"I think we just brought new meaning to the phrase "Shop 'til you drop," Jo commented, sliding into the passenger seat and closing her eyes for a brief moment.

"It's that good kind of tired though," Lindsay agreed, sitting back and not starting the car.

"And I still want to go back tomorrow. There was that entire section of that antique store we didn't even look at."

"I know. I think that if I spend any more money though Adam's going to start demanding receipts and he doesn't need to know how much lemonade we bought at the flea market drink stand, now does he?"

"I totally support lying to your husband. Besides, I think you made out pretty well for getting a couch and a dining room table and all the other stuff you got for less than three hundred bucks."

"I think so too. Now I wonder if Adam's at the house so he can unload some of this stuff for me."

"He can do that and I'll make us lunch and you can put your feet up because I know they're killing you right about now."

Lindsay nodded and started the car, looking into the back to double check that they'd closed the hatch and nothing was going to tumble out on the expressway.

"I'll borrow Tyler's truck tomorrow and Mac and I can go get that couch and the table for you."

"Are you sure? It's only twenty bucks for delivery."

"I'm sure, Besides, it'll be nice to see Mac do some heavy lifting."

"Oh gross."

Jo snickered and Lindsay shook her head, turning the radio up a little.

"Nothing like some country music on a day like this."

"Nothing like country music, period."

"Of course, this is the version where Ludacris raps in the middle of it."

"Who?"

"Jo, you've got to get out more."

"I spent a lot of my young life getting out, I don't have the energy for that anymore."

"You're not that old, woman."

"I feel that old occasionally."

"Well maybe. But so do I."

"Very funny Lindsay. Very funny."

The drive back took another twenty minutes and by the time they arrived at the house they had both slipped into soft southern twangs, singing along with the country greats and rolling the windows down for the fresh air. Adam had said he was on his way to the house with the boys and some groceries and he'd unload the car for them.

They were slowly getting things moved in, Danny and Adam had spent an entire day making trips back and forth with boxes and the apartment was almost completely cleared out. There were just a few big pieces of furniture left. The house needed to be painted still and Adam wasn't going to let Lindsay do it, but she refused to set things up until the walls were done, so they were at an impasse. It had been a slightly grumpy conversation before she'd left that morning, ending with her arms crossed over her chest while he hugged her and told her they could paint next summer, but he wasn't going to have her do it while she was pregnant. She didn't like it, but that was the way things worked and she was just going to have to live with it. The paint she'd bought already would still be good in a year so it didn't matter too much.

They pulled up outside the house and got out of the car, grabbing the few things they could out of the car before heading inside. Adam and the boys arrived just as they got to the door, so they waited for him to come and open it.

"Geez babe, did you buy out every flea market from here to Timbucktu?"

"No," she answered shortly while he struggled with the new key. He threw a look at her over his shoulder and she half scowled back, knowing that there was no reason that they should still be upset with each other, but not ready to forget the frustrations either.

"Mama, what did you get?"

"Just a couple things. I'll show you when we get inside."

"We should hurry, I gotta go pee."

"How polite of you to say."

"Sorry. I mean I need to take a leak."

Jo snickered as Adam finally got the door open and they stepped inside.

"What the heck?" he mumbled, stopping in the doorway.

"What?"

"We have painter elves."

Lindsay peeked around him and saw that the living room walls were now the light blue she had picked out.

"Adam…"

"I had nothing to do with this."

"I told you they were comin' back!" Austin hollered, coming around the corner, her clothes covered in different colors of paint, with one green streak on her nose. "Hey guys."

"Austin, did you do what I think you did?"

"Yes and we sang painting songs while we did it."

"You Lorelai'd my house!"

"It wasn't because of a ratty transgression, but it was because I love you. We started at the top and worked down and the guys are just taking all the tape off."

"Are you serious?" she asked, stepping into the living room.

"Yep. And we might have spilled a little bit of paint on the floor but…"

"Leave it. I like it like that."

Austin chuckled as Lindsay surveyed the room, suddenly overcome with hormones and gratitude, not able to stop herself from tearing up.

"Oh you big blubber," Austin chuckled, shoving Lindsay's shoulder.

"Oh you big boy," Lindsay shot back, wiping her eyes.

