Her parents visited often, staying with the Kartel family for weeks at a time. Their visits always brightened Narin, which made Yasmin happy. She was pleased to see her parents and her mother-in-law spending time together and enjoying each other. There were cultural differences, but nothing insurmountable. Her parents were working on getting Narin to fly to Canada for a few weeks, which Yasmin thought was an excellent idea. Though the thought of the elegant older woman sleeping on a daybed in her parent’s cluttered study because they would never allow family to stay in a ‘cold, impersonal’ hotel made Yasmin smile.

Dr. Abbidi announced Yasmin healthy and fit, her pregnancy exactly where it was supposed to be at eight months. They discussed Yasmin’s birth plan, which hadn’t changed. She wanted to go into labour on her own without being induced and she would come to the hospital to give birth where Dr. Abbidi would attend her.

Yasmin thanked the doctor and made her way back to Defne, checking the time on her way. It was 4:30. Volkan would be expecting them at the dockyard.

Henry drove them, parking alongside the building next to the front entrance.

Defne glanced at her phone, then looked around, her eyes lighting up as she gazed out across the dockyard. “There’s a ship coming in,” she said excitedly, reaching for her door handle. “Come on, let’s go watch it! It’s been forever since I watched a ship come in, and Volkan isn’t finished yet.”

Yasmin frowned. Why was Volkan communicating with his sister and not her? Shouldn’t he be telling his wife that he was still in a meeting or whatever it was he was doing? She sighed and rubbed her extended belly, telling herself to drop the crankiness. She was out of sorts because her body ached and Volkan had missed her appointment, which wasn’t a big deal.

She summoned up an indulgent, if somewhat tired, smile. “Sure, let’s go watch the ship.”

They let Henry know what they were doing and he nodded, following them at a distance as they made their way toward the incoming ship. It was massive, with containers stacked eight high. It was moving slowly up the dock, preparing to stop.

Yasmin kept her distance, wary of the large noisy ships, but Defne stepped closer to the edge of the dock, smiling at Yasmin over her shoulder. “Come look, you can see the water churning.”

“I think you should come away from there,” Yasmin said nervously.

“The ship isn’t even close yet,” Defne said with a laugh. “Come look. How often does a person get to see something of this scale?”

She was right. Even though Yasmin had been coming to the dockyard for months, she spent little time outside of the office. The gigantic ships and the cranes freaked her out, so she stayed safely away. Apparently, her sister-in-law had no such inhibitions.