Deven had managed to empty two boxes before she decided it was time for a break. She reached for her water bottle and crossed into the living room, threading through boxes stacked like Jenga blocks across the gray hardwood floors. She liked this place a lot more than Kennedy’s last condo. For comparable places in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, it was certainly large, which just meant the rent was even larger. Kennedy didn’t do much decorating, which made Deven all the more excited to really glamorize the place once the packing was complete. She could see it now, lots of teals (her sister’s favorite color) and it would accent the cream in Kennedy’s upholstery beautifully. Deven’s feet started to throb, and she was tempted to sit down, but decided instead to mosey down the stretch of hall to the two bedrooms.

The first bedroom, the smaller of the two, Deven assumed would be turned into an office. Kennedy was a marketing consultant, a job that afforded her a cushy lifestyle, one of which was working from anywhere that had a strong Wi-Fi connection. So, working from home was a common luxury.

Deven pushed open the door and had to chuckle. She had assumed wrong. Piles and piles of clothes were strewn across the floor, tags dangling from the designer fabric. Some garments were still on hangers or in garment bags, other items in wrinkled bunches as if Kennedy, or maybe the moving men, hadn’t cared about their value. More stacks of boxes in here with the word Closet hastily scribbled on the cardboard.

Deven touched the growing pudge of her tummy, decided she was feeling a little better, and set to work to organize the room. She started with the clothes, re-draping items that had, apparently, lost their hangers during the move. She then made new piles, one for dresses, one for one for shirts, and one for pants. Deven was amused at her own obsession for cleanliness. With six months to go in her pregnancy, she was way too early for what expectant mothers called the ‘nesting’ period—that sudden desire to clean and organize spaces before baby’s arrival. Still, she felt a renewed sense of excitement as she tidied, and she couldn’t wait to start setting up the nursery for her baby girl—at least she hoped it was a girl.

When she was satisfied with how she’d organized the clothes, Deven moved on to the boxes. Two of them had already been opened and Deven began pulling high heels out of the first one and lining them up across the baseboard. The second box was full of shoe boxes and, assuming it was even more shoes, Deven lifted the lid on one, sucking in a shocked breath at its contents.