He did so for the companionship, not for sexual gratification. Perhaps he had also hoped to be there when the child came. The first warning came sometime in the middle of the night. He woke because Tamako moaned beside him and then clutched his arm. Her fingers dug almost painfully into his skin. ‘What? What is it?’ he asked, coming awake slowly, then finding himself immediately in a panic. He had pent up his fears over the past days, pushing them aside, telling himself that Tamako looked and felt much better, and that all was quite well. Childbirth was a natural process. Women had children all the time and came through it very well. Tamako had survived the first birth in spite of some difficulties. Yes, there had been difficulties, even beyond the immense snows that had isolated them. But then there had been Doctor Oyoshi, that kind and gentle man who had helped her through it and, more importantly, helped him as well. He had been a gibbering idiot by the time Yori was born. And now it was about to happen again.
