"Do you need anything else?" Shawn asked, his hand lingering on the wiggling baby's foot that was poking out of Juliet's side.

"No, go," Juliet leaned forward to kiss her husband on the cheek, giving him permission to leave. Not that he actually needed it. But over the last month, he had spent every possible moment by her side, afraid to leave her alone.

"I'm gonna solve this case so fast. It will be a new SBPD record. Just watch."

"Well, go find the right person, please." Juliet reminded him. She ran her fingers down his arms, trying to calm his mind. She knew he had been feeling anxious. After spending the entire day sitting in bed, falling asleep was never at the top of her list when the lights in the room faded to dark. She would lay awake, breathing softly as to not disturb Shawn, as she felt him rolling around next to her, unable to ease his own mind to rest.

"I love you," Shawn said, leaning in to kiss her again. "And I love you," he said, planting a kiss on her belly. She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair before watching him walk out the bedroom door. She could hear the front door close in the distance and just like that, the house was quiet again.

Day in and day out, Shawn would go to work, or go out with Gus or pick Lily up from school. Juliet didn't mind that he was leaving. In fact, she was glad that he had an outlet for his nerves because she could tell just by the way he would bounce around the house, his ADD pulling him in and out of each room, that his nerves were starting to get the best of him. Nerves about her and the baby, nerves about his dad, even nerves for Lassiter. Everything that happened was weighing so heavily on her husband as he stood on the side and watched the world beat up on those closest to him.

No, it wasn't Shawn leaving that would bother her. It was the fact that sitting alone in an empty house, unable to leave the bed reminded her of when she was sick. Being stuck to a bed with only the books she stacked on the bedside table for entertainment made her feel like she had cancer again. It made her feel like those last few weeks of treatment, before her surgery, when work was completely out of the question and she was instructed to spend every day "resting."

It wasn't like she had gotten any rest anyways. Being so exhausted you can barely keep your eyes open but so sure you were going to die that you start writing your obituary in your head doesn't promote calm the way it might seem on paper. But even then she could sit on the couch for more than an hour.

She felt so trapped. So useless.

You're helping your baby, she reminded herself again. One of the most recent ultrasound pictures sat on her bedside table and she picked it up, running her fingertip over the little face and tiny hand.

"I can't wait to meet you," Juliet whispered to the wiggling bump. "But you take your time. Okay?"

She would spend her days telling the baby stories about her life and about Shawn and how much they loved her. Days ran together, the passage of time marked only by her frequent visits to Dr. Johnson's office, making sure everything was still going according to plan, as if any of this was actually part of the plan.

She did have Lily's birthday party to look forward to. After telling Marlowe that she and Shawn could host it in their backyard, Juliet had spent the next week planning out party favors and entertainment, sending Shawn and Gus on runs to the party store to pick up snacks and toys. Never would she have thought she would be so excited for a five year old's birthday party. But when it was that or staring at the wall, Juliet was happy for the distraction. There was only so much Dance Moms she could watch before she actually thought she would lose her mind.

Eventually, the day of the party came. Shawn and Gus set up Frozen decorations in the living room while Juliet and Selene dictated from the couch, Selene's hand constantly on Juliet's belly.

"Wow!" Marlowe said as Lily raced up the stairs from the front door and jumped on the couch next to Juliet.

"Happy birthday, Lily!" Juliet said, wrapping the little girl in a hug.

"Thank you, Auntie Julie."

"And what do we say to Shawn and Gus for decorating the house so pretty for your party?" Marlowe prompted.

"Thank you, Spencer. Thank you, Guster."

"You're welcome, Lil' Lassie!"

"Should we call Daddy before all your friends come?" Marlowe asked, joining the rest of the girls on the couch. "He said we could call him before the party starts."

He said because I told him he had to, Juliet thought, remembering the last time she had talked to her partner. How difficult he had been to talk to. It was like he wasn't even there. She could see him, but his mind felt a million miles away. The conversation had ended abruptly after he had snapped a short "fine" at her and struggled to hang up the phone. It was hard to not wish for things to go back to normal when those were the conversations she was stuck having with him now.

"Hi Daddy!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the couch, making Juliet feel a little queasy.

"Hi, Lilypad!" Juliet looked down at the phone and saw what appeared to be a smile on Carlton's face. He looked almost normal. Almost.

"Look at my party! Spencer and Guster decorated it for me!"

Lily pulled the phone away from her mom's hands and ran around the room, showing off the decorations.

"He seems good," Marlowe said, caution and hope simultaneously filling her voice. Juliet understood the feeling. It was the same one that was filling her own chest at that exact same moment.

That is, until Lily asked, "Daddy, why can't you come to my party?" She had moved back onto the couch, her head resting on Juliet's arm.

She watched his face change. The forced happiness fell away and behind it, Juliet could see the sadness and exhaustion that was collecting in the dark circles under his eyes and the fresh wrinkles on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Lilypad." He said, looking down. "I have to stay here."

"But why?"

"They're helping me get better here. So that I can come home."

"But I want you to come home now, Daddy." Juliet felt tears falling onto her arm.

"I'm sorry. I can't come home now. I have to stay here."

"Daddy has to stay there right now," Juliet offered, trying to help Carlton explain, "But he's working so hard to come back home to you."

"I hate it there!" Lily cried, jumping up. Juliet tried to pull her into a tighter hug, but her growing stomach prevented any attempts as Lily wiggled her way off the couch and disappeared down the hallway. "I want you to come home!" Her voice trailed off as a door slammed shut.

"Lily!" Marlowe cried out behind her, glancing over at Juliet before handing the phone to her and running off after her daughter.

Juliet watched Carlton on the screen.

"Stop it!" He hissed quietly, his gaze fixed on something on the other side of the camera.

She was about to ask him who he was talking to when the screen went black. She looked up. Shawn and Gus were bickering about something in hushed tones and Selene was already up in the kitchen, arranging one of the snack baskets. No one had seen him, but she had. He was talking to someone, but she was fairly certain there was no one there.

The rest of the party went out without a hitch. After Gus lulled Lily out of the spare room turned nursery-to-be by reviving the Olaf Halloween costume, she had a great day. The kids from her preschool class all had fun with all the games Juliet had planned for them, and Lily seemed to forget about her little meltdown once everyone had arrived.

Juliet tried to enjoy herself, watching the kids play in the backyard from one of the porch swings on the deck, but she couldn't stop thinking about Carlton. She hadn't seen him looking that directly at anything since before his stroke.

Something was wrong with him.

Every inch of her detective's mind was pulling the pieces of the puzzle together, making sense of the last month as it worked. Something bad was happening to him. He needed help.

She needed to get to him.

Now.

Stupid bedrest.