He stared quietly as she moved his hand; it still shook, but he offered no resistance. If anything, his nervous energy calmed slightly when there was no change: her belly was still and flat under his hand, betraying nothing of what was happening beneath.

"Khem, I..." he shook his head softly, his voice struggling to be audible. "How? Khem, how could we...what if this ends up being a fluke? What if it really is that hard for us...I...I don't know if I could do that to you, take that away from you when we don't know if we could again." He paused and added almost guiltily, "Sorry...from us. Not...not just you."