"It looks as though I need to dig out my maternity clothes," Laura said, stepping out of their bathroom in nothing but a bra and underwear and giving Bill a smug look.

Bill lifted his eyes from the book he'd been reading to see Laura standing before him, hands on hips, looking very amused. Suddenly what she was hinting at clicked in his mind and his gaze dropped to her stomach. She noticed and turned to the side to give him a better view.

"I'm showing, Bill." She said with a tone that was a mixture of elation and dread. Laura was undoubtedly excited about this pregnancy, but at the same time, she wasn't quite ready to get huge again.

"I rather like the outfit you have on now." Bill said sarcastically.

"Oh, aren't we funny?" Laura retorted, crawling into bed to sit beside him. His lips immediately quirked upward.

"You know it." He winked at her, earning an impressive eye roll in return. He reached out and covered the bare flesh of her belly with his hand.

"This little one is already growing up too fast," Laura sighed, running her fingers over the back of his hand. Bill laughed wholeheartedly.

"You can't be thinking that way already. He or she isn't even born yet for frak's sake!" Bill said lightly.

"I know, I know." Laura gave him an appreciative glance, silently thanking him for the use of "he or she" as opposed to "it". She'd made it very clear during the early stages of her first pregnancy that no child of hers would be referred to as an it, even if she had been guilty of saying it a few times as well.

Bill kissed her on the cheek and nudged her a bit with his shoulder. She giggled at his attempts to lighten her mood and moved to rest her head on his shoulder.

"I love you," she said with a soft voice. She'd been reluctant to tell Bill she loved him at the beginning of their relationship, but after the first time, she found she couldn't stop telling him. She told him every single day.

"I love you too."

"Bill what are you doing, you're getting paint everywhere!" Laura exclaimed as she watched him drip a fair amount of paint on the floor, which was luckily covered with newspapers.

"Frak!" Was his mumbled reply.

"You better clean up that language before this baby is born," Laura laughed, but was cut short when Bill dragged the paint brush across her cheek. She stared at him in shock. "Bill!"

"I'm so sorry, my hand just slipped," he said playfully.

"Oh I'm sure it did," she replied, using her own brush to paint a large line down his bare arm.

"Do you really think it's wise to start a paint fight when we're already doing this so late?" Bill asked. Obviously he did not want a taste of his own medicine in this particular situation. He did, however, have a point. They had waited a little too long to paint the baby's room, and now they only had just under three months to get it finished.

"You started this and you know it." Laura said, crossing her arms over her chest. Bill started to sigh, but his sigh quickly dissolved into giggles. Laura's mock glare could not be taken even the least bit seriously when her face was streaked with purple paint. Laura had decided the day they found out they were having a girl that she didn't want her to have a pink room and Bill agreed. They'd debated the subject lightly over the course of Laura's pregnancy and one week prior to the actual painting, they had finally decided on a nice lavender with mint green accents.

"Yes and I'm stopping it before it gets out of hand." Bill said firmly, then pulled her in for a kiss.

"You'd better get back to work. The bottom half of that wall isn't going to paint itself, and gods know I won't be doing it." Laura said, gesturing to her growing belly.

"Yes, Madame President!" He barked, giving her a salute. She grinned and gave him one last kiss before returning to painting the parts of the wall that didn't require her to do any crouching on the floor.

Laura's eyes shot open as she heard the distant sound of crying coming from down the hall. She sat up in bed, listening for a moment. It was Venus. She didn't waste any time getting to Venus's room, and when she did she found her daughter crying into her pillow.

"Venus, what's the matter?" She asked softly, but also urgently. She placed her hand on her child's back and rubbed it slowly.

"I had a bad dream," Venus wailed, reaching her arms out for her mother. Laura was quick to pick her up and began rocking her back and forth.

"Shh, it's okay. I promise it's okay. Mommy's here."

