Lyra woke up slowly the next morning, not because she felt sick or dizzy this time, but because her body just felt heavy. The kind of heavy that made her want to lie there a little longer. She blinked a few times and stretched her arms gently before sitting up. Her stomach didn’t twist the way it did yesterday. It just felt warm and a bit tight, the normal early pregnancy feeling her mother had told her about.

She breathed out quietly and rubbed her belly lightly. “Good morning,” she ...