IllusoryThrall's Sims 4 Hub
- Challenges, Tips & Stories
1897 | 1898 Pt 1
The days were still cold, and apparently the world had decided to throw one more big snowstorm at them before the spring began. Stefan straightened his jacket, and peered out through the frosty window to see a well-dressed man walking up to the door. Good. he was here.
Winter settled in, and the snows covered the ground. Abraham and Florence still managed to go to school each day without fail, even if it was snowy. Abraham managed to keep up with both his homework and helping out around the house, but it was definitely easier to do that with the farm being snowed in. At least Stefan had stopped complaining about the expense of schooling the boy.
Juliet peered out the frosty window and smiled to see Florence playing happily in the snow. She watched for a while, then sighed and turned back to the multitude of toddlers running pell-mell around the house.
(more…)“The Knitting Pack is coming out… and I’m so excited. It seems the perfect time to start a Decades Challenge. My problem was – I couldn’t figure out how to play it. There were too many options. And I simply couldn’t decide. So, here’s my solution. I will be starting TWO Decades Challenges, with very different options and blogging styles. If at any time I’m not having fun with either (or I find my setup isn’t working well), I hold the right to discontinue one or the other and just stick with one challenge from then on.”
At least that was the original plan. Then the Tangles’ story took on a life of its own, and even pulled in some of the other Decades story members across the save files (which you’ll see in the next chapters to be published). Both of these challenges will be continuing as they are at this point. In fact, once my blog organization project of Dec. 2021 finishes, this story is top of my list to get back to work on!
In short: this is a traditional Decades Challenge, with time going past as the Sims age instead of by generation (like I’m doing with the other half of the Challenge War). I did modify the aging scheme, though. So instead of one year being 4 sims days, it’s 7 sim days, or one season. It’s easier for me to keep track of. It makes the play take much longer, but I like it because I have tons of time to get to know my sims.
(more…)Birthdays came and went with very little fanfare in the Tangles household, and Abraham and Florence both grew up as the new year came and went. Abraham had lost a bit of his easy to get along with outgoing side with the passing of his parents, and had apparently discovered a love of books. Stefan regularly found him slacking on his household chores with one novel or another.
Florence started school and seemed to enjoy it, usually coming straight home to do her homework. Stefan was proud of his little girl, and he tried to be done in the fields early enough so that he was available to help her if she needed it.
Then, one morning at breakfast, Abraham cornered Stefan after Juliet had left the room to care for the younger children, and started stumbling over asking something. Nonplussed, Stefan looked at him blankly, waiting for the boy to start making sense.
“Mr Tangle, sir.. I really appreciate all you and Juliet have done for me, and all, but I don’t want to be a farmer when I grow up.”
“Whyever not? It’s a noble profession. It’s what your father did.”
“Well, no, sir, he had a farm, yes, but mostly he was the town’s teacher. Still, though, I’d like to make something of myself. I want to go to school.” Abraham stumbled over his words a bit, but his voice remained steady, determined.
Comprehension finally dawned on Stefan’s face, and he felt his head start pounding. How could his wife’s brother even contemplate schooling instead of helping out on the farm? He HAD to know how expensive school was. There was no way Stefan could justify paying 1000 simoleons on high school for the boy. He had never expected to have to take care of him, anyway, and the cost of an extra mouth to feed was already worrying enough. Winter was coming again, after all, and if the Almanac and last year were any guide at all – it was going to be another long one.
Stefan felt his temper rise another notch or two, and tried to keep his voice down so he wouldn’t upset the rest of the household as he answered the boy. “Oh, that’s right. It doesn’t change anything, though. The answer to your questions is: absolutely not. Do you think money grows on trees? I assure you, it does not! I’m not paying for a pretentious orphan to better himself to make his pig-headed, deceased father proud, instead of sticking with the lot he was given in life. THIS family is all about farming, and that’s what’s in store for you. There’s plenty to keep you busy around the house, we can’t afford to have you wasting time with book-learning!”
Stefan pretended not to notice Abraham’s cringe, and directed the boy to do some woodworking on the bench outside. Perhaps that would keep him out of trouble for a while.
Feeling pretty proud of himself for handling that well, Stefan dropped the matter from his mind, finished his breakfast, and headed outside to care for his fields. The leaves were already beginning to change colors, after all, and a chill was in the air. He dreaded the plants going dormant for Winter, but there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was make as much money as possible so that they would make it through the cold season.
Stefan pointedly ignored the boy working diligently at the workbench and hurried past him to take care of the plants and gather produce for the market that evening, missing the dirty look that Abraham shot him behind his back.
With all the housework Juliet had to do, Stefan had taken over care of the beehive. It went better on some days than others. This was apparently not going to be a good day. He applied the mite treatment, collected the bounty of honey and beeswax for Juliet’s candles, and left the bees alone to (hopefully) calm down.
Luckily, the trip to the market was profitable, and the next morning, Stefan paid the bills and the loan with confidence. This farm had been a wise purchase, and, though the first winter had been rough on the bank account, Stefan was pretty sure this one would be less stressful. Whistling happily, he headed back inside to check on Juliet and the children.
Juliet adored all of her children, but for some reason, she felt particularly close to Florence, her first born. Perhaps it was because she was older now, and her curiosity about the world was finally really blossoming.
Juliet was making breakfast one morning and Florence came down with an imaginative story of making friends with a monster under her bed. Juliet shook her head silently in bemusement, and tried to encourage Florence’s creativity – especially when that creativity saved Florence from having to wake up her tired parents.
After breakfast, she shuffled Florence off to school, and sat down to do some knitting while watching the three toddlers. She kept an ear out for Charlie waking up upstairs, but, now that he was a bit older, for the most part, he seemed to be a very easy baby to care for. His fussiness when he was a newborn seemed to have been replaced with a patient calm that was a welcome change. Nellie had become as precocious as her older sister had been, and keeping her from getting bored and making messes could be a challenge. The twins, on the other hand, still had plenty to learn, and seemed to do the best at that learning when both could be in the same room together while doing it.
Stefan was still in the fields by the time Florence got home from school, but Abraham had finally come in, complaining about splinters and hitting his hand with a hammer. Juliet found some housework for him to do, and tried to ignore the slight temper tantrum he had when Florence wasn’t given similar chores. Instead, Juliet encouraged her eldest to do her homework, and spend some time practicing on the piano.
Stefan still hadn’t come back in for dinner, so Juliet made sure to save him some in the icebox. She wondered what was taking him so long, but didn’t really want to leave the children to check on him. Perhaps he had gone straight to market without dinner for once? If so, he was likely to be grumpy when he came home, so she was careful to get everything as tidy as possible so as to not set off his temper.
While Juliet was rocking little Charlie to sleep, Stefan came in, mumbled something about it taking extra long to sell things at the market, then stumbled straight into bed. Juliet finished her tasks as quietly as she could and, finally, joined him.
As the season went by, Nellie continued to grow and learn. She was trying to be just like her elder sister, and wanted to help out by playing with the twins whenever she could. Juliet often found her curiously watching her baby brother, Charlie, as well, as if wondering when he would be big enough to play with, too.
One evening, as Juliet was making some Forager’s Stew for dinner, Abraham approached her. He related Stefan’s dictates about school, and begged for Juliet to speak to Stefan in his favor. Juliet told Abraham she would think about it, and try to find an appropriate time to do so. As she finished dinner, she wondered why Stefan had been so adamant at saying “no” when he, himself had been denied school as a teen, and had seemed to regret it ever since. Perhaps the farm wasn’t doing as well as Stefan had seemed to say it was. Maybe they just couldn’t afford to send Abraham to school?
Juliet stayed quiet all through dinner, and the time that it took to get all the children settled into bed, but her mind was whirling.
“Stefan, dear, I must talk to you.” she began while Stefan was cooing to his newest son in the privacy of their bedroom. Stefan sighed and turned towards her, waiting for her to continue.
“Why can’t we send Abraham to school? Do we not have the money? I thought the farm was doing alright for funds!?”
