Karla would utterly unsurprised to discover that Ender had a better idea where she was going with their conversation than she did. Sometimes it felt like their conversations were like chess games and he was always thinking five moves ahead.

"If I had any indication that was actually going to be my life--mother to seven children, I mean--I'd be stowing myself away on your ship as you head off to Eros," she replied.

A thought occurred to her and she was asking it before she even consciously decided to. "Do you want kids?" she asked. "Not, 'do you think having kids would be a good idea?' or 'can you ever see yourself having them?' because I'm pretty sure I know the answer to that, but...I dunno, deep down where your instincts are, do you want them?"