Allen and Emily, whom Albert, Daisy, and the others had scorned for being clumsy at looking after the baby sister, were soon driven away.
After returning to Luna's bedroom to bring her a meal, Allen had only just set his hand on Luna's calf and begun taking over Narcissa's massage duties when his gaze fell on Luna's round, bulging belly, and his throat immediately tightened.
Allen put himself in her place in his mind, thinking of those countless days and nights. Though he could not probe her thoughts, he said with certainty, "You were the one who had Helga say that to everyone just now."
"Not being able to see what you're thinking doesn't really matter, does it?" Luna gnawed on a chicken leg without lifting her head, but her dreamy voice had softened a great deal. "Those who are connected become confidants, those who aren't keep things transactional... Otherwise, having to respond would be a burden too."
"When Emily was born, I was too young. I don't remember it at all..." Allen's hand, resting on Luna's calf, was taken by her sauce-smeared hand, sticky with cream chicken gravy, and placed on her swollen belly. It left him deeply worried. "If I'd known it would be this painful, we would have waited... Your body is too petite right now."
"It really didn't hurt much back then. Come to think of it, that was the first time I'd seen it too..." Luna's misty eyes drifted over Allen's cheek. Noticing Allen's gaze moving downward along her lower body, she curled up somewhat timidly in the chair—though it had not been as easy as Helga had said, Rowena's frame back then had indeed been very large... Thinking of the pain Morgan le Fay had just endured made her shiver too.
"What about using