Months had gone by and it felt like everything was getting back to normal, even if nothing was like it was before. Asa's father had written him a check that would allow him to take care of Briar and their baby once it arrived. He was looking forward to that, although he could see that Briar was more scared then she was leading on. 

It was the end of January and snow covered everything outside from the view of the window in Briar's bedroom. She enjoyed watching the snowflakes fall. It was getting harder for her to be able to move under the pressure of a tiny human being growing inside of her, but she still admired all the little details she could find when she looked in to the cold frosty weather. 

"Are you just going to keep staring out the window?" Asa asked her. 

She gave him a small smile, "I like to imagine what it would be like with all this snow in Percé."

He went and sat down on their now queen bed that filled most of her room. "I promise that I'll take you back there one day."

She got up slowly from the bench and made her way over to him. "Why can't we go there now?"

"Briar, you're almost nine months pregnant." He moved closer to her. 

"But that's only a minor thing." She kept going on.

He took her hands and held them close to his lips, "This isn't a minor thing." He kissed them.

Briar just looked down at her bulging stomach. She was excited to meet this new little person, but she was also terrified.

"I know you're scared. I am too, but we can do this. I will be with you the whole time." He told her.

"I know." She grinned at him. "I think I'm just working myself up. It's just getting so close."

He leaned over to her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Well, let's look on the bright side of things."

"Like what?" She questioned him.

He placed a hand on her stomach to feel the baby, "We still haven't chosen a name."

"This isn't the bright side of things," She started, "I can never get you to have a conversation about this without you going on about the whale."

"Whaley is a good name," He laughed. Then he finally calmed down, "But honestly... I was thinking Wyatt if it's a boy or Summer for a girl."

"I like those." She  said.

Asa peered up at her, "You know it would have been much easier if we had decided to find out a few months ago."

"I want it to be a surprise." She looked at him, "You know, my dad had picked out the name Wren for me. Of course my mom didn't like it, but I think it would have suited me."

"I like Briar." He laid down on the bed with his arms behind his head.

"It means thorns on a plant." She did hate it sometimes.

"Well, it's not a bad description." He teased her.

"Hey!" She gave him a slap on the leg before lying down on her right side beside him. "I guess it's true."

The sun was still setting pretty fast, even if the shortest day of the year had passed weeks ago. Briar fell asleep quickly. She tended to do that more often now, Asa didn't blame her. He watched her for a while to make sure she was okay. Sometimes her dad would also check in when he got home from work depending on the time of night. They were usually sleeping when he came home. He still worked long hours.

Asa's eyes finally closed. He felt relaxed. He didn't mind that Briar took most of the space on the bed. This was a problem even before she started showing. On top of all of it, she also liked to steal all the blankets.

That night, he had a dream. Asa could see a long grassy hill, Briar was running across it with a big smile on her face. He imagined that he showed her the same expression. In her arms there was a kid. Maybe four or five years old. At the time he didn't know who the child was, but he would realise it later that it was his. They would play for what seemed like hours, just rolling around and catching grasshoppers. He didn't question the lack of grass stains that should have covered their clothes. He was never able to pick up on any of the small details. That included the features of the child. He couldn't see, or to be precise, remember what it's face looked like. Asa still didn't worry about that however. The sun was still shining bright in his mind. It was such a nice dream. He wished that he hadn't been woken up by a strong grip holding his left forearm.

Slowly, Asa opened his eyes. The room was still dark and it took him a moment to focus on what was happening.

"Briar?" He asked.

"Asa! Wake up! I think there's something wrong." She said hurriedly, sitting up.

He sat up and turned the bedside light on, "What is it?"

"It hurts so.. much." She squeezed his arm again.

He let out a little laugh, "I think I know what this is."

"What?!" She seemed scared.

"The baby." He got up and walked to her side of the bed. "It's coming."

"No it.. can't.. be." She said through another contraction. "I'm not due for another two weeks."

He kneeled down and took her right hand. "You know stuff like this is usually never on time."

"It's so not fair, we were just talking about baby names." She tried to laugh through the pain.

Asa got up and looked down at her, "I'll go get your dad, get him to start the truck."

"Okay." She nodded. 

During that brief time, Briar tried to pack a bag of clothes for the next few days. She was hurting a lot, but she felt like she could manage that small task. Eventually Asa came back and had her winter coat. He helped her put it on and stand up. They were able to get down the stairs and in to the truck with almost no hassle. It was cold in the middle of the night, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Asa at least grabbed a few extra blankets.  

"Are we ready to go have a baby?" Her dad asked joyfully from the drivers seat.