Sandy woke up to the sound of his Kirsten sobbing quietly, not exactly an unusual occurrence of late, pregnancy hormones, and all that good stuff, he checks the clock, 3:47am before rolling over to face her.

Her bump is far more substantial, she looks pregnant, everyday it seems more real, she is 17 weeks along now, she is lying on her side facing him, hands on her tummy, trails of tears she hasn't bothered to wipe away run down her cheeks.

He reaches out to wipe away her tears, softly asking "What's up baby?"

"Nothing, I couldn't sleep so I was just lying here and I felt the baby move, it's a little overwhelming, that's all." She sobs.

Sandy kisses his wife on the forehead before drawing her into a hug, ""Its okay." He says running a hand through her hair, letting her cry against his chest.

Kirsten's sobs finally slow down and stop, she pulls away from Sandy's embrace slightly, "Sorry." She says her voice croaky.

"For what?" Sandy asks as he wriggles back down the bed into a comfortable sleeping position.

"For waking you up at four in the morning." Kirsten replies rolling over and closing her eyes exhausted, one hand twisted up behind her back in its usual position, the other still lying on her belly.

"Is the baby still moving?" Sandy asks yawning.

Kirsten just nods in reply.

"What does it feel like?" Sandy asks sleepy but too compelled to close his eyes.

"Like I have butterflies in my stomach, except a little lower down." She smiled her voice beginning to slur from tiredness.

"Cool." Sandy mumbles as he closes his eyes unable to muster a better response.

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Kirsten's eyes flutter open and the first thing she is aware of is Sandy's absence, quickly followed by the increasing familiar sensation of the baby's movements.

She rolls over, rather awkwardly thanks to her growing belly to check the alarm clock on Sandy's bedside table; the sun is high in the sky, much higher than when she usually wakes she notes, probably because it is 11:55am.

"Damn." She says out loud to no one in particular before remembering that her dad had given her the day off to do some shopping.

She slowly sits up and drags herself towards the bathroom, 25 minutes later she is showered and made up, going through her closet trying to find some clothes to wear, she finally settled on one of Sandy's button down white shirts and a pair of loose fitting linen pants along with a pair of leather flip flops, her feet are already starting to swell.

She gathered up her purse and her car keys deciding that since half the day was already gone she would get something to eat once she was down at the South Coast Plaza.

She was just about to leave when the doorbell rang.

"Hey Julie." She said trying to sound enthusiastic, while things had improved substantially between them Julie Nichol wasn't exactly her favorite person in the world.

"Hi!" Julie exclaimed brightly planting a kiss on Kirsten's cheek, "I'm so happy I didn't miss you, Caleb said that you were going shopping today for maternity clothes, baby furniture, all that stuff, he also said you didn't like being on your own that much and he thought maybe I should come."

"Sure Julie that would be great." Kirsten said hesitantly silently cursing her father, although Julie and Caleb were right she didn't like being alone right now, which was unusual for her, she was normally the type of person who could go days without speaking to anyone and be perfectly happy but for whatever reason she was finding the company of others, even Julie comforting.

"Great, I'll drive." Julie said grabbing the keys from Kirsten's hands.

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Kirsten threw the bags full of shopping she was carrying onto the couch and walked into the kitchen where her three boys were having dinner.

"Hey mom." Seth greeted her.

"Hi Kirsten." Ryan said quietly.

"Hi beautiful." Sandy said getting up and kissing her.

"I'm eating here. Disgusting." Seth said mockingly sticking his fingers down his throat.

"How was your day, Julie wasn't too painful?" Sandy asked resting his head on her shoulder.

"Not too bad, she was surprisingly helpful actually, the only problem my feet have swollen to about 10 times their usual size." Kirsten replied taking a cue from her son and melodramatically sticking her lower lip out into a pout.

"I get the message." Sandy laughed lifting his wife up and carrying her to the couch.

Kirsten lay down and Sandy massaged her feet, she moaned in relief, they sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I think I need to talk to Ryan." Kirsten blurted out suddenly.

"Why?" Sandy asked slightly concerned.

"I'm still worried that he is too on edge, I want to make sure he feels like he is part of this family, part of this. He is too quiet." She said quietly.

"Yeah, I guess." Sandy replied.

Kirsten pulled herself up into a sitting position, "I love you Sandy."

"I love you too" he smiled kissing her.

"I'm gonna talk to him." Kirsten said leaning down to kiss Sandy one last time before walking off to the pool house.