Mom said that I was 'nesting'. I had never heard of it before, but I took her word for it. All I knew was that the house wasn't clean enough, it wasn't safe, and how had I never noticed how sharp it was around here?

It had started the morning of January 22, the day of my appointment. I had woken up a couple hours earlier than usual, and when I looked around my room, it was like a switch had gone off. When Emmett had awakened almost 3 hours later, my room was chaos. There were various piles that I was going through, throwing things away, putting others in a pile for storage, or for donations.

I glanced up from my bag when I saw movement. Emmett was waving his arm.

'What are you doing?'

"I'm cleaning."

'Are you sure cleaning is the right word?'

My room was now almost finished. I had all the trash and dangerous stuff gone, and I was working on organizing before I tackled scrubbing.

I was in the middle of putting various things on a high shelf when there was a knock behind me. I turned, and Emmett leaned against the door frame, an amused look on his face.

'You remember we have an appointment today, right?'

"Yeah, but not for another few hours."

'It's in 30 minutes.'

"What? No, it's..." I looked at my phone, which had the baby's playlist going. "It's in 30 minutes. I've spent 7 hours on this? How am I not done yet?" I looked down at my pajamas and rushed to my closet, quickly changing. I didn't pay attention to what I wore, and when I turned, Emmett smiled widely. "What?"

'Your shirt.'

I frowned slightly and looked down. Over my belly, it read, 'Daddy did it'.

"Ok, yeah, you like the shirt. We're going to be late."

'It's your fault.'

"It's my instincts fault, my mom told me."

I made my way downstairs and out to the car, automatically getting into the passenger's seat. While I could still drive, it was getting harder and harder to fit behind the wheel, so it was just easier to let someone else do it.

It wasn't long until we were at the doctor's, and we made our way inside with minutes to spare.

While we sat to wait, I started making a mental list. What rooms I needed to still clean, how stocked was the nursery, what all we needed to still get at the baby store, it went on and on. I didn't notice when my name was called until Emmett nudged me.

'I think that's us.'

I looked up at the woman waiting. "Bay?"

"Oh! Yeah, sorry." I stood and made my way back with Emmett. The beginning of the appointment was so routine, I didn't notice it, my mind once again drifting. How old did the baby have to be before we started to baby proof? We would need those latches for cupboards and the fridge, but I doubted we would need any for a new born. Better get them early anyway, just to have them on hand. There were a couple more tests run before Natalie came in without the dreaded blue robe.

"Really?"

"I'm not going to do another, except maybe at the end of the pregnancy."

"That's amazing." Interpreting was like second nature at this point, signing what I said as well as Natalie.

"I thought you might like that." She grinned and grabbed her stethoscope. "So, how are you feeling? Anything new or different?"

"According to my mom, I started nesting today."

"Cleaning, huh?"

"I spent 7 hours on my room and I'm still not done."

"What about the baby? Any movement?"

Emmett grinned and nodded. 'Yes.'

"Dad's feeling it now, too, huh? That's great. Fair warning, though, that just means it's not long until you really start to feel it. You're going to be convinced there's a little soccer player in there, and it might hurt. Have you felt any kind of pain?"

"You mean, aside from my back? And breasts? And feet?"

"New pain. If you had felt it, you would know. There is something called Braxton Hicks contractions. They're like training contractions, getting you ready for labor. They're something that you've almost always had, starting at about 6 weeks, but in the third trimester is when women start to feel them. Some women swear up and down that they've never had them before, and that's fine, they just didn't feel anything. But if you do feel them, it could be at any time. It can be something minor, something like cramps, or it could be more intense and have you convinced the baby's coming."

"Ok."

She smiled and got her stethoscope, listening for the baby's heartbeat, feeling around, taking measurements, her usual tasks. When she finished, she wrote down a few notes and sat back. "Ok! Almost done. Now that you're into your third trimester-"

"I'm in my last trimester?"

"Starting this week. Congratulations, you're almost there. Anyway, now that you're into your third trimester, your appointments are going to be closer together. Every two weeks. Then when you get to 36 weeks, it's going to be every week until the baby comes."

"Wow... It's almost April."

"It's really close. Any questions?"

"Yeah. How am I supposed to get my house ready by April?"

She laughed and shook her head slightly. "Good luck."

...

By the end of the week, I had managed to recruit all the women of my family and Emmett to help me clean. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to get the house clean to my satisfaction.

Now it was time to do my shopping.

Nearly everyone was gone, however. Emmett, Daphne, and Toby were all at school, and as I was so far ahead of everyone else, I had been permission to start my maternity leave as long as I kept Melody updated on where I was in my work. Kathryn was meeting her editor, and Regina was at work. The only one still home was John.

He had been doing pretty well. He hadn't said one nasty comment, not even in a passive aggressive way. He was even almost supportive.

I took a deep breath and made my way to his office, lightly knocking on the door.

"Come in!"

I slowly opened the door and stepped inside. He looked up and smiled.

"Bay! How are you doing? Is something wrong?"

"No. Um, I just... I need to go to the baby store, and it's kind of hard to drive... I was wondering if you could take me? I can wait for Emmett if you're busy, it's no big deal."

"No, no, I'd be happy to take you." His smile seemed to get even wider. He really had come a long way, hadn't he?

"Thanks."

"Just let me finish up here. I'll be right down."

"Ok. Thank you."

He nodded, and I made my way downstairs and outside. John joined me soon after, and he drove me to the baby store.

When I stepped inside, my stomach sank slightly when I saw Simone. I had forgotten she worked her. Still, I began to walk by her when John stopped me.

"There's an electronics store next door, I'm going to take a look. Are you alright here?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

I turned away, and made my way into the store, pushing a cart. I grabbed several baby proofing things, before going down a list of things I had made after taking stock of the nursery. Finally, I went to the clothes. I only picked a few outfits when the ache in my back would no longer be ignored, so I made my way back up to the front to pay. Luckily, Simone was not my cashier, though she refused to look at me when I passed her.

Bags in hand-or cart, I guess-I made my way back out to the car, calling John to let him know I was done.

Writer's block is especially horrible when I know what the story line is, and just can't find the words. I might be updating more quickly, if things go my way, because I want to get this done by Monday. I'll be starting school then, and I know me (if you've been following me for any amount of time, you know me, too). It's taken me 3 years to get this far because life happens and I get distracted. I'm trying, though!