Cht 1

The village is arriving

Knock, knock, knock... Knock, kno...

Stirring slightly, Shaw hears some muffled voices downstairs in the hallway where the front door is, followed by footsteps.

"Woof!"

"Shoooo, Bear, quiet" Gen whispers to calm Bear's excitement as he circles around the entering guests.

Nudging him on the leg, "hey boy," Lee calls smiling to Bear as he continues to clamber up the stairs with his Dad. Quietly, "Pops, you think this will fit through the door?"

"We'll soon find out, Lee" as Fusco whispers and shrugs, continuing to lug the heavy item up the stairs.

Finally coming to, and slowly waking up, Shaw blearily opens her eyes and looks to the side. Root's breathing was still slow and even, peaceful. Still fast asleep, Shaw smiles, not quite ready to give up on the long lie in just yet... Shaw finally gets up as gently and as quietly as she could, creeping out the room as she pulls a light sweater over her head and walks out the bedroom, taking care to shut the door behind her lightly.

Heading towards the sound, thud, thud, riiiiiiiiip, Shaw feels the cold floor boards soothe her hot feet as her steps connect with the wood. 'We'll need some rugs for the winter' Shaw notes as she turns and opens the door to the noisy room.

With mouth slightly open, "get in tiny, and shut the door" Fusco instructs lowly and forcefully at Shaw, "you don't want to wake fruit loops with the noise!"

Closing her mouth shut again, Shaw quickly steps in and shuts the door again, quietly.

Turning, and turning again, Root just couldn't get comfortable again as she wakes from the increasing aches registering all over her body. The broken rest was starting to wear her thin, her patience now on edge.

Thud...

Eyes still closed, Root pops her head up from under the duvet and points her head in the direction of the noise, or the noise she thought she heard... Hearing nothing, Root drops her head back into the pillow.

Thud...

Able to open her eyes half way, 'I definitely heard that!' This time the noise was followed by muffling sounds. Then some scraping or scratching noises, and voices.. Two, male, voices... And Bear. This time, curiosity draws Root up from the warm soft covers as she inhales a long breath before unwillingly hauling herself out of bed. The sun was starting to shine through the window, brightly.

Thump, thump, thump...

'Ah... Cool...' Comforted by the coolness under her feet, and one hand on the wall for support, Root makes her way down the hall and towards the noise. Reaching and pushing open the bedroom door, Root was surprised to see everyone busy at work, as five sets of eyes momentarily stop what they're doing to register Root, before returning back to what they were doing.

Shaw was moving and rearranging the nursery chair, lamp, rug and other small pieces of furniture and storage boxes around the room while Fusco was building a bookcase. Root spots a big blue and yellow bag sitting in a corner of the room, books and toys spilling out of it, 'Fusco must have brought those with him...' Continuing to scan around the room, Root spots Lee with a paint brush in hand, finishing off the wooden cot. Sitting down beside Lee's feet was a small can of baby friendly varnish. And then to the feature wall where Gen was placing and decorating it with wall stickers. The feature wall now displaying a baby animal jungle scene.

"Root, what are you doing?" Fusco asks as he gets up after spotting Root wobble as she walks through the door and further into the bedroom. Fusco shot up so fast from the rug and floor he had been sitting on he nearly faints himself. Giggling at Fusco's clumsiness, and thoughtfulness, Root smiles at him warmly as he reaches her.

Taking Root's outstretched hand, and moving to supporting her waist, Fusco directs her to the nursery chair, which Shaw has instantly stopped shifting and threw extra pillows down on to it when she saw them walking over. Even Bear ran over and threw a displaced pillow from his mouth and back onto the chair.

"Why Detective" as Root sits down, "did you build us a cot?"

"Don't look at me" as Fusco shrugs, before shifting his eyes to Lee.

Smiling over at Lee, "thank you Lee, it's beautiful. So thoughtful."

Lee dips his head and nods. Smiling, he goes back to finish painting the varnish onto the cot.

After seeing Root safely to her chair, and squeezing her hand, Fusco moves back to the rug and his part of the room to finish building the bookshelf.

Gen had also now moved on to hanging up framed family photos for the baby. Watching them, Root relaxes into the chair whilst holding Shaw's hand as Shaw stands beside her sharing in the warmth, Bear curled up by Root's feet.

The baby's room was looking great. Shaw having already finished painting the room pastel blue with Reese last week, and the furniture now in it's place, all that was left to purchase were the smaller items. With their son not due for several more months, they were well ahead of schedule.