; C.T. present; Avril's transcendent, guilt-tinged love

pivotal · UNDATED (~Mario's birth, ~B.S. c.1990), paternity crux

• When: UNDATED (Mario ~18-19 in YDAU, so born ~B.S. c.1990-91; a premature, seventh-month birth in November)
• What: "The first birth of the Incandenzas' second son was a surprise." Avril "did not show, bled like clockwork," a hidden seventh-month pregnancy; she collapsed on the brownstone staircase, and it was "Avril's half-brother Charles Tavis" — up on a StairMaster during "an extended and emotional-battery-recharging visit" — who took charge (Orin was present in the delivery-room waiting area with C.T., per event 2's source). Mario is born severely challenged; Avril's love for him "transcends all other experiences and informs her life," and Hal suspects she sees Mario as the family's real prodigy; per Orin (n234) she thinks him "some kind of secular martyr to the mess she'd made of her adult life." She "couldn't change diapers" (event 22). NOTE for the paternity question: the hidden pregnancy, C.T.'s presence at the birth, and Orin's Quaker-Oats-box-over-the-crib jealousy (scene 150) are the strands from which the Mario-paternity question is woven; the text asserts nothing — as printed.