Juliet watched a flash of anger go across his face, and he seemed to pause before replying, “Of course we can afford it. The farm is doing very well. Don’t you worry about that.”
“Well, then.. why..?” Juliet began, only to have Stefan interrupt.
“The boy has his own inheritance from your Mother and Step Father, as well. I have been given control of it until such time as he moves out on his own. There was no provision made in it for his schooling, however, and no mention of you or your children in the wills. Which would mean any funds for schooling would come from us, not his blessed inheritance. I felt it was more important to save the money for our three boys.”
“So we can’t afford schooling for all of them?” Juliet was confused, and knew it showed on her face.
Stefan sighed, “No, I have enough for all of them. And for the winter. – Even after the additions we just put onto the house. I just didn’t think an orphan like him needed to go to school. I thought you would want him at home to help with chores. The girls will, obviously, be staying home to learn to care for a family, and I thought Abraham should learn how to farm so he could be ready to take care of his own family.”
“Well, yes, he should learn that, too. But as you know, school would afford him more opportunities in town, and with his interest in books, I think that would be good for him. He works hard around here, and going to school in the mornings shouldn’t affect his chores too much. I would think you would want him to make the most of himself, especially since you were denied the same opportunity.” Juliet watched guilt, and, strangely, anger, go through Stefan’s face as he thought about it before answering.
When he didn’t answer, Juliet added a plaintive, “What about just letting him go to school for me? I swore when Mother died I would do the best for my brother, no wonder what I personally thought of him. He deserves to go to school if he wishes it. Plus, it was probably my father’s dying wish. He always wanted Abraham to be a teacher like him.” To herself, she remembered how bitter she had been about that fact.. and yet, now she was lobbying for just what she had hated a few years ago. Times certainly did change a person.
“Alright. Fine.” Stefan said, and started to say something else, but Juliet was already squealing with joy and jumping into his arms. “He can go to school. I will tell him in the morning. But- this won’t absolve him from working around the home!” Stefan pushed Juliet away a bit and held her shoulders as he emphasized his last sentence carefully, “He can’t keep his nose in the books all the time!”
“Of course not!” Juliet replied. “Thank you, Stefan! I knew you would come around!”
She was overjoyed, and quickly turned to finish preparing for bed.
Stefan couldn’t believe he had let himself get talked into this. Apparently Juliet could talk him into anything. Next thing you know, she would be trying to get him to pay for the girls to go to school, too. Utterly ridiculous. Why did Abraham even need schooling?! His father had owned a farm, why was Abraham so focused on following him into the teacher profession? Rolling his eyes (after making sure Juliet wasn’t still watching him, of course), Stefan turned back the covers on his side of the bed and crawled into bed. It’s not like the man had seemed to be all that successful at being a teacher, he had died penniless and the farm he owned had been repossessed by the bank. All he really could remember of the man was his vitriol towards himself, his family, and his beloved Juliet. It just didn’t seem right.
Getting to sleep was harder than usual for him that night, and he watched Juliet sleeping peacefully beside him. He was torn between feelings of guilt for trying to deny Abraham school, and the inexplicable anger over letting him go when there were so many chores he could be doing at home, instead. Abraham should have been grateful for what he had, instead of asking for more. The orphanage certainly wouldn’t have let him go to school… why should things be so much different for the boy here? Then there was the fact that Abraham’s father had been so horrible to Juliet and Stefan’s family. That certainly didn’t make him any more willing to spend good money on the man’s only son. Stefan argued back and forth with himself for most of the night, and it was quite late when he finally got to sleep.
Because of this, breakfast was well underway before Stefan came downstairs. Florence was talking about some art project they were supposed to be starting in school today, and seemed to be dominating most of the morning conversation. After getting his food, Stefan loudly cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention.
“After talking with Juliet last night, Abraham, you will start going to school today. I will make sure the fee is paid for you.”
“Hooray!!” Abraham yelled, pumping his fist into the air.
Stefan was quick to interrupt to say, “This doesn’t mean your chores around the house will lessen – you will still have to earn your keep.”
Abraham’s smile faded for a moment, and he nodded dutifully at Stefan, then turned and shared a smile with Florence and Juliet.
Just as Stefan had feared, the morning without Abraham’s help was hectic, and forced Stefan out of the fields to help Juliet out. The fireplaces all had to be stocked and lit for the season, because it was starting to get cold in the house, and every time they turned around one toddler or another was missing, and one of them would have to go chase them down. Finally, Juliet shooed him outside again, saying she could handle things.
Juliet breathed an expressive sigh of relief when school let out for the day, but she wasn’t going to complain out loud about the two eldest not being home, for fear that Stefan would change his mind. Somehow, she would persevere. She had to.
She rushed Abraham to do his homework before Stefan came in, so he wouldn’t complain about “wasted time”.
Florence wanted to work on her aspiration, since she had almost finished it – and she promised to finish her homework as soon as she was done. Juliet agreed, and went back to gathering up the laundry for the next load of washing.
Abraham was as good as his word: he finished up with his homework and immediately stepped in to help with the toddlers. He cleaned up and set the dinner table as well, which was a big help. Juliet fought exhaustion, and made it through most the evening, getting everyone in bed just in time.
Picking herself up off the floor wryly, Juliet took a deep breath, and trudged off to bed. She would make it. She had to.
Stefan considered all that had happened lately, and wondered that they were still getting by as a family. Juliet’s parents dying suddenly had really changed things, though, by adding young Abraham to the mix. Juliet hadn’t seemed too phased by her Mother and Step-Father’s deaths, but having an extra mouth to feed had certainly made things harder for her.
Then there was the twins – they were almost out of their cribs now and would be fully mobile within the week. Which meant there were going to be four toddlers in the house. With this in mind, Stefan had been glad for the savings he had stashed away in the bank – an addition to the house had been necessary to make room for everyone.
While they were adding on, they expanded the upstairs a little, as well, so Nellie and Florence would have more space in their room.
The biggest renovations were on the ground floor, though. Abraham now had a small room to himself, while the twins were going to go in the “spare room” – that wasn’t quite so “spare” anymore. With this many people in the house, Stefan had also felt that another bathroom was needed, and the expansion to the parlor allowed him to surprise Juliet with a piano. When she would have time to play it was in question, but he had felt she deserved some sort of grand gesture from him for all she did, and this had worked greatly for that.
Juliet’s bees were active again, and pestering him in the fields constantly, so he had started trying to get them to bond with him, too. So far, it wasn’t going well. Despite the bees, the produce was growing and selling very well, which made Stefan very glad for the income. That addition had not been cheap.
Juliet’s days were packed full of things to do since Abraham had moved in. Between the twins learning to walk, the girls being everywhere all at once, and trying to keep up with household chores, she found herself burning the candles at both ends of the day – literally.
Mornings were the worst, however. She had a sneaking suspicion that there was going to be another addition to the family soon. She hadn’t brought it up to Stefan yet, because she wanted to be completely sure, but the nausea that assailed her every time she tried to eat breakfast was telling. What would they do with yet another baby?! She hoped she just had a touch of malaise, instead of the alternative.
Abraham was grateful for the home and tried to pitch in as much as possible. He did dishes, took the trash out, and even kept the girls occupied when Juliet needed to do other things – like cooking or laundry. She didn’t want him to slack on his schoolwork, though, especially since he was behind his class due to all the time off for the funerals in Brindleton Bay, so she made sure he wasn’t doing chores all the time.
All of the fireplaces had been banked for the summer, and a heat wave had moved in. Juliet was miserable, and decided it was past time to let Stefan know. She was sure she wasn’t just sick – the signs were all there.
So, the very next morning, she had Stefan sit down – and broke the news.
Stefan seemed speechless at first, and just sat there and looked at her in wonder. As if this was all her fault.
His consternation seemed to clear, though, and he smiled, shrugged, and tried to make her feel better. He promised to help out around the house as much as possible to make things easier on her.
