Ben and Ciara went to bed at 11 p.m. Both of them had to work in the morning.

Ciara was only asleep for an hour before she was awake again. Bo was kicking like crazy.

She tossed and turned for a while before getting up.

She went to the living room and paced back and forth, hoping the movement would calm him down.

Ciara tried rubbing her belly and talking to him, but nothing worked.

She sat on the couch and watched TV for a while. He started to settle a bit, then got active again.

" Little man, Mommy really needs to get some sleep."

" Don't you want Mommy to sleep?"

Ciara ran her hand over her belly and tried to relax.

Bo continued to kick while Ciara talked to him.

"You're supposed to be active during the day so Mommy can sleep at night."

"Mommy loves you, but she also really loves sleep."

Bo gave Ciara two kicks where her hand was.

Back in the bedroom, Ben was sound asleep; he rolled over and felt Ciara's side empty.

Ben opened his eyes and saw she was gone.

He sat up and saw the bathroom door was open; he got out of bed and walked to the living room.

" Hey babe, everything okay?"

" Sorry, did I wake you?"

" No, I rolled over and felt your side empty."

"Bo is kicking up a storm. So I can't sleep."

Ben sat next to Ciara and put his hand on her belly.

Ben felt the strong kicks from Bo.

" Did you try talking to him?"

" I tried everything, talking to him, rubbing my belly, walking around, nothing is working."

" You should go back to sleep; I'll stay here for a while and see if I can get him to calm down."

" If you're staying up, I am too."

They watched TV together. Ciara yawned and said, " I am so tired."

" Why don't we try going back to bed?"

" I can't, he's way too active."

Ben placed his hand on Ciara's belly and started talking.

" Hey buddy, it's time to calm down so Mommy can go to sleep."

Bo responded with a big kick to Ciara's rib cage.

" Ow!"

" What's wrong?"

" He doesn't like your idea. He just kicked my rib cage."

" Can I get you something to eat?"

" No, I'm not hungry."

" Maybe if I give you a foot massage, you'll relax, and so will he."

Ben started rubbing her feet and watched as she began to relax.

" That feels so good."

" Yeah?"

" Yeah, you are really good at this."

" What does Bo think?"

" Little guy has the hiccups now," Ciara said, laughing.

" We can't win. First, Bo won't stop kicking. Now Bo has hiccups."

Ciara rubbed her belly while Ben rubbed her feet.

" I have to get some sleep. I have to work in the morning."

" I'm sorry you can't sleep."

" It's fine; why don't you go back to bed? It's 3 a.m."

" Are you sure?"

" Yes, I'm sure. I'll try taking a warm shower and see if that calms Bo down."

Ciara stepped into the shower and let the warm water run over her. She closed her eyes and ran her hands over her belly.

Ben stepped in a minute later and wrapped his arms around her.

" Hmm, I thought you went back to bed?"

Ciara leaned back against him while he kissed her neck and ran his hands over her belly."

" I couldn't without you."

" Baby, it's almost 4:30. You've got to be up at 7 for work."

" We are in this together. If you're up, I'm up."

Ciara turned to face him and said, " I love you so much."

" I love you."

Ciara kissed Ben; she wrapped her arms around his neck and put her forehead on his.

" I am so tired," Ciara said as they swayed back and forth.

" Let's get you in bed."

Ben kissed Ciara and then helped her out of the shower; they put on their pajamas and got in bed.

" Does he still have hiccups?"

" Nope, back to kicking."

" I've got one more thing to try."

Ben got out of bed and walked out of the room.

" Where are you going?"

" One second."

Ben returned with a book from the nursery.

" Let's try reading to him."

Ben kissed her belly and then started reading to Bo.

Ciara ran her fingers through his hair and listened to him read to their son.

The more Ben read the calmer Bo seemed to get.

" He likes Daddy's voice."

" Yeah?"

" Yep, he's calmed down a lot, keep reading."

Ben continued to read and run his hand over her belly. When he finished the book, Ciara was sound asleep, and Bo was no longer kicking.

Ben looked at the clock. It read 6 a.m. He grabbed his phone and sent a text to work.

" Just getting to bed now. Baby kept Ciara up all night. Won't make it to work today."

Ben sent the text and waited for a reply.

Ben sent a text to Ciara's work and waited for replies from both.

" No problem, get some sleep."

" Tell Ciara to rest up; don't worry about work."

Ben covered Ciara up and lay next to her. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.

When Ben woke up and looked at the clock, it was noon.

Ciara stirred next to him and opened her eyes.

" Hi."

" Hey, how are you feeling?"

" Much better now that I've gotten some sleep. What time is it?"

" Noon.

" We were supposed to go to work."

" I texted and said we couldn't make it."

" Thank you."

Ciara cuddled up to Ben.

" This is nice."

" It is."

" Can we stay like this all day?"

" Whatever you want, babe."

Ciara kissed Ben and cuddled as close as she could.

Ben heard Ciara's stomach growl, and Ciara just laughed.

" I guess I better eat something."

" What would you like? I'll bring it to you."

"Pancakes."

" Coming right up."

Ben went to make pancakes while Ciara sat in bed.

Ciara ran her hands over her belly and said, " You have the best daddy who stays up late with us, brings us breakfast in bed, and reads stories."

Ben returned with a tray.

" Here we go, pancakes for my beautiful wife."

" Thank you, baby."

Ben climbed into bed, and they shared the stack of pancakes he made.

They spent the rest of the day in bed talking, kissing, and cuddling after being up all night.