The Story of Alice Heart, pt1 (introduction)

* The beginnings of a story, inspired by a comic I read...

"It's a girl."
"Yes, sir, that's correct."
"I specifically asked for a boy."
"The contract only says 'child,' sir, it does not specify the sex of the child."
"Well, God damn, Potter, didn't you see that before?"
"I'm sorry, Mr Howard, it was an error on my part."
"Son of a..."
The two men turned to look at the small girl sitting politely on the bench by the door. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap, her ankles crossed, and the dress she wore, though clearly hand-me-down, was neat and clean, and a lovely shade of pink. She looked like a little lady.
The older of the two sighed and shook his head.
"Grace is not going to be happy about this."
"Indeed not, sir."
"You don't suppose we could..." he paused and frowned, contemplating.
"Sir?"
"What's its name?"
"Excuse me?"
"The child," he huffed. "The child, Potter, what's its name?"
"Ah," he fumbled with the papers in his hand, and read off, "Alice Heart."
"Hmm..." he started to smile and nodded. "This just might work."
"Sir?"
"I'm leaving this in your hands, Potter. You fix this well and I'll give you a raise."
He raised a brow in surprise, but remained otherwise expressionless. A raise was rather unheard of in this household. But if there was a chance, then...
"And where do you propose I should start, sir?"
The man laughed and began to walk away, but replied, "Grace wants a boy, Potter. And what Grace wants..."
"She gets," he finished, and gave a small bow as he exited the room. "I'll get right on it, Mr Howard," he said, and turned back to see the little girl staring at him with those big blue eyes, a raven lock falling over them, the rest of her curls framing those rosy cheeks... "What the hell am I doing?" he murmured, and pushed up his sleeves.
This was going to take some work...