Stefan tried to put on a brave front for Juliet, but inside he was in turmoil. Another baby? … And what if it were twins again? They really didn’t have room for more children, and he dreaded the possibility that it could be a girl. At least the twins’ room potentially had room for another boy – but there was definitely not room in the house for another girl. Cringing, he dearly hoped it would be a boy, because – even with the farm’s profits – he really didn’t want to have to spend more on another addition to the house.
He tried to remain positive, though. At least the produce had been consistently good this summer, and was selling at the market well.
Despite the construction on the house, he was still able to make the loan payment and pay the rest of their bills. He ignored the spots on his arms, and the faint feeling of being overheated, and chalked it up to the current heatwave.
Abraham was getting used to his new home and family. He had never been very close with his sister, but he was grateful to be living in a home instead of the orphanage back in Brindleton.
He had difficulty making friends at the school, though, and mostly kept to himself. He tried to ignore the whispers behind hands about him being an orphan from back east, and concentrated on his schoolwork instead.
At home, he tried very hard not to make Stefan or his sister regret taking him in, for there was always something to do in the house, whether it was his studies, or keeping up with the cleaning. The toddlers were always making a mess, it seemed, and there were always dishes to be washed and trash to be collected.
And now there was to be another baby in the house soon. He watched his sister’s abdomen growing with not a little bit of horror and interest. How could her body stretch like that? And how much more could she take? She was already exhausted most of the time, and took naps whenever she could. He felt badly for her, but he was already doing as much as he could to help.
Florence didn’t seem to be impressed with the new additions to the household, and had started really causing trouble whenever she could. Juliet tried to discipline her, but nothing really seemed to work.
Every time Juliet turned her back, she was into something else. Juliet simply didn’t have the energy or time to spend all her time with the youngster like she had at the beginning, and Florence really seemed to be upset by it. There was little Juliet could do, however, especially since Samuel and Benjamin were finally walking.
Samuel had grown up to be a real charmer, much like his sister Florence, and seemed to use all his energy to try to get as much attention as he could from everyone around him.
Benjamin, however, was much more independent. He was content doing things on his own, and seemed to rarely make trouble. How twins could be so completely different, Juliet didn’t know, but she was grateful that at least one of her children seemed like he was going to be easy.
Florence continued to act out, even more now that the twins were out of their bassinets and demanding attention.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like her brothers, though, for they seemed to get along okay. Perhaps she was just jealous of the time that they took away from what she considered should be “her” time with her parents.
Juliet’s physical misery seemed to grow apace with her belly. Just making it through each day was impossible without a nap. She tried to last until Stefan came in from the fields, but she had to admit that some days she just couldn’t. And running to the outhouse every hour wasn’t helping the situation.
Nellie was starting to follow her troublesome sister around, and they were often found outside the house when they were supposed to be inside, quietly playing. Nellie didn’t seem to be as interested in making messes, she just wanted to be close to her big sister.
Juliet was trying to carve out some time to work on an outfit for the coming baby, but with the four toddlers, that was incredibly difficult. Even Samuel was taking after Florence, and was now getting into the bookshelf on his own, accidentally ripping books and scattering them about the room.
Juliet just couldn’t keep up. Exhausted, she fell asleep, only to have the toddlers escape to the great outdoors. Stefan didn’t really appreciate the kids out among the fields with him, but he understood his wife’s energy levels were low and she needed a break. How things were going to work when there was a baby in the house, too, was yet to be seen, but he doubted it was going to be good.
For today, however, he decided he wasn’t going to be able to get any more work done, and he gathered up the toddlers that had escaped and went in search of the missing Florence. She was running about upstairs, and had managed to get the wardrobe open to spread their clothes all over the bedroom. Sighing deeply, he began cleaning up the mess, only to have Florence disappear again. She moved much too fast, he mused wryly, and gave up cleaning to go try to occupy her.
Juliet woke up from her nap, and hobbled towards the outhouse desperately. To her horror, she didn’t make it. Nobody noticed, but now she was filthy, and she had yet another mess to clean up.
That night, little Charlie was born. Giving birth seemed almost routine at this point, and Stefan only woke up long enough to help before he fell asleep again. Juliet glared at his sleeping form and tried to settle the new baby as best as she could.
Getting back to bed, however, was more difficult than she had anticipated, and she woke up a bit later, curled up on the floor. Crawling to the bed, she didn’t even bother to get under the covers before she fell asleep again.
The next few days were a struggle for both parents. Charlie seemed to be the fussiest baby they’d ever had – and was even more difficult to keep happy than even the twins had been. By the time either parent had found time to fall asleep, he was awake again, and demanding food or other care. It was infuriating. And it wasn’t going to end any time soon.
Spring was coming, and the snow was finally receding. The plants were waking, and things were starting to look up.
Stefan was particularly happy to be able to once again spend time out in the fields, getting his hands dirty with some honest work. He looked forward to the produce finally starting to ripen again so this winter time money crunch would go away. It would certainly take a load off of his shoulders.
Juliet was starting to get the babies on a better schedule, so they were getting at least a little bit more sleep, too. Which allowed her to get back in the kitchen so they could have “real” meals again. Stefan was glad, because he was really getting tired of Spinach salads.
Nellie seemed to have sprouted useful legs overnight, and had immediately started getting into trouble. Scolding her really didn’t appear to do much good, either, because she would just wait until your back was turned to find something else to make a mess of.
Now that Nellie was a toddler, and was happily sleeping in the nursery instead of her bassinet, the twins were easier to keep asleep and both he and Juliet relished the idea of more sleep. Maybe the constant exhaustion would start to abate.
… If you didn’t count the nightmares. He didn’t remember Florence having those, and she certainly didn’t seem to wake when Nellie had them, so getting woken up in the night by a toddler was new territory. He usually stopped her before she woke up Juliet, though, and managed to tuck her back into bed with a little comfortings.
Speaking of Florence, she was really the jewel of the family. She was cheerful and cooperative – all the things Nellie was not. She enjoyed spending time quietly with either parent, and didn’t play favorites.
The time for paying the bills and the loan came and went with barely a dent in the bank balance. He was amazing even himself with how well the farm was providing for his growing family – and was starting to consider simply paying the balance of the loan off with the farm’s profits.
Since it was a cold afternoon and the fields were all taken care of for the day, Stefan decided to take a nap while he could. Nellie was playing quietly by herself for a change, and Florence was “helping” her Mother in the kitchen.
Florence seemed to very much enjoy having a sister she could actually play with, and the two of them were simply adorable together.
Valentine’s Day came with very little fanfare, and, although they were too busy with the children to do something just the two of them, Stefan still tried to make the day special for Juliet. He presented her with flowers, and they cuddled before falling asleep. Risking having another baby at this point, though, was still out of the question.
Nellie continued to be a problem child. As soon as your attention wavered, she would find something to spill all over the floor. Juliet seemed to constantly be cleaning. But today, Stefan had other concerns. There had been another letter from Juliet’s parents, and he didn’t have a good feeling about it since the last time they had actually heard from them was after Mary had died. This time, the letter was addressed in different handwriting, too. Handwriting Stefan didn’t recognize and could tell was shaky at best.
So, before bed, he asked Juliet to join him in the bedroom, and tried to make her as comfortable as possible before handing her the letter. They read it together, hearts nearly stopping at the news enclosed. Juliet’s mother had died suddenly, and now her step-father was ailing. He could no longer care for her younger half-brother, and asked the unthinkable. To prevent young Abraham from being sent to the orphanage, he wanted Juliet to take the boy in. Stefan being part of the household, or the fact that he and Juliet had their own family to care for already were not even mentioned.
In stunned silence, he and Juliet sat together on the ottoman. Stefan took the letter back from her shaking hands, and re-read it to himself.
“Stefan… I can’t let him be taken away. He IS my brother, after all. Mother and I used to donate things to that orphanage – you can’t even imagine how horrible the conditions are there. I wouldn’t wish that on any child. We have to take him in.” Juliet blinked away what looked suspiciously like tears, and looked beseechingly at Stefan.
“I suppose you’re right.” Stefan replied. “Your step-father cannot travel in his condition, and you have the babies to feed and care for, so you can’t travel either. It must be me.”
