The evening of Katerina"s twentieth birthday party began as she sat in front of the mirror with Katie behind her brushing her hair. The green sprigged yellow dress she had ordered for the event fit like a glove from the rib cage up and floated away from the swell of her belly below, disguising the fact that she was past halfway through her pregnancy.
"Your dress looks lovely, ma"am," Katie commented.
"Thank you, I quite agree," Katerina replied. "Madame Olivier is truly a genius. Still, after this party, I"ll have no choice but to enter confinement, and not attend any other public events until I recover from the delivery. It sounds rather boring, all in all, though Mother"s promised to keep me company."
Katie ran a brush through her hair and began twisting it into a heavy bun at the bac
