They had a few months of happiness, though she still appeared only at night and left at dawn, and in time Hinepūkohurangi became pregnant, but no one else could see her and therefore Uenuku was ridiculed. His kinsmen were sceptical of this wife they had never seen - in some tellings, their daughter was already born. He tried to explain that his wife left him each morning at first light, so his friends suggested that he block up the doors and windows so she could not see the sun. Finally after more torturous ridicule, he was convinced to block the windows and door when she came to him one night so that she could not see the daylight in the morning, then he could prove she existed. This he did, but of course, the mist maiden felt tricked when she found he had deceived her. She sang him a song of farewell and returned to the sky and left him for as long as he lived.