Xhemin's tears fell but the sea wind swept them up away from her eyes. She thought she was being overdramatic about Darryl's departure where in fact he will only be gone for a week.

"Healer!" A call from afar broke Xhemin's solitude and she instantly turned her head to check who was calling her. She smiled when she saw the little Princess Song running toward her with a bright happy face.

​​

"Little Princess!" She exclaimed, very much surprised of her sudden visit. She welcomed the girl with a tight hug and threw her some kisses. "This is a surprise. How come you are here?"

"I told father that I should come to make you happy," She told her right away. "Your husband is going to the mainland today so father was worried you might be lonely, so he sent me to give you company"

"Did he really send you or you insisted on coming over?" She questioned when she saw the look in the girl's eyes. She was not good at lying but was rather good on convincing people of her words.

Princess Song only smiled at her question as she knew she had been caught. Truth was she pleaded her father to let her come because she missed the healer badly and wanted to see her new home. When she heard that the hero of Somer lands was leaving for the mainland, she made it an excuse and lured her father by saying how lonely Xhemin will become because of her husband's departure.

"You caught me," She confessed onto her silly crime and laughed hard when Xhemin pinched her sides gently.

"Naughty girl," Xhemin hollered "You even used my husband's departure so you can sneak in here,"

"I just want to see your new home," She told her with puppy eyes and sulked "Don't you want to see me?"

Xhemin laughed at this. She turned to pick the girl up into her arms and pinched her nose "Of course I want to see you,"

Princess Song clung onto her happily, very glad that the healer carried her for once. She was a little bigger than she was previously, but she liked being carried by her all the time.

"Healer… Princess…" Another call drew Xhemin's attention and they both saw Handmaid Lin with a worried face. When she found them at the shore, her worried face relaxed.

"Did this little girl sneak on you again?" Xhemin asked handmaid Lin as she walked over.

The handmaid sighed deep, relieved that she had found what she had been looking for. "That little princess was always giving me headaches these days,"

"I did not!" Princess Song protested although she was just laughing about it. She did sneak out from handmaid Lin when they unmounted their horses and looked for the healer. Somebody told her she was at the sea shore and that's how she found her while Handmaid Lin was left looking for the two of them.

"Come let's go to the house," Xhemin invited as she put back the princess on the ground. When the princess was free on her feet, Xhemin turned to hug handmaid Lin but the latter gave her a weird look.

"Healer!" Handmaid Lin gasped, astonished when she saw all of her. "O dear highest God!"

Xhemin arched a brow at handmaid Lin's sudden reaction and so asked, "What's wrong?"

Princess Song also saw the reaction on the handmaid's face, so she turned to look at Xhemin again, looking for something that was rather worthy of the handmaid's reaction.

"I don't see anything wrong," The girl turned to her handmaid, confused. "What is it?"

Handmaid Lin immediately went closer to Xhemin to gave her a close look. "You… you changed…"

Xhemin was relieved with her words. She gave the handmaid a smile and hollered, rolling an eye "Of course I changed. I'm a married woman now,"

"No that's not it," Handmaid Lin dismissed her recent joke and immediately cupped her breast to Xhemin's astonishment.

"Handmaid Lin!" She tried to shove the handmaid's hand, but she failed. The latter already had a full grasp of it and then shifted her attention to Xhemin's hand to check her pulse.

"Handmaid Lin, what are you doing? Is there something wrong with the healer? Is she sick? Speak right now because you are already frightening me," The little princess demanded worriedly.

"Shhhhh…" Handmaid Lin silenced the little princess as she was trying to focus on Xhemin's pulse.

Xhemin was becoming a little impatient but she let their handmaid do what she needed to do. However, handmaid's Lin next question completely caught her off guard.

"When did you last bleed?"

"I…I bleed…" Xhemin tried to recall only to realized she had missed her period already. "Handmaid Lin are you saying that I'm—"

"You are with a child," The handmaid announced tearfully. "O dear healer, you are carrying a child within you!"

"Oh, Highest God!" Princess Song exclaimed loudly, full of shock "We are having a baby!"

"Sure, we are," Handmaid Lin confirmed. "Few full moons from now and the healer will give birth to a baby"

Xhemin did not know what to feel. Was that the reason why she was becoming emotional these days? She thought about how her previous days had been and remembered that her appetite did change and how she had been slacking lazily the past few days very unwilling to do her farming which she previously liked to do.

She also hadn't craved strawberries for few weeks which was rather odd because she used to eat the fruit almost every day with no miss.

She tapped her belly, trying to feel the child within her. Was she really with a child? She turned her eyes back to the sea where Darryl's boat was floating previously. Darryl missed this news and left without knowing he was going to be a father.

She wondered how her husband will take this news. She herself could not assessed the feeling she had when she first heard it. The emotions were new, something she had never once felt. She thought perhaps that was how motherhood felt like.

Motherhood.

Was she really going to be a mother now?