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Ashleigh was lying down on the couch in the living room, half-watching an HGTV show about finding the perfect house while Walker finished up dinner in the kitchen. Her swollen feet were propped up on a stack of pillows. At eight months pregnant, she felt about ready to pop. She spent a lot of her day lying down in various positions with various stacks of pillows.
Walker, already protective of Ashleigh, had become even more so as her pregnancy progressed. He often insisted that she lie down and rest. Earlier in her pregnancy, she’d batted him aside easily. Ashleigh had a lot of energy. She didn’t like to just “sit back and rest,” as Walker suggested.
These days, however, she didn’t need much convincing. She was tired and swollen, and sometimes just moving from room to room felt like an
