Melpomene pressed her head back into the pillow, tense, but let out a breathy huff, half laugh and half sob, as Alan started to sing, and she recognised the song from the first night they met. The pain morphed slowly into discomfort, and by the time he was on the last couple of lines she was able to join in, and though her voice was still under attack, she couldn't imagine a more beautiful sound than their two voices, joined in song. "Thank you, love," she breathed, in the quiet moments after the song ended. Everywhere her body touched his she was warm, and she breathed in the smell of him - and the smell of sex - and wanted this, this feeling, comfort and love in the wake of pain, to last forever. "You can sing me through labour, sing him into this world. Your voice... there's a magic to it."