"Gaia wished her own mother were there to help, especially with managing the afterbirth and the baby. She knew, normally, she wasn't supposed to give the baby to the mother to hold, not even for an instant, but now the mother was reaching and Gaia didn't have enough hands."
Chapter 1, pg. 7

"She would make sure that the babies in her care had the opportunities she'd never had, those lucky three every month. If the rest, the other half dozen or more babies were unadvanced, then that was their destiny. They would take their chances with life in Wharfton as she had."
Chapter 2, pg. 25

"Even the worst feeling, with time and familiarity, became tolerable." Chapter 4, pg. 33

"The prisoner's belly thrust outward and up in the unmistakable bulge of pregnancy." Chapter 6, pg. 59

"It took her less than an instant to realize she had made her decision already, the moment she'd...