It was now October and Julia entered her third trimester as she looked forward to all the holidays coming up especially since her family was coming to town with her mother coming from Tokyo and her son Payne coming home from New York.

She was really excited and bouncing on her heels as Charlene, Mary Jo and Suzanne came in through the door as they seen their boss peeking through the window.

"What are you doing?" Suzanne asked her.

"Payne is coming home and mother is coming here at any moment and I want to be the first one to hug them." Julia said.

"He's gonna think his mother and mother are both gonna think that you lost your mind when they see that you are peeking though the window like a crazy person."

"Suzanne, I have the right to be excited about my son and our mother coming home for a little while and I can't help it."

"You keep getting too excited and you're gonna have that baby right there where you're standing from bouncing up and down like that."

"It'll take more than her just bouncing up and down to have her." Charlene said.

"I beg to differ." Suzanne said.

"Standing up would be the most unbearable way to give birth to her." Mary Jo said as they heard a car pull up as Julia turned to them with a smile on her face.

"Anthony darling, Payne is here!" Julia said as he came out of the storeroom and rushed to her side.

Payne knocked on the door as Anthony opened it to reveal both his stepson and daughter-in-law standing there.

"Hey mom!" Payne said as Julia hugged him.

"Hey baby. How was your plane and car ride?"

"Long and exhausting."

"And Sylvie. How's my favorite daughter-in-law?"

"Wonderful. How are you doing?" Sylvie asked as she rubbed Julia's stomach.

"I'm doing great now that you're both here." Julia said as they all sat down.

"Come here Payne and give your Aunt Suzanne a big hug!" Payne got up and gave her one.

"You're still as handsome as ever."

"Well, everyone tells me I look just like my father." Payne said as Julia smiled, trying to hold her emotions in.

"You do look like your father, you have his eyes and his facial features." Charlene said.

"When he was born, everyone said he was Hayden's twin."

"He does, I mean you look at his baby pictures and your first thought is "Wow! Payne is Hayden's twin as a baby."

"He has his eyes."

"But Julia's bone and facial structure." Anthony said.

"Well enough about me and how are y'all doing?" Payne asked them.

"We're all doing fine sweetheart. How's life as a journalist?" Charlene asked as she always loved the idea of him being a writer.

"It's really good. Some days are good, some bad but all jobs are like that."

"How's the life of being an interior designer?" Sylvie asked her mother-in-law.

"It's great! We have a few big accounts now, more than I did a few years ago but it also has it's challenges."

"How's my baby sister doing?" Payne asked as he patted Julia's stomach.

"She's doing great too."

"Just two more months and she'll be here." Anthony said as he laid his hand on her stomach.

"How are you feeling about her arrival?"

"I'm nervous but I can't wait to hold her." Anthony said as Julia patted his leg.

"We're both nervous, but ready for her to be here."

"All of us are." Bernice said.

...

Everyone was busy with something to do as Anthony wanted Payne to help him with something.

"Payne can I steal you away for a moment?"

"Sure." Payne said as Anthony and him walked upstairs to stop in front of what would be the nursery.

"I have a surprise for your mama behind this door and while they are downstairs, I thought we could grab what baby furniture is in the attic and touch up what needs refurbishing."

"You know how she is about you lifting heavy objects, says that you might throw your back out by lifting and carrying it."

"Trust me, I know."

"She said she might get me and Bill to do it while I'm here."

"She never told me that."

"She said ever since you threw your back out helping Charlene get into shape, you've had terrible back pains."

"Yeah, that was this past year after I made a resolution to get into shape too."

"I wonder how mom felt about it?"

"She said that I was crazy to put my body through something that strenuous."

"For once, I agree with her."

"Anthony darling, my mother is here." Julia yelled up the stairs.

"Yay! Grandma's here!" Payne said as both him and Anthony walked downstairs.

"Oh my goodness, Payne come here and give grandma a big hug."

"It's nice to see you grandma."

"Well, I just wanted to see all of you and Tokyo has been lonely since I moved away from y'all."

"Well, I'm glad you're here and I have the guest bedroom made up for you."

"Thank you darling."

"You're welcome, now come sit down and rest."

"Darling, you should be resting and staying off your feet."

"I'm okay mother, the doctor said that moving around would be good for me.''

"When did she say that?" Anthony asked her.

"The other day at my appointment. It's good for me to get up and move around."

"I thought she said to stay off your feet because I have seen your feet at the end of the day."

"When she was pregnant with Payne, Hayden would literally have to pick her up bridal style and set her on the couch just to relax." Her mother said.

"Well since you both don't believe me, then you can call my doctor and ask her yourselves." Julia said as she walked behind the island and started planning their supper.

"I'm just worried about you baby. She also told us about how walking induces early labor and we just got into the third trimester."

"I know darling, but sometimes I just don't feel like sitting down during business hours and there are times I can't."

"She'll change her mind when she has Presley." Mary Jo said as Julia knew she was right.

...

It was now time to wind down as Julia relaxed in a bath as her muscles ached and her baby girl was apart of the reason why her back ached right at this moment.

"Darling?" Julia called Anthony as he was busy setting out her pajamas.

"Yeah baby?" Anthony asked as he walked into the bathroom.

"Earlier, I was just trying to make everything perfect with Payne and my mother being here, having them both here today makes me happy and you, everyone loves you of course.'' Julia said as she laid her head down on his arm.

"I was worried about you though."

"Darling, I will let you know if something was wrong and earlier, I felt up to cater to everyone."

"Well, I do have to admit you made a fine hostess this evening Mrs. Bouvier, the best matter of fact."