Looking away in frustration and anger at the coming trip, he clenched his jaw, then bit out, “I must go back to Brindleton Bay to get your brother and bring him here.” He didn’t see Juliet look at him with worry and pity, and he stood up and left the room. He needed to be alone for a moment.
Stefan had never planned on going home. He had never met Juliet’s step-father, even at the wedding. It had been like the man had never accepted the fact that Juliet had even gotten married. And as for her half-brother, he knew absolutely nothing about the boy. Other than the fact that he would now be their ward. Clenching his fists, he looked about the spare room he had found himself in. At least they had room for the boy to sleep. For now. The twins would be growing up soon, and this room had been planned for them. It was a good thing Stefan hadn’t chosen to pay the loan off fully. The money he had saved was going to have to go towards an addition to the house. He wouldn’t have time to arrange for that until he returned, however. Who knew how long Juliet’s step-father had left: Stefan needed to pack and leave by train in the morning.
Sighing deeply, Stefan headed back upstairs and told Juliet of his plans. He would get Abraham, and be home as fast as he could. In his mind, he simply hoped he wouldn’t run into his father or brothers while he was home. By now, his duplicity in cashing out his land inheritance would surely have been found out, and he was sure they would be even angrier at him than usual.
Stefan had barely been gone for a day, and already the house was falling apart at the seams. Juliet seemed to run from one task to the next, never having time to even catch her breath.
There were meals to cook, laundry to do, and two very active toddlers to watch. Not to mention, the babies were starting to crawl.
Keeping Samuel and Benjamin in their cribs was becoming a chore, and their near constant (or so it felt) crying frayed what little nerves Juliet had left.
She tried, however, to keep home life as normal as possible for Florence and Nellie. They ate together in the kitchen, and they still went to bed just after dark and woke first thing in the morning.
Provided Nellie didn’t have a nightmare in the middle of the night, the only thing that interrupted her sleep were the babies. Still, sleep was fitful at best without the security of Stefan beside her. She had never expected to miss him this much, and a niggling insecurity played at the back of her mind. What was he doing on his trip? Where would he stay? Who else might he meet? And, above all, when would he be back?
Stefan felt tired, dirty, and annoyed. He could nearly taste the grit from the train in between his clenched teeth. Not wanting to find a rooming house to clean up at, he headed straight to the Bates’ farm, hoping to get this over with as fast as possible, and head back to the train station with young Abraham.
The moment he saw Juliet’s step-father, he knew his condition was more dire than even he had let on in the letter. The man could barely keep his feet. Stefan approached him, entirely prepared to catch the man should he tip over.
Coughing harshly, Willam Bates ground out, “Where’s my daughter? Where’s Juliet?”
Stopping and blinking in confusion, Stefan replied, “She can’t travel right now. Not with the twins still needing feedings, and Florence and Nellie still need her, too. I had to come in her stead.”
“Hmph. Good-for-nothing Tangles. Always sticking your nose into business that wasn’t yours in the first place. I should have known you would keep Juliet under lock and key.”
Stunned at the man’s vitriol, Stefan just looked at him blankly, feeling his temper rise.
William again began coughing, and nearly bent double. Despite his anger, Stefan quickly came to his aid and helped him sit on the nearby porch bench. Sitting next to him, Stefan cursed.
“How dare you malign my family. What have we ever done to you?” Stefan bit out.
“What have you ever done FOR us? My wife and daughter are dead because you took Juliet away from us. They would still be here but for your meddlesome Tangle ways!” Willam again devolved into a coughing fit, barely able to breathe. After a tense moment, he continued, “You can stay in the guest room. Elizabeth’s funeral is in two days. After that, you may take Abraham and go. I am afraid, that no matter what my feelings are for you, I must trust you with my most trusted possession – my son and heir. I have not long for this world, and cannot continue to care for him on my own.”
Unbeknownst to either Stefan or William, little Abraham had tiptoed up to the front door of his house, and was now listening to every word spoken outside. He gasped at this statement from his father, and quickly slapped a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t be heard.
Stefan was livid. “How DARE you say that Mary and Elizabeth’s deaths are Juliet’s fault. Perhaps if you had treated Juliet better, she would not have been so eager to leave this home and your family. She has done nothing but good for you and yours, and even now, she is being gracious and stepping in when she is needed. You are nothing but a petty and sick old man, taking things out on a girl who deserves none of your anger and blame.”
William tried to answer, but lost his voice to another fit of coughing. Waving Stefan off, he merely said, “No matter. What’s done is done. Your room is upstairs.”
There was still no sign of Stefan. Juliet had fully expected him home by now, and there was no sign of him, and no word either.
Trying to put aside her worry, Juliet continued the best she could with her daily tasks.
The house, however, was starting to look worse for the wear, and her already frayed nerves were gone. The twins were crawling everywhere when they were awake, and Florence was starting to pick up on Nellie’s troublesome ways, getting into the cabinets to bang the pans when Juliet wasn’t looking.
Even a trip to the outhouse wasn’t fraught with problems, because the pump sink was now spraying water everywhere. Juliet tried to mop up the water and stem the flow, but she knew nothing of it’s workings and failed miserably. On the way back to the house, she looked at the weeds growing in the fields, and hoped that the harvest wouldn’t be forever ruined by Stefan’s absence.
By the time she got back in the house, the twins were once again screaming in hunger, and she trudged upstairs to care for them. Hearing a commotion behind her, she turned to find, of all things, Florence spilling a cup of flour all over the upstairs hallway rug. Scolding her, she sent her to her room to play, and went to find where Nellie had gotten off to.
After searching the entire house, and not finding her, in a panic, Juliet ran outside.
She tripped on the stairs and nearly fell, suddenly realizing that her head was spinning in a most disconcerting way, and she felt terribly feverish. Holding on to the railing for a moment, she got her bearings, then began the search for Nellie again.
Finding her making a mess on the side of the house by Stefan’s fields, Juliet took a breath, and yelled at Nellie for making her worry and for making a mess. Nellie immediately burst into tears, and Juliet stopped, taking a deep breath.
Suddenly laughing at herself, she shook her head to try to clear it, then laughed again, almost deliriously.
Apologizing to Nellie, she comforted her as best she could and took the toddler back inside, only hoping that the rest of the children had been okay in her absence.
By midnight, things had completely fallen apart inside the house and Juliet’s head. She curled up under the covers and cried miserably while the twins slept on, oblivious, and Florence and Nellie ate their last meal of the day. The girls then quietly took themselves off to bed, confused and a bit afraid of their mother’s flood of tears.
Stefan sat and waited while William lit a candle for his daughter. He had kept quiet for the last couple of days, sitting on his anger at the old man’s hatred and unreasonable blame. He had seen for himself William’s condition was indeed dire, and it seemed he was holding on only to bury his late wife.
Young Abraham had yet to say a single word to Stefan, either. He seemed almost afraid of him, and under the circumstances, Stefan couldn’t really blame him. He didn’t push the lad, and kept mostly to himself, wondering how Juliet and the children were faring.
The funeral was short and sweet, thankfully, and Stefan helped the gravediggers carry her coffin to her grave and cover it over with dirt. She was buried beside her beloved daughter, Mary, with a conspicuous plot of land next to her for William.
Seeing the boy crying at his mother’s graveside pulled at Stefan’s heartstrings, and he walked over to console the youngster, not knowing what else to do.
Abraham wiped his tears away, and took a deep breath.
“Thanks, sir.” he said, quietly.
“Think nothing of it, son.” Stefan replied, and began to say something else, but was interrupted.
William had collapsed on the ground near his wife and daughter’s graves. Watching as the horror dawned in Abraham’s eyes, Stefan turned to find the Grim Reaper coming in through the cemetery gates. Clearly William had breathed his last.
Abraham cried inconsolably, and understandably. Not knowing exactly what to do, Stefan watched the whole scene with a growing knot in his stomach. He would, clearly, not be going home to Juliet and his children today. They had another funeral to arrange.
