I’m restless, and I can’t put my finger on why. It doesn’t help that tomorrow is my due date, and I don’t seem any closer to having this baby today than I was a few weeks ago.

I can’t understand why I spent the past six months on bed rest to keep this child inside me when it hasn’t made any effort to come out since I’ve been allowed out of bed. And just today, the doctor told me that babies almost never come on the actual due date. It’s pretty frustrating to think about how much time I’ve spent doing nothing all these months to have this baby go past my due date.

And today, all I can think about is how everything seems to be somehow wrong in our suite. It’s almost as though someone came in the middle of the night and screwed up all the frames on the walls. They all seemed the slightest bit off, and it’s been driving me crazy.

I’ve been halfway tempted—well, more than halfway—to call one of the maintenance workers and ask for a level to make sure the frames are all positioned correctly. But I’ve restrained myself so far—Andrew would probably haul me into the clinic to be checked if he found out I actually wanted a tool to make sure all the paintings in the palace are at perfect ninety-degree angles. It’s weird, I know, but I can’t seem to help myself.

There was a twinge in my back as I reached for the highest of the portraits on the wall in our suite, but I dismissed it. I’ve been having all sorts of weird twinges and pangs in my body for the past three weeks—all part of the ‘false labor’ I’ve been having. I’m still not sure what real labor is going to feel like, but this pretend stuff is pretty much driving me nuts.

Obviously. You’ve been aligning pictures on the walls… I shake my head to myself. Maybe I should get checked out by the doctor. I’m obviously losing my mind.

After I finally dressed and made my way downstairs to join the festivities, it was all I could do not to check every portrait lining the hallways—I literally held my hands behind my back all the way to the ballroom to keep myself from fussing with them as I passed.

Andrew leans over to kiss me on the temple. “Are you going to walk into town with us to bring up the Tannenbaum?”

I can think of about a million things I’d rather be doing than walking anywhere. I shake my head, giving him a smile. “I think I’ll just stay and visit with your family.”

He nods, smiling at me. “I won’t be gone but an hour. And if there’s anything—”

“There won’t be.” I have to force myself to keep the cheerful look on my face—I wouldn’t want any of the townspeople worrying about me tonight. “And if there is, you’ll be the first to know.”

He brings a hand to my cheek, stroking his thumb across my jaw. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” I make a shooing motion with my hands. “Now go. Go bring back the Tannenbaum.”

He smiles, kissing me again on the forehead before he goes to join the other people preparing to go into town.

The party started here a while ago—everyone goes into town to get the tree they chose for the year, and the men all haul it back up to the palace for the citizens to decorate. It’s actually a lovely tradition—one that makes me feel even more part of the Montovian community I’ve grown to love.

It isn’t long before they all return with the Tannenbaum. Andrew comes over to me immediately upon his return, lacing his arm through mine as he leads me over to the tree.

“You didn’t miss a thing.” We watch the citizens each place a personal ornament on the tree before he leans over and kisses me on the cheek.

His act of affection draws many oohs and ahs from the crowd, which only seems to spur him on. He grins at me, kissing me on the lips. And the crowd eats it up, laughing and applauding.

I shake my head, my cheeks burning even as I grin at him.

He looks at me for a long moment, his eyes sparkling. “I brought something for us.”

“Did you?” I tilt my head.

He nods, pulling something from his jacket pocket. It only takes a moment for me to see what it is—the ornament from the tiny tree in the cottage.

Tears fill my eyes as he hands it to me.

He leans toward me, kissing my temple again before he whispers in my ear. “We’ll put it on the tree together.”

I nod, and he laces his fingers through mine as we hang the ornament on the tree. We both stand there, admiring it, even as others hang their ornaments all around ours.

Our Family. I rub my belly for a moment, and Andrew slides his arm around me. It’s still so hard to believe the moment is almost here—it’s almost real. We’re actually going to be a family.