"Well Mr. Bouvier, you did a fine job yourself." She said as he took the rag from her hand and washed her back.

"Hmm... I always love the way you wash my back."

"And after your bath, I'll give you a massage."

"Sounds great baby." Julia said as he kissed her head.

...

Julia laid down as Anthony massaged her whole body and listened to the sound of the heat unit kick on as Anthony crawled over beside her as she rolled over and cuddled up to him like she always did.

"Good night to both of my girls." Anthony said as he caressed her stomach.

"Good night darling." Julia said as she drifted off to sleep.

"I love you darling."

"I love you too baby."

...

The next morning

Mary Jo, Charlene and Suzanne walked in to see Julia filling out paperwork and Anthony carrying things into the store room.

"Good morning ladies." Julia said as she was dressed in a pair of maternity style pants and one of Anthony's plaid button down shirts.

"Good morning to you both. What are y'all doing with all these boxes?"

"These are some things for work and these are for the nursery."

"Anthony, did Julia rope you into this?"

"No, I was just eating my breakfast this morning when all of a sudden, I heard a voice call out to me as she said "Anthony sweetheart, I need you to find every baby item that we have in the basement and put them in the nursery."

"Y'all act like decorating the nursery will just kill y'all."

"No, but you will." Anthony joked as the women laughed.

"You keep making jokes like that mister and we won't have sex for a month." Julia said

"That's never worked for us before."

"Yeah well, I wasn't pregnant before but I am now and I have needs and wants."

"Will you two just get a room, because this conversation makes me want to throw up."

"Suzanne, Julia's right on this one. Sex is great when you're pregnant."

"Y'all are gonna make me wish I was deaf or something."

"The only thing you have is selective hearing Suzanne, so tune us out if I make you feel uncomfortable."

"Yeah, well I got it the night that you and Anthony were going at it in the room next to mine."

"I did not realize we were that loud." Anthony said

"Oh yeah, the entire hotel could hear you." Suzanne said

"That's not true." Julia said

"Y'all are really loud." Mary Jo said

"Then next time, I suggest you wear earplugs." Julia said as she lifted a lightweight box and followed Anthony and the ladies behind her.

...

"You and Payne did really good on painting the nursery Anthony."

"Well, thank you ladies and I certainly appreciate all your help."

"You're welcome and it beats a day of meeting pushy customers and filing paperwork and invoices." Charlene said as Payne came in to help with the crib as the ladies began to sort through baby clothes.

"Have you found her coming home outfit yet?"

"No, not yet. I want it to be perfect and not like I got rushed to pick it out."

"Make sure you pack it on top, I did that and I made sure to get plenty of pictures too."

"We're going to have lots of pictures, don't worry about a thing ladies." Anthony said.

...

They were able to get the entire nursery decorated as Julia was over the moon about it.

"It looks great everyone! Thanks to my two favorite men and help from my friends."

"You're welcome mom." Payne said.

"Do you need anything else baby before we all go downstairs to rest?"

"No, but let's go prepare lunch and relax." She said as they all filed a single line and went downstairs.

They prepared lunch for everyone when the doorbell rang as Charlene got up and opened the door to reveal Lita, Vanessa and Etienne.

Julia looked at them as they all looked at her and down at her stomach, wondering why they were standing in her living room.

"Julia?" Mary Jo asked as she whispered in her ear.

"Well, what a surprise."

"Julia, can we borrow Anthony for a moment?" Lita asked.

"If you have something to say to my husband, I have the right to know what this is about."

"We have nothing to say to you."

"Umm... The whole reason we're here is because we have to talk to Julia, Etienne."

"It's not fair that he was messing around with her when we were married." Etienne said.

"Excuse me, what do mean my sister was "messing" around?" Suzanne asked.

"They were secretly dating behind my back." Etienne said.

"We did no such thing." Julia said.

"Then, why did he leave me and marry you?" Etienne asked.

"Because we had nothing in common and we barely got along." Anthony said.

"Anthony, we understand that you wanted to be with Julia, but what about us?" Lita asked him.

''Lita, he met you at a club in Las Vegas." Mary Jo said.

"Vanessa, you two were just a one time deal when I went into labor on New Year's Eve." Charlene said.

"And Etienne, your friend, Punch made Anthony feel uncomfortable with the history y'all had." Julia said.

"We understand that, but what makes you so much better than us?"

"For one, she owns her own design firm." Mary Jo said.

"She has great taste in style." Charlene said.

"She's the best mom ever." Payne said as Julia smiled.

"She's the best mother-in-law in the whole world." Sylvie said.

"She's the best sister I've ever had, considering she's my only sister."

"She and Suzanne are my daughters and she's one of the best that I could have ever asked for." Perky said.

"She's my best friend and aunt to my children." Mary Jo said.

"She's my daughter's godmother." Charlene said.

"And we're about to have our little baby in a couple of months." Anthony said.

"She's also a wonderful friend, wife, boss, mother, co-worker, assistant and most of all, she's my best friend." Anthony said as he put his arm around her waist.

"So if you're wondering why she is better than you, remember to replay this through your brains when you come and ask us why Julia Nadine Sugarbaker-Bouvier is the best out of all of you, then leave now." Mary Jo said as she showed them to the door and closed it behind them as Julia smiled.

"Julia, I think our minds have been synched together." Mary Jo said.

"Well, her terminator name is having to be put on hold right now, so Mary Jo, you're terminator number two." Anthony said as everyone laughed.

"I'll take it." Mary Jo said.

"Now, who's ready to eat because I'm starving." Julia said as everyone sat down.