Stefan still didn’t really know what to say to his wife’s half brother. The boy seemed to have ceased to talk altogether, and stayed alone in his room. He didn’t force the youngster to go to school, he felt that was far too much to be asking of the grieving boy, but he did insist he eat. The housekeeper had agreed to stay on to make their meals and clean the house until such time as William could be buried and Stefan and Abraham left for home. For now, there were other arrangements to be made.
Stefan met with the bank manager, who seemed happy to see him, and congratulated him on keeping up payments faithfully on his loan. Stefan ignored the man’s cheer, and inquired about the Bates’ estate in relation to his young brother-in-law. There had been wills, of course, and, sobering quickly, the bank manager guided him into a back room to discuss it. As the boy’s guardian now, he was given trust of the boy’s accounts until such time as Abraham was old enough to actually inherit it. Despite the pleasant and prosperous appearance of the Bates’ farm, apparently there was little left, and there had been no dispensation in the wills for Juliet at all. It was as if her parents had ceased to acknowledge she even existed. Most of the money seemed to have gone to medical care and the household help over these last few years. The farm had been mortgaged to the hilt, too, so by all rights, it belonged to the bank, and there would be nothing coming in from it.
Soberly, Stefan collected the papers and headed back to the Bates’ farm. He was starting to feel sorry for the boy, it seemed he was destined to have nothing in this world – or at least, very little.
The date for the funeral of William finally arrived, and Stefan dutifully escorted the boy to the church. The service passed quickly enough, and again Stefan helped the gravediggers finish the process. He was about to fetch the boy so they could leave when he heard a voice he had hoped to never hear again. His stomach dropping into his shoes, he turned to find his father outside the cemetery gates, calling for him.
“Boy! How dare you show your face in this town after what you’ve done!”
Stefan hurried over to him, hoping to at least convince him to lower his voice at such a sober gathering.
Apparently that wasn’t about to happen. His father was beyond furious, it seemed, and there was nothing Stefan could do but listen to the man berate him.
The tirade seemed to go on forever. Clearly his father had found out about the inheritance, and the loan.
Finally, cursing, his father seemed to be losing steam, and finished with: “You have stolen from my family and my town for the last time! I wash my hands of you. You no longer exist.”
Gasping at such a harsh statement, Stefan tried to collect his thoughts to reply, aware that most of the town was watching the two of them with avid interest. There was nothing like a scandal, after all.
“BEGONE! Get out of my town, and never return or I’ll have you arrested!”
Unable to think through the rush of anger and emotions, Stefan turned and walked away with a huge lump in his throat, going to collect his ward and his belongings so they could leave.
On his way back to the church, he passed a forlorn form by the fresh graves. Stumbling to a stop, Stefan walked over to his Mother.
“I’m Sorry, Mom. I never meant to cause you all this trouble. I just wanted my own life.” he began, then stopped when he realized his mother hadn’t even heard him.
“She was one of my dearest friends.” his mother said absently, still staring at Elizabeth’s grave.
“I’m sorry.” Stefan said, trying to console her as best he could.
“And now I have lost my son, too. Your father will have nothing of you in the home, and wants you gone.”
Taking a deep breath, Stefan replied dryly, “So I’ve been told.”
“Even your brothers fear to speak of you and what you have done to this family’s reputation. I must comply, and this must be goodbye.”
Stefan knew that steely look in his mother’s eye, and knew very well that he could say nothing to change her mind about what had actually happened. She believed what she had been told. In reality, he had only taken what was his to make a new start somewhere else. He was no thief.
“Fine. Goodbye, Mother.”
He turned to go, then thought twice about it. “I still love you, though, and I’m sorry.” he said softly, and threw his arms about his mother. He heard her voice catch, and she hugged him back tightly, then turned away from him to follow his father.
Unable to speak anymore, Stefan turned to Abraham, who was standing by their luggage, waiting. He nodded at the boy, and helped him load it onto a carriage bound for the train station. Finally. It was time to go home.
Juliet had never been so lonely in her life. Surely Stefan should have been back by now. She couldn’t imagine what had gone wrong to keep him away for so long. Perhaps he wasn’t coming back at all. Perhaps he had found someone else. Someone without so many children to be a burden to him. Someone without a half brother she was now to be in charge of. Provided she could get him here and save him from the orphanage. Her thoughts a despairing muddle, Juliet went to bed, again, alone.
Of course, she wasn’t able to sleep long before the boys were up again, screaming for food and diaper changes. Miserably, she cared for them, and crawled back into bed.
Morning dawned with a clinging rain – and a welcome surprise at her doorstep.
Stefan and Abraham were home! The sadness on the young boy’s face drew her attention immediately, and she folded him into her arms before turning to welcome Stefan home.
Being back in his arms made her feel incredibly foolish for worrying and doubting him. Of course he was home. Explanations could wait for later.
Abraham set his suitcases on the bed that was to be his, and immediately pitched in to start cleaning up the disaster that was the house. Once things seemed under control, still without a word, he sat at the mostly unused desk and began doing some schoolwork. Florence and Nellie watched him curiously, soberly, and Juliet wondered what they thought of the new household addition.
Stefan spent most the morning in the fields, trying to repair the damage done by neglect. Once he felt things were under control, he came back into the house to help get that back in hand, as well.
Abraham had retreated to the spare room, and was talking quietly to the big bear. Juliet wondered what he was saying, but didn’t want to interrupt. She closed the door again, and when she checked back, he was sound asleep. Poor thing.
Stefan and she finally had the house clean, the toddlers cared for, and the boys asleep. Stefan went upstairs to wash the travel dirt from his body, but Florence interrupted him, begging for a story before bed. It appeared she had missed her Father.
Everyone was in bed, the house was clean, and Stefan was glad to see her. That was all that mattered anymore to Juliet. He tried to tell her about the trip, about her father, but she interrupted him. All that could wait. First, he deserved a proper welcome home.
(Author’s Note: This was completely, totally, amazingly, all unplanned. I couldn’t have come up with this stuff had it not actually happened in game and I had to be creative to make up the story as to exactly why and how. I had never, ever, planned to have anything to do with Brindleton Bay again, and it was just on a whim I had even added those lots and the extended family to the game at all (the prologue was shot in a different save). I did not make Juliet’s family, nor did I make the lots that are shown in Brindleton Bay – all were found on the Gallery under the 1890s search term. I’m just glad that the lots were well enough put together to withstand the impromptu photo shoot session I had to put on mid-week to explain what happened. And Juliet really did “lose it” over those couple days without Stefan, I did not make that up. (To simulate him being gone, and facilitate the photo shoot, he was moved out of the household temporarily.) I think the chapter turned out well, if way too long for my tastes – but there was no place to split it, really. It all needed to be together to explain the entire week. Hopefully you enjoyed the read!)
(Author’s Note: With an eye towards getting through possibly more than one generation this month with this story (and, consequently, the Sheppards as well), I am increasing the length of the posts for this family, and I’m going to TRY to fit a whole “year” into each chapter instead of splitting them up. If this creates a problem for you, please comment and I can go back to splitting the years into two.)
Winter was moving in fast, and the outhouse seemed to get farther away every day. Last night’s frost had put the bees to sleep, and many of the plants had died off for the winter. Juliet could see the storm clouds rolling in and knew that the tiny flakes filtering down from the sky would be joined by many more soon. She hurried with her business and headed back inside as quickly as possible.
She passed Stefan on her way in, but he was so preoccupied by whatever he was making he barely acknowledged her. He had been hard at work on his woodworking bench a lot lately, and she wondered what he was up to. She wasn’t going to ask, however, not wanting to distract him.
She fed Florence some dinner, and smiled as she watched her fumble with the spoon. The new chair in the dining room allowed Florence to be where Mom was working, so Juliet could keep an eye on her while she ate. The last thing she wanted was to have to scrub the rug in the living room because of food dropped on it again, so having Florence here was so much better.
Juliet had been right about the storm, and the whole family was glad for the fireplaces that helped to heat their house. The windows were frozen over, and through the haze you could see that it was quickly turning into blizzard conditions.
