"Yasemin!" Erden's voice came through the trees, breaking Min out of her momentary reverie.

"Just a moment, Mother!" Min checked her basket, pursing her lips: it was only half-full of kelic berries, not nearly as many as she wanted, but it would do for now. Setting one hand into the grass at her feet, she pushed and got to one knee, grunting with the effort.

One hand took hold of the handle of her fruit-filled basket. The other ran across the swollen expanse of her belly. "Sometimes I almost miss the days of not carrying you around," she said to the silent passenger sleeping inside.

Hanging above that pregnant belly...