Mary rested her hand protectively on her rounded abdomen as she gazed apprehensively to the top of the mudbrick house. Joseph was up there somewhere, hard at work mending the roof before the latter rains descended. She wanted to talk to him. She tested her weight on the first rung of the ladder, then stepped higher. And higher. Soon her gentle brown eyes were peering over the top of the balustrade.
Joseph straightened when he saw her, and his own eyes widened. "Mary," he exclaimed, "be careful!"