My daughter," I said blankly. "I see. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought it took a man, as well as a woman, to make a child. Is this infant's father to be a crab, or a seagull maybe? Or were you planning to shipwreck some likely sailor on my doorstep, so I can make convenient use of him?
Juliet Marillier (2007). “Child of the Prophecy: Book Three of the Sevenwaters Trilogy”, p.544, Macmillan