There were other things on her mind than the snow, though. She had been keeping track carefully, and as of tonight, she was sure. She called Stefan upstairs once he had changed out of his snowy clothes, and waited with a babbling Florence impatiently.
She knew how the news of a pregnancy would go over, and she wasn’t wrong. Stefan was overjoyed. He immediately began talking of all the things he would teach his son as he grew up, and his entire attitude changed.
Stefan felt his spirits rise exponentially. It was like all the hope that had left when Nellie had been born had come back in a heady rush. He had started to worry Juliet wouldn’t get pregnant again, even though they hadn’t been trying all that long this time. Some of his church friends told horror stories of wives who had seemed to be barren after bearing only girls, and he had let it go to his head. He apologized to his wife for doubting her, and missed the secret laughter on her face when he cheerily headed back downstairs. There were preparations to make.
The days passed slowly, and he kept a careful eye on his wife’s waistline, waiting impatiently for it to start expanding. His mood remained upbeat, however, despite the fact that the fields had stopped producing and money simply wasn’t coming in anymore. The holly bushes and the spinach plants were pretty much the only things out there worth harvesting, and with the on and off blizzards, even those were hard to get to.
He was glad his workbench was close to the house, as it seemed mostly protected from the wind and snow there, so he was able to keep working on his current project. He’d started on it a while ago, with an eye to the coming season, and was especially keen now that he knew there was another baby on the way to get it done in time for the holidays. Florence was being put to bed by the time he came in for the night, and he smiled as he peeked in on his wife reading the toddler to sleep. He could just barely see the tot’s eyes struggling to stay open, and he knew she would be asleep soon.
He checked in on a sleeping Nellie, then headed downstairs to pull leftovers out of the icebox for dinner. Before the meal was over, however, Nellie was back awake again, and expecting her nightly feeding and diaper change. Of course she was. Shaking his head, he cleaned up from the meal then took one last trip to the outhouse before retiring.
The morning brought with it sunny skies, a headache, and the knowledge that today he had to pay the bills and the loan payment when he knew he wouldn’t have any income until spring came again. He wondered if the headache was from that, and sent off the missives quickly, heading back inside to take a nap on the couch.
Luckily, the headache had subsided by the time he woke up, and he was able to spend some time with Florence while Juliet did some housework.
She was growing so fast, and as she grew, spending time with her became more and more enjoyable. She was learning to put away her own toys, and her vocabulary grew almost daily. He hoped when his son came that he would be as bright as Florence was proving to be.
Juliet had manged to get a recipe for a hearty forager’s stew from one of the ladies at church this past weekend, and decided to give it a try this evening.
Before long, the entire house was filled with delicious smells, and both Stefan and Florence had found their way to the kitchen to inquire when dinner would be served.
Supper was a huge success, and all of the bowls ended up being practically licked clean. There was plenty to put in the icebox for later, too. This was definitely a recipe she would be keeping!
She tried not to burden Stefan with her troubles, but this pregnancy had been taking a toll on her that the last two had not. She felt her energy being constantly sapped, and getting things done always seemed harder than it should be. She wondered if this meant that Stefan would finally get the boy he so desperately wanted. Or – at the very least, she hoped that it didn’t point to something being wrong. The doctor was too far away to be of much help in dire circumstances even during the warmer months, so with the near constant snowfall, he was more than likely beyond reach entirely.
To keep her mind off of the constant physical discomfort and mental worries, she spent more time knitting than she probably should. A new pattern for warmer baby clothes had been passed on to her, and she was attempting to get all the complicated stitches and mind-boggling color changes for the tiny outfit “just right”. She’d had to restart the whole project at least twice, but she was determined to get it done.
As her belly grew, so, too, did Florence. She was becoming more and more well-behaved, and pleasant to be around. The picture books she had gotten at their last trip to the market had been a good buy, as well, because the toddler seemed to almost memorize them with as many times as they were repeated to her.
With the holidays fast approaching, Stefan finally gave up on hoping there would be a break in the weather. He put on as many layers as he could fit under his coat, and let Juliet know he would be out for most of the afternoon. What he didn’t tell her was what he would be doing.
The wind howled and the snow was near blinding, but he was determined, and he slowly made his way to the field of pine trees he had noted earlier in the year while exploring the town.
He managed to get everything done before nightfall, and stood back to admire his handiwork. The cheery decorations probably wouldn’t be noticed by many, but he thought it looked quite lovely.
Even the indoors was strewn with holiday cheer. He had put garlands on the mantels and above each fireplace, and the tree he had drug all the way home looked amazing in the parlor. He was exhausted now, though, and laid down for a nap, figuring that he would wake up in time to surprise his wife and child when they came out of the spare room.
When he woke up, however, they were already preoccupied checking out his changes to the house. Florence seemed to be in awe of the fact that a tree was inside the house, while Juliet took the whole thing in stride and went back to knitting her tiny outfits.
Giving Juliet some time to work, he ushered the excited toddler back into the playroom and found one of her favorite stories, the one about the dinosaurs. He was sick of reading it, but could never be tired of the joy on Florence’s face every time he made the roaring “dialogue” come to life.
Juliet finished off the last bit of cast-off and sewing required, and sat back to admire her work. Tucking in the last ends of yarn to secure the knitting was the last part she had to do, and it didn’t take very long to do that.
Hurrying upstairs, she did one of those taboo things, and woke the slumbering baby. She just had to try the outfit on. Nellie blinked blearily at her and started to demand to be fed, but she looked adorable in her new sleeper. Even better, she would be warmer at night. With a satisfied smile, she fed Nellie and put the infant back to bed before curling up on the bed and giving into the sleep that was tugging at her eyelids.
By Christmas morning, Florence was fully into the holiday spirit, and she woke up early. Consequently, both Juliet and Stefan were also up, albeit a bit less cheerfully.
Waiting for the time for presents, Florence played with the rocking chair to occupy herself. Stefan was glad she didn’t flip the silly thing over with how hard she was playing. That would have been a disaster.
After a hearty meal of Forager Stew and a nap in the parlor by the tree for Juliet, they all gathered around the decorated tree and opened their presents. Most were new toys for Florence, and her delight with each gaily wrapped box was infectious. They were all laughing before long, and there was paper and ribbons strewn about the room.
Finally, there was only one box left. Juliet was thoroughly confused when she opened the box and found it empty. She turned to Stefan to ask, and he pointed with a little boy’s glee towards the kitchen.
Her confusion turned to amazement when he showed her the new furniture he had made. End tables for the bedroom upstairs, and a full dining room set. There was a new stuffed bear on the mantelpiece in the spare room for Florence, too, so she didn’t feel completely left out. She lavished him with praise, and he actually started to feel pretty embarrassed about it. Stopping her, he insisted she go take another nap, that he would watch the children. She was tired enough that there was very little complaint, and she curled up on one of the spare beds.
Juliet had made some little cards with numbers and alphabet letters on them, so he got them out and occupied Florence with them. She was a quick study, and started picking up the connection between the letters she could speak and the letters on the cards.
The rest of the day passed by peacefully, despite the raging weather outside. Stefan had hoped to take Florence out to enjoy the snow at some point, but the storm just didn’t seem to be letting up. So, resignedly, he put his family to bed and hoped for another day with better weather.
The weather didn’t let up, however. The next day he kept himself busy, even through the storm. The laundry had been piling up, and Juliet was just too worn out to do much about it. It took several trips in and out to keep his fingers warm, and some upgrades to the clothesline so it wouldn’t break, but he finally got the clothes clean enough to start drying by the fire. They would put them outside when they were closer to dry.
Juliet appreciated all that Stefan was doing to try to make life easier for her, but she was still worried. By this late stage of the pregnancy, she had figured things would be hard, but between the trips to the outhouse and still breastfeeding the now-crawling Nellie, she could barely stay awake for more than an hour.
