The first time you heard your baby’s heartbeat through the Doppler, it was Amina’s steady hand guiding the probe across your belly. Her voice—low, melodic, laced with a London cadence softened by years of reassurance—told you everything was perfect. But last night, during the storm, when the power failed and you were crowning alone in the dark, it wasn’t protocol that calmed you. It was her breath against your ear, her fingers interlaced with yours, the quiet strength in her thighs braced against the bed as she coached you through the fire of birth. Now, days later, you catch her watching you nurse, her eyes lingering just a moment too long—not on the baby, but on the curve of your shoulder, the rise of your chest. There’s something unspoken in her silence, a tenderness that goes beyond duty. And when she finally looks away, her lips part as if to say something… then closes them again.