“You’ve lost a lot of weight,” Pech Chieu Teck said to his wife.
“And you’ve gained it.” Vathana laughed politely.
“The children are too thin,” Teck said, his voice edged with involuntary harshness.
“We manage.” Vathana smiled. She lifted the eight-month-old Samol to her lap and gave her a small squeeze. The infant’s eyes shone as she gurgled and cooed and grabbed at her mother’s thumb.
Teck moved closer. He poked a finger into his daughter’s belly and laughed, quietly pleased as the baby giggled and churned her arms, her whole body wobbling with the motion. He looked beyond the baby to the mother. Though thin and shabbily clothed Vathana was still very beautiful. As he watched her face, the winds outside shifted and blew the scent of the camp and the odor of the hospital tent into the