She had been trying to get more knitting done, so she would have a warm outfit or two for the newborn (of course, it was in blue because Stefan wouldn’t hear of the possibility it could yet be another girl), but it had been a struggle. She watched Stefan roughhousing with Florence and decided she was – again – going to have to take her leave for a nap.
What started out to be a peaceful and comfortable nap on the quilt didn’t end up the same way. When the pains started, she tried to ignore them and just go back to sleep, sure it was more false starts like she had been fighting in the past couple weeks.
Before long, however, she knew differently. It’s a good thing they had gotten another bassinet, because it seemed that this baby was coming now, and not waiting until Nellie was ready to walk. She yelled for Stefan to come, that it was time for the baby, and leaned over the bassinet in agony.
She could hear him pounding up the stairs in a panic, and was terribly grateful when he was by her side, even though he could do little to help.
Hours later, they were cleaning and dressing not one little boy – but two. Juliet wiped the sweat off her brow and tried to help as much as she could, despite how exhausted she was. Stefan looked completely shell-shocked, and the two names they had been arguing over suddenly became a moot point. They could use both of them.
The two of them finally got little Samuel and his younger brother (by mere minutes) Benjamin settled, fed, and into their bassinets. They had to scrounge to find a place for all three babies for the night, but somehow they had managed it. Juliet fell, spent, into bed, and had to trust that Stefan could handle things for a while.
Twins. Stefan looked over his perfect little sons with pride, then let Florence in to meet them. He had been running back and forth between making sure she was occupied, and then checking that Juliet was doing alright for what felt like most of the day.
Florence was not as impressed with the boys, however, and she began crying, nearly waking Juliet and the babies. He picked her up and trundled her out of the room to deal with the temper tantrum, trying to explain that there was no way they could “put the babies back in Mommy’s tummy” just because Florence had decided she didn’t want them anymore. Finally, exasperated, he just found some toys to distract her and left the rest of the explanation to Juliet.
The next few days passed in a blur. Juliet was still suffering from carrying the twins and the harrowing birth, and now she had to deal with breastfeeding three babies. New Year’s Day technically started at midnight, but resolutions were barely given a thought. Stefan’s only concern was taking care of Juliet and the youngsters, even taking to the kitchen to attempt a rough salad of fresh garden greens (the Spinach was still harvest-able, thankfully). Juliet had attempted to make it downstairs for dinner, but Stefan quickly had to force her back to bed when she ended up face down on the floor. Florence was, luckily, still sleeping peacefully through the night, so she wasn’t an issue. The babies, however, couldn’t seem to agree on a time to all be awake, and they kept insisting on being fed on different schedules. Stefan finally got everyone sleeping at the same time and found a book, sitting exhaustedly in the chair to keep watch over Juliet and the babies as the sun began to rise on a new year.
Watching Florence grow and start to explore her world really made Juliet impatient for this next baby to be born. So impatient that, when her labor actually started, it took a couple hours for her to believe it was really truly time.
Of course, it was in the middle of a thunderstorm – which was worrying, because how would they contact a doctor if something went wrong? – but at least the time was here.
Predictably, Stefan panicked, so Juliet tried to remain as calm as she could under the circumstances. He ran about the house boiling water, finding towels, and trying to keep Florence from making a pest of herself, but he was generally as unhelpful as males usually are at this time.
Finally, little Nellie was born. Stefan made sure not to express his disappointment to his wife, but inside he seethed. Why couldn’t this have been a boy? Frowning, he left Juliet to tend to their newest child, and went to find out where Florence had run off to. It was suspiciously quiet in her room, so she was definitely up to something!
It turns out, Florence had figured out how to navigate the stairs on her own, and was halfway down by the time he found her. He quickly found something for her to do until Juliet would be available to watch her again so he could get back to the business of farming. Perhaps one of the new picture books would keep her interest?..
Going out to the garden was actually a little bit of a vacation at this point, and he whistled to himself as he worked. The cold season was definitely moving in, but the plants were still producing, so money was still coming in. He wasn’t sure how long that would last, however, so he was glad to have a healthy buffer in the bank. From the Almanac, and reports of previous winters from the locals, they were probably in for quite a bit of snow this year. He only hoped that buffer would last them until the spring thaw.
Juliet was again exhausted by the time he got back inside from gardening, so he offered to bathe Florence and keep her occupied before bed while she took a nap. The newborn was asleep again, and he hoped she would stay that way, because he still wasn’t quite ready to face the fact that he had failed – again – to produce a son.
When Juliet awoke, she found Stefan teaching Florence to talk in the upstairs hallway. Whether the attempt was doing any good or not was hard to tell. Florence was babbling happily along, however, so at least it seemed she was having a good time. Juliet turned to care for Nellie, then headed downstairs to do some knitting.
She had found a pattern for a toddler sleeper that would look adorable on Florence, and she was dying to get working on it. It wasn’t done by the time Stefan had gotten Florence put down for the night, however, and she regretfully stashed the project with the others in her knitting basket and headed up to care for Nellie before bed.
The days passed in much of a blur, but Juliet was slowly becoming aware of just how disappointed Stefan was about Nellie’s gender. He had started hinting that they should get to work on having a boy, and before long, she agreed that it was time.
Keeping Florence unaware of their nightly attempts for another pregnancy was more difficult, however, and Juliet was always hyper-aware of where her oldest was at any one given time.
On the subject of Florence: she was growing quickly. She spent a lot more time downstairs, which allowed Juliet to do her housework without bothering Stefan to watch the toddler. Florence was also learning to potty train, and her vocabulary was finally becoming at least decipherable.
Florence looked great in her new sleepwear, and it kept her nice and warm in the colder nights. There wasn’t a fireplace in her room, so the extra warmth was important. Granted, a fireplace in a toddler’s room would just be asking for trouble, so Juliet was glad that there wasn’t one there. For the most part, Florence was good at keeping away from the fireplaces in general, because she had found the play area in the spare bedroom – and that seemed to keep her attention away from dangerous trouble-making.
Stefan was definitely getting tired of being awoken at all hours of the night by the newest baby. At least Florence slept through the night. It would all be different if Nellie had been a boy.
Furiously, he stomped down the stairs to get some breakfast before taking yet another very early morning out in the fields. He and Juliet’s nightly romps still had yet to produce any results, and Thanksgiving had come and gone with Stefan feeling like there was precious little to be truly thankful for. Perhaps it was the upcoming winter that had him worried, perhaps it was just stress that Juliet hadn’t gotten pregnant again yet – but he was struggling not to take his anger out on his wife. Digging in the garden helped relieve his anger – but today’s storm had prevented that. By nighttime he was in a horrible mood, and Nellie was crying again.
By the time they had gotten to sleep, it was nearly midnight, and Stefan had truly lost his patience with the whole day. He could only hope that the thunder and lightning wouldn’t wake Florence up and he could finally get a little bit of rest.
I love this thing because it makes caring for the garden so much faster, but it certainly is immersion-breaking. It does look funny with his old fashioned clothes, though. LOL.
Juliet smiled to herself, thinking of how happy Stefan had been to know that they were expecting a second child. All he kept talking about was how he would send his little boy to school to give him the best of chances in life – chances he had been denied. Apparently when he had asked to further his own education, his father had refused, which was something he didn’t want for his son. To that end, he had already started putting away some extra money so that we could afford to pay for high school.
I didn’t dissuade him from believing that this was going to be a boy, but I was certainly well aware it could be another girl. My morning sickness seemed better this time around, but taking care of the baby at night as well as being pregnant was exhausting. I did what I could to help with the farm finances by knitting, but I wasn’t able to do as much as I had been in the past.
Having to waddle out to the outhouse in the middle of a night time thunderstorm was miserable, but at least I made it all the way there. How I wished I could run back to the house to escape the storm – but, alas, I was stuck waddling. How undignified.
Thankfully, the storm was gone by the time we got up in the morning, and I was able to do some laundry. Leaning over the washbasin while pregnant was no one’s idea of fun, but it was a necessary chore.
Stefan was proud of how their little farm was doing. Once again, making the weekly loan payment wasn’t a problem, and he still had enough to start putting money away for his son’s education.