Venus's cries only grew louder as she tightened her hold on Laura's nightgown. Laura was at a bit of a loss about what to do. Venus had never had a nightmare before, or if she had, she'd forgotten it soon after waking up. Laura herself was no stranger to nightmares, and therefore she found herself thinking, 'how would I want to be comforted?'

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Bill asked with an understandable amount of concern. Venus had increased the volume of her cries once again, causing him to practically jump out of bed.

"She had a bad dream," Laura said loudly, trying to talk over her daughter's sobbing.

"Oh my gods, about what?" He couldn't imagine what kind of dream could possibly have a three year old this upset. Laura shrugged and gave him a pleading look. She truly didn't know how to help her calm down.

"How about we take her back to our room and let her sleep with us?" Bill suggested. Venus nodded against Laura's chest in agreement.

"Alright, let's go then," Laura soothed, continuing to bounce as she walked and rub circles on Venus's back.

Once they were all settled in, Bill on his side of the bed, Laura on hers, and Venus in between them, Laura attempted to ask Venus about her nightmare.

"Sweetheart, do you want to tell mommy about your dream?" She asked, running her fingers through her daughter's auburn curls. Venus shook her head.

"Okay, you don't have to." Laura told her. She certainly wasn't going to force her to talk about it. Perhaps it was better to let her forget it as soon as possible.

Venus's cries had died down to quiet sniffling, and Laura had thought of something to distract her from whatever it was she'd dreamed up. Without saying anything more, Laura rolled up the fabric of her nightgown, leaving her stomach exposed.

"Venus, look." She whispered, catching her daughter's interest.

"You see this little bump?" Laura asked, tapping the small curve of her belly with her index finger. Venus nodded.

"Is that baby?" She asked in fascination.

"It is," Laura confirmed with a wide smile. She then took Venus's hand and placed it on her abdomen. She scrunched her nose up and smiled at Laura.

"It feels funny," she said.

"Soon enough you'll be able to feel your little brother or sister moving around in there," Laura told her excitedly. Venus's eyes widened.

"I want a sister." Venus said sternly.

"Hmm, that's not up to us. You'll just have to wait and see," Laura explained.

"Kay," Venus nodded, "If it's a brother I'll love him anyway."

Bill, who had been silently enjoying this moment, chuckled.

"That's very nice of you," he said.

Laura yawned and closed her eyes momentarily.

"Mommy's sleepy," Venus whispered. She tugged her mother's arm gently, trying to get her to lay down, and Laura certainly didn't need any more persuasion than that.

"Good night mommy. Good night daddy," Venus said, and Laura could have sworn she heard a much quieter 'good night baby' as well.

"Bill," Laura whispered loudly, shaking his shoulder.

"Huh?" he groaned.

"Bill." She said again, completely out loud this time.

"What, what is it?" He rolled over to face her, suddenly feeling very alert.

"You've got to see this," she said as she rolled up her shirt. Bill stared, seeing what she was talking about right away. He could see their baby moving around. The outline of what looked like a small hand appeared, then disappeared again.

"Ooh that one felt... strange."

"It looked strange," Bill smirked, "Wow look at her, she can't keep still."

"I've never seen her move around like this before. I mean, I feel her all the time and I occasionally see outlines, but not like this," Laura beamed.

The next outline resembled a foot, and Bill leaned in to plant a soft kiss against Laura's belly. She smiled and hummed, tickling the spot where the foot was still visible. It disappeared and reappeared again, causing Laura to smile even brighter.

"I can't wait to meet her," Bill said.

"I can't either. She's going to be so beautiful."

"Mm, just like her mother."

Laura blushed and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I thought of another name," Laura said suddenly.

"Oh?" Bill turned all of his attention to her. They'd been having trouble finding a name that felt right, and they wanted to have one picked before their daughter was born.

"Venus." She told him. There was a moment of silence and Laura feared he didn't like it.

"Laura, it's perfect," he breathed.

"Really?" She asked. He nodded.

"I love it," he said, kissing her hand.

"I'm so glad. Venus is going to be wonderful," she said, rubbing her belly lovingly.

"That she is," Bill confirmed.