I shut the car door behind me squinting my eyes against the bright afternoon sunshine and all but crawled towards the door of the house. I don't honestly think I'd ever been so tired in my entire life. I was tired enough that even the lush grass of the front yard looked inviting. I could have just laid down right there on the lawn and fallen asleep... but then I had to wonder what the neighbors would think. I'd been warned more than a few times by various friends and aquantainces that the final months of pregnancy would be less than fun... but really, this pregnancy was kicking ass and taking numbers.

"Aj," I whined as I threw my shoes off at the door and tossed my bag haphazardly into the closet. I secretly hoped he would come running from wherever he was in the house and carry me to bed like in a scene from a romantic movie. It could play out right there in my living room and the two of us could be the actors. Of course, real life ain't that romantic. When he still hadn't answered after a minute or two I slowly made my way into our bedroom where I quickly undressed and tossed my scrubs into the hamper. The master bath had never looked so inviting, staring at me from across the room, taunting me with its very existence.

Shower time.

The heat felt good against my aching body as I stood beneath the shower and let the water cascade along my very pregnant figure. I sighed heavily when I looked down towards the bottom of the tub and realized I could no longer see my feet. Why was it that no matter how many times you'd been warned of these things, you were never quite prepared when they actually occured? I felt huge and massive and whale-like and well... any other word that could possibly describe how gigantic I'd grown.

My eyelids grew heavier as I turned off the water and stepped out of the tub. I dried off as quickly as I possibly could and threw on some comfortable sweats. I had every intention of grabbing an ice cold lemonade from the fridge and climbing into bed for a good long nap.

"Jess?" I heard his voice echoing down the hallway and his footsteps on the wooden stairs, "Jess babe, you back there?"

I sighed, thankful he was home and hopeful that I could just lay down in the bed and he would fetch my lemonade for me while I got busy with the whole idea of snoozing off my exhaustion. "I'm here."

He walked in the room, a grin on his face a mile wide and paint smears covering the front of what once had been my favorite t-shirt to steal out of his drawer and wear when he wasn't home. I honestly didn't even want to know what sort of distruction he was causing... and where.

"Um," I said walking over to where he stood in the doorway and pointing to the paint smears, "what's all this here?"

His smile widened, "I have a surprise! Come with me."

First of all... I wasn't really much for surprises. I mean who doesn't love a good surprise on their birthday or Christmas... or even your wedding anniversary. But a surprise that comes complete with a husband bedecked in a paint splattered t-shirt, I didn't know if I wanted to see. And secondly... I just really wanted to sleep.

"Come on babe!"

I yawned as he took my hand and pulled me anxiously towards the bedroom door. I sighed heavily as the bedroom, and the bed where I should be comfortably curled up, slipped from my view. He dragged me up the stairs and I mean dragged... how else is a pregnant woman supposed to get up a flight of stairs?... and stopped in front of the closed nursery doorway.

I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. Oh now, THIS was good. This, the man who hadn't even wanted to think about a nursery four weeks ago was now actually PAINTING one. I had to see this.

He slowly opened the door and I gasped when I walked inside. It was beautiful. He'd finished putting up the wainscoat, it was white and looked like narrow pieces of wood that came halfway up the wall, and he'd painted the entire rest of the room in the sage green color we had choosen. The changing table was put together and resting in it's proper position in the corner and he'd even set up the stroller and the papasan baby swing.

I had to wipe a tear that had leaked from my eye and settled somewhere around my lips. Was this really the man I'd been nervous to even tell I was pregant? Nervous that he wasn't ready for a baby? That we weren't ready for a baby? He'd proven me wrong at every single turn and because of his willingness to be such a great husband and future father, our marriage had only become that much stronger. He'd come to every doctor's visit, held my hair through months of morning sickness, went out and bought my middle of the night cravings and even sat through the baby shower, all with a smile on his face and an eagerness to share in every experience.

I walked over to the changing table and brushed my hand against it's smooth wooden frame. The tears began to fall faster.

"You don't like it?" He asked as he pulled me close and noticed my tears, a worried expression crossing his face.

"No... I absolutely love it," I said as I let out a small sob, my hormones taking over for the millionth time since this journey'd begun, "it's so beautiful."

He pulled me even closer and held me tight.

"I'm exhausted," he said as when left the room together a few minutes later, "you wanna go lay down and take a nap with me?"

I looked at him in silence and smiled quite possibly the biggest smile I'd ever smiled in my entire life.

Did I want to lay down with him and take a nap? Who was he kidding anyway?