Occasionally, she would knit her brows out of a surge of pain. But when relief came she would smile again and relish once more the enchanting curve of her abdomen, feeling the fresh pulse of the child inside. The afternoon went by quietly, of which the highlight might be butterfly that kept pestering her. Now it had alighted on her chair, wings shining in the setting sun, triggering her childlike fantasy. Her finger could not help but snail its way toward the little creature. Nearer and nearer, until the butterfly was finally between her delicate fingers. After a while, she decided to release it. No sooner had she sligh
