Caesar had ordered all the Jews to return to the city where their family had originated from so he could get an accurate census for the tax rolls. My family and Daniel's had to go to Bethlehem. Now I know you think of Bethlehem as a sleepy little town, but it sure wasn't then. I'd never seen so many people in one place before in my whole life. It seemed more crowded than Jerusalem at Passover.
Animals come in.
There were several other families staying there, too. We were packed in like sardines. More come in. She was really pregnant and we kids peeked and snickered until we saw how close she was to tears. The man that ran our boarding house said he was out of room, too, but they said they were really desperate for a roof and some protection from the cold wind, because they were sure the baby would be arriving soon.