"You only had to say "well that happened" one time for me to know what happened and that you needed a little help."

"I owe you big time."

"Make me some of that apple pie and we'll be even."

"You did everything? Like… really?"

"Yeah. Started last night, slept a few hours, finished this morning. Flack and I only got in one paint fight and Jess only had to grab Danny by the ear once. It was quite successful."

"I can't even…"

"Come upstairs, you need to see how it looks. We've been airing it out all night so it's not paint-fumey anymore."

Lindsay set her handful of purchases on the floor and followed Austin up the stairs.

"Hey Aust?"

"Yeah?"

"Y'all got a paint handprint on your butt."

"Daniel Dominic Messer!"

They heard a loud manly laughter from around the corner, then reached the top of the stairs where Jess was standing with a paint handprint on her chest.

"Um, Jess…"

"Don't say one word."

"Long night?"

"Men are infantile."

Lindsay giggled as they rounded the corner and went up the last flight of stairs. The green she'd picked out for the bedroom looked even better than she'd imagined and she stood there for a moment, taking it all in.

"You like it?"

"It's… perfect."

"Well you picked it, we just did the messy part. Do you feel a little less stressed out now?"

"Much less. Thank you."

"We just didn't want you to go into early labor due to frustration with your husband."

"I appreciate that."

"So what did you get?"

"Just some stuff," Lindsay replied, putting the groceries into the fridge while the boys laid on the floor in the entry way filling their coloring books with scribbles.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad at you."

"That crisper drawer would beg to differ babe. You're mad at me."

"I'm not mad, I'm irritated."

"Because I wanted you to not be irritated and that irritated you?"

"Adam," she sighed, tipping her head back and leaning it against the counter while closing her eyes. It only took about two seconds for her to realize what she had done and by then it was too late to fix it because he'd already stepped closer and pressed his lips to her neck.

"I'm tryin' to make up here," he whispered, settling his hands on her hips. "You're not makin' it easier."

"So you think you're going to seduce me and I'll forget the argument?"

"Isn't that what normally happens?"

"Adam."

She said it a little more firmly and he backed off a little, still keeping his hands on her.

"Could you please just try to listen to me when I'm stressed out?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, it's just sometimes the joking around makes it easier on you. I forget that sometimes that's not the best way to do things. I'm sorry sweetie."

"It's okay. I should have told you I didn't want to joke about it."

"Okay. Are we fine now?"

"We're fine now. What else do we need to get done today?"

"I was going to put the boys beds together, but that means I'd have to put ours together se we can stay here tonight. And if that's the case we're going to have to unpack all our clothes and bathroom stuff and I don't know if you have the energy for that."

"I'm game if you're game. Is our bed even here?"

"Yeah, Danny helped me bring it upstairs when you took the boys to the park."

"I guess we could stay here tonight. What's left at the apartment?"

"Just the entertainment center and the piano and the cat and the dog."

"Maybe we should go get the cat and the dog. Lest they kill each other or conspire against us."

"I can run home and get them while you make dinner, then put the beds together while the boys have a bath. And maybe on the way home I'll stop and get a pie that we can eat once they're asleep."

"You're a good planner, babe."

"Been married to you long enough. Might as well learn something."

She smiled and hugged him, feeling all the stress go away.

"So really, what did you buy today?"

"I got a new kitchen table because ours is small. I got a couch but it needs to be recovered. I found desks for the boys and a couple other odds and ends."

"I'll ask how much you spent later. Do I have enough time to run and get the pets?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Gonna take a kid with you?"

"Yeah. Colton, you want to come with me?"

"Okay daddy. Ben, don't color my pages."

"'Kay."

They left the house and Ben looked up at Lindsay, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Hey mama?"

"Hey Ben?"

"Hungry."

"I know. I'm going to start dinner in a few minutes."

He stood up and walked over to her, climbing up on the stool and sitting down on the counter.

"Something on your mind?"

"Our house?"

"Yes, this is our house."

"Two house?"

"No, we don't have two houses. Our old house is going to be someone else's new house."

"Oh! Ben and Cole sleep 'stairs?"

"Yes, you sleep upstairs in that nice bedroom in your own bed with those brand new big boy sheets."

"Mama and daddy 'stairs?"

