The bracelet sits in his pocket, patiently waiting to be slipped around Gaia's wrist. Leon needs to see her again. He finds out that Gaia is delivering a baby in the village, and he makes the trip to visit the sixteen-year-old midwife-only to find that the birth is not going too well. The bracelet-and what it means to the both of them-will have to wait. This short story takes place during the time between the second book in the Birthmarked trilogy