“Let me go get Lincoln. I know you have to get to work. Thanks so much again.” She followed Renee inside and giggled at what Lincoln had been up to all morning. He had built a fortress using Renee’s dozens and dozens of books. From chick lit favorites like Jemima J to literary classics like To Kill a Mockingbird, the castle was built on a foundation of wonderful literature.

“Look, Mommy! Castle!” Lincoln smiled proudly. “Big one.”

“A book castle! I love it.” She bent down and kissed Lincoln’s cheeks, making him giggle. “I think it’s the most magical castle I’ve ever seen.”

“Yay!” he cheered.

“Are you hungry? Daddy’s making us breakfast right now. Well, breakfast number two for you, I’m sure,” she added. Sadie pushed his baby soft hair away from his forehead.

“Okay,” he agreed.

“Can you help me get these books back on Miss Renee’s shelves? And then thank her for playing with you this morning?”

Sadie went to move a book, and Lincoln shrieked, “No! Mommy, stop it! My castle! You hurtin’ my castle!”

Uh-oh.

“Honey, you can build another one at our house.” Sadie thought about her paltry collection. Best-case scenario, Lincoln would have a book hovel. “Now help me clean this up so Miss Renee doesn’t have to. It was so nice of her to let you play with her books, wasn’t it?”

Lincoln’s bottom lip trembled before he began to howl.

“That’s okay! We can leave the book castle up.” Renee swooped in. She lowered her voice. “Seriously, Sadie, don’t worry about it. It’ll take me ten minutes tops to get all of these books put away.”

“Really?” Renee had already done her such a huge favor this morning. She hated the idea of leaving her with an additional mess. “Are you sure?”

Lincoln wailed louder.

“Yep! Now get home to that yummy breakfast. Thanks for coming over, Lincoln. I had a lot of fun!” Renee rubbed his back. “Come visit again soon, buddy.”

Sadie and a hiccupping Lincoln returned home, where Ethan was plating hot, melty sandwiches. He cut each diagonally, just like Sadie preferred, and filled a bowl with freshly cut fruit.

“OJ or water?” he asked her.

“What is this, a restaurant?” she marveled. “OJ, please!”

As Sadie used airplane noises to fly strawberry slices into Lincoln’s mouth, she was struck with how much she loved being a mother and how excited she was about the new baby. This pregnancy felt like a fresh start, a new beginning.

Sadie cleared her throat, her heart beating with excitement. “Honey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to bring up.”

“Yeah?” Ethan took a bite of his sandwich. He looked relaxed, as if he was expecting Sadie to tell him the furnace filter needed changing or that she wanted to paint the guest bathroom for a third time. “What’s up?”