"Daddy and I sleep up some more stairs, that's right."

"Far 'way."

"Ben are you scared of being too far away from me and daddy at night?"

He nodded his head and she chuckled, hugging him tightly.

"It will be okay honey. Colton will be in the same room as you and so will Qwerty. And if you need me in the night all you have to do is call for me, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll tell you what. If you feel like you're too scared and you can't sleep tonight, then you can come and sleep with me and daddy for just one night. Okay?"

"Ben brave mama."

"That's my boy. Want to help me make dinner?"

"Nope."

"You want to sit there and watch while I make dinner?"

"Yep," he giggled stealing a grape out of the bowl. "Kiss, mama."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him, then found some hot dogs in the fridge and set them on the counter before filling a pot with water and putting it on the stove.

"Hothots, mama?"

"Yes, hot dogs. Daddy didn't do the greatest shopping in the world but at least he got something I can turn into dinner."

"Mac-oni?"

"You want some macaroni?"

"Yeah!"

"If daddy got some, I'll make some."

He nodded and continued to eat grapes, peeling them and dropping the skins into the sink before popping them in his mouth. Lindsay had never seen such behavior before, but she didn't mind it, and continued to make dinner until Adam and Colton returned.

"Daddy, Chewy is trying to get away!"

"You can let him down now. All the doors are closed, he won't get out of the house."

Colton dropped the cat on the floor and they watched him run and hide behind some boxes.

"I thought we could eat outside tonight."

"Maybe. We'll have to watch it though, I think it might storm."

"Okay. Ready in a few minutes."

"Mama!"

Lindsay sighed and rubbed her eyes, wishing she could just tell Ben to tough it out. She had no idea he would be up so many times in the night. The thunderstorm probably didn't help but he'd slept through them before.

"Want me to get him?" Adam offered, rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Absolutely dear, please get up and tend to your child."

He didn't move and she sighed.

"Don't worry babe, I'll do it."

"Mama!"

She got out of bed and spent a moment regaining her balance before making her way to the boys room. Ben was sitting up in bed, sniffling with his knees pulled up to his chest.

"What's the matter now baby?"

"Scary!"

"What are you scared of?"

He hiccupped and she sighed, pulling the blankets down and settling him beneath them again.

"Okay, it's time for sleep."

"Mama stay."

"No, you need to learn to sleep by yourself."

"Big bed! Mama say!"

"Well mama changed her mind. You need to learn to sleep in here. There's nothing scary in the house."

He sniffled and her heart broke for him. She knew it was important for him to learn to sleep in his own bed, but tonight neither one of them was going to get any sleep if they kept doing this.

"Okay, I'll sleep with you tonight okay? But tomorrow you sleep in here by yourself like a big boy, alright?"

He nodded and she laid down, yawning while he snuggled as close to her as he could. She rubbed his back up and down, the same way she did for Adam when he couldn't sleep. Ben sighed and put his thumb in his mouth and she watched him in the soft glow of the nightlight as he fell asleep. She was suddenly struck with how hard this three kids thing was going to be. It was hard enough with two, stretching her time between them, making sure they both had what they needed. How was she going to do it with an infant too? She knew how much time babies take, she knew how hard it was, especially those first few weeks with little sleep. It wasn't often that she wished for her mom, but she knew she was going to need an extra pair of hands while Adam was at work.

It could have been exhaustion or the stress of the day or hormones or everything put together, but soon a wave of tears overtook her. Her shoulders shook and she tried to be quiet, but soon she felt a tiny hand on her shoulder.

"Mama? What's the matter? Why are you crying? Are you sick again?"

"No baby," she assured as Colton crawled up into bed with them. "It's just been a long day."

"Do you like our house?"

"I love our house."

"You still happy about the baby?"

"Yeah, I am. It's just kind of scary."

"Why? You think you will drop him?"

"No," she chuckled. "I just worry that I won't have enough time for you and Ben and the baby."

"You will have time, mama. I can help take care of Ben and the new brother. Then I could stay up later than them and you can have time left for me."

She smiled and hugged him as best she could in the position she was laying in.

"It will be all okay and happy mama. You will see."

He kissed her cheek then went back to his own bed. He was right. It would be okay and happy afterall.