Fred says that they have a good life and soon spring comes again. They are excited about the coming birth of their child. They decide to move into the town for the spring. It is about a month before Catherine is due. Mr. Guttingen is not upset when they tell him they're leaving, because he figured that they would depart when the season changed. They stay in a hotel the first night.
Catherine realizes that she has not bought any baby clothes and tells Fred that even though she worked in a hospital, she had no experience with babies because she was always working with men. Fred tries to get her to come to bed but she tells him that she's too fat. He doesn't think that she's too fat and is still very interested in having sex with her. He tells her that she is beautiful. He has another drink and Catherine has some wine. They order some food. They stay at the hotel for a while and Fred starts to box at the gymnasium for exercise. Catherine gets what she needs for the baby. Fred wants to shave the beard, but Catherine asks him not to. On some days they go for a ride in a carriage in the countryside.
"When there was a good day we had a splendid time and we never had a bad time. We knew the baby was very close now and it gave us both a feeling as though something were hurrying us and we could not lose any time together."Chapter 40, pg. 311