He addressed the envelope to the bank, and headed out to the mailbox to send it. Opening the box, he discovered a letter addressed to Juliet from Brindleton Bay, and his heart sank. She was always so upset after hearing from her mother, and he had a bad feeling about this one. The last letter had not been good news, and he feared this would be worse.
He hoped that it wouldn’t affect her pregnancy, but he knew he couldn’t keep the letter from her. That wouldn’t be right, either. He held onto it until dinner time, letting her finish up her daily chores and caring for Florence for the afternoon before burdening her with the letter.
As they were eating dinner, he brought up the letter, and Juliet immediately wanted to read it. He convinced her to at least finish her meal first – but she was too worried about what it might contain to eat any more.
Watching her read the letter was torturous. He watched her face go from worried to … something worse.. in the space of a few moments. She almost looked angry. Apparently, her step sister had finally succumbed to her illness. The anger came from her mother assuming that Juliet could and would simply come home now. How could she? She was married now, and expecting another child. Traveling was out of the question. It was almost like Juliet’s mother was saying we should move our entire family back to Brindleton Bay just because Mary was gone. Ridiculous. I comforted Juliet as much as I could, then went out to do some woodworking.
Juliet couldn’t decide whether to be heartbroken or furious, and figuring out what to write back to her mother was out of the question. How dare her mother simply assume that Juliet would return in the wake of Mary’s death. She had a life here now, a family. And her mother seemed unable to acknowledge it. Juliet took a deep breath and placed a hand over the baby in her abdomen. She had other things to worry about now, and she was no longer at her mother’s beck and call. She gathered the dinner dishes and set about cleaning up from the meal.
She could hear Stefan outside working away on his newest project, whatever it was, and the baby was stirring upstairs by the time the dishes were done. She firmly put the matter of her mother’s letter out of her head, and went to see to Florence.
The rest of the week passed in a blur. Between caring for the house, herself, and Florence, she was completely swamped, and the lingering sadness over Mary’s death was soon forgotten.
By the weekend, she was more than ready for a holiday, and welcomed the local Trick-or-Treaters in with some homemade treats. Midway through the evening, however, she heard a ruckus upstairs, and left Stefan in charge of answering the door so she could go investigate.
She had known the day was coming, but finding Florence up and walking around was still a bit of a surprise. Juliet had thought she was already asleep for the evening. Clearly not. She had gotten into the wardrobe and strewn clothes all over the room. Chuckling to herself, Juliet cleaned up the mess and carried little Florence back to the bedroom to put her back to bed.
Florence, of course, had other ideas, and wanted to babble on excitedly about who knows what. Juliet smiled and brought out her knitting, trying to remember to reply to Florence as she would anyone else, to encourage the now-toddler to start to learn to talk.
She was utterly exhausted by the time she finally got Florence to sleep in her new room, and she trudged downstairs to head to the outhouse before she herself could join Stefan in bed.
She made it to the outhouse.. but not back to bed. Waking up on the kitchen floor was a horrible way to come to one’s senses, too. Blinking in confusion for a moment, she pushed herself to her feet and practically crawled upstairs to her bed.
The sun was starting to come over the horizon when she woke again, urgently needing the outhouse. She had been so exhausted, she had slept too long.. and she ended up having to hurriedly clean up the mess so that Stefan wouldn’t know of her embarrassment. What a way to start a day!
Juliet looked out the window at their farm and mused over the last year. So far, the farm had been bringing in valuable produce to sell, and she had even been able to sell some of her knitting and candles to help out. Yes, taking care of the whole house was a lot of work, but it was rewarding work that she loved doing. The Willow Creek community had welcomed them with open arms, and she didn’t miss Brindleton Bay at all.
And then there was baby Florence. Yes, she cried at all hours of the day and night, but she was so adorable. Juliet had written to her mother of the joyous news, and hoped that she would be happy for her, but it was hard to tell with Mother. She had yet to get a return letter from her, so she would just have to wait and see.
Putting the baby back in her crib for another nap, Juliet sighed and headed downstairs to make breakfast. Stefan had been out in the field since daybreak as usual, and would be coming in soon, hungry.
Stefan hadn’t felt well for the last couple of days, and had been doing his best to hide it. He simply didn’t want Juliet to worry about him. First it was a fever, then dizziness.
And now it was a horrible headache. Never let it be said he shirked on his work, though, and the field was still in great shape. Even if he wasn’t.
In fact, the farm was doing so well that he had managed to pay not only the normal property taxes and fees, but also the loan payment due for the week. With plenty left over. He had considered paying extra on the loan – but with a new baby in the house, perhaps keeping a healthy bank account was a better idea. One never knew what might happen.
Juliet was turning out to be quite a wife. She kept the house clean, the baby tended, the laundry done.. and now she was even helping out with the bills by selling rugs and other things that she knitted. He wasn’t about to tell her that there really was no reason for her to worry about the money at this point, however, so he thanked her for the funds and put it in the bank account whenever he was in town.
Stefan finished up in the fields and cleaned up, then went to talk with Juliet for a while. It appeared that the baby was sleeping now, so they kept their voices down – even though the sound of soft conversation was unlikely to carry all the way up the stairs.
After a while, his wife excused herself to go make dinner, and Stefan gave in to the headache and went to hide for a while in the darkness of the spare room.
Dinner was another salad – and while he was getting slightly tired of them, he did admit that using the produce from their own land certainly kept expenses down. Juliet was apparently chatty today, however, which certainly wasn’t helping his head. He tried to follow the conversation at least enough to reply, but he wasn’t sure he’d managed it.
The next morning, the headache was mostly gone, but he felt slightly dizzy again. Standing up slowly, he tiptoed downstairs so as not to wake up Juliet or the baby, and went to find some breakfast.
There was a puddle growing around the base of the icebox, however, so he quickly mopped it up, and went to get his tools to repair the leak. By the time it was finished, he’d lost most of the morning and he could hear little Florence fussing upstairs. Bypassing breakfast altogether, he went outside to get to work for the day.
Juliet hummed a little tune as she cooked dinner for Stefan. She had noticed that he had been giving the nightly salads a slightly sad look and had decided to add bread and cheese to their daily grocery order.
Some grilled cheese should cheer him right up. When he came in from the fields for dinner, she was gratified to see a surprised, but happy, look on his face. Beaming, she served both of them, and sat down to a pleasant meal, hoping to make it all the way through before Florence woke up wanting her feeding and diaper changing again.
Later that night – much later – she hurried to the outhouse in the darkness, and found out that a thunderstorm had moved in while they were sleeping. The yard was a quagmire of muddy puddles, and she slipped, falling right on her backside. Biting back curses she wasn’t even supposed to know, she stood up gingerly, did her business at the bathroom, and miserably dodged the raindrops to get back inside. She tried to keep from tracking the mud inside, but it was a hopeless venture, and she headed up to the washroom to clean up, dreading the clean-up job she would have downstairs before she could go back to bed.
The storms of the past couple days had kept the fields watered, but also prevented him from going out to harvest or take care of the plants. The enforced holiday had helped cure his sickness, however, and he was feeling much better. Stefan was glad the storms had finally moved on, though, and he was able to get out there to harvest the produce, delivering it to the farmer’s market that afternoon.
Once again, the Farmer’s Almanac had been right, however, and in the storms’ wake, a heatwave had moved in, and made working outside miserable for the next few days. He would be glad when summer was over, that was for sure.
Juliet wiped a damp brow and went back to her knitting. This heat was horribly oppressive, and both her and the baby were miserable. She tried keeping the windows open to let in a breeze, but there was precious little of that to be had. She could only imagine how torturous working in the fields must be – and she tried to remember to take Stefan some lemonade every hour or two to help keep him refreshed.
She tried not to think on the dire news her Mother’s most recent letter had contained. Her step-sister, Mary, had still not improved, and was completely bed-ridden. The doctors had cited consumption, and had not had encouraging news for the family. Juliet may have not gotten along with Mary – but she’d really never wished and illness of this sort upon her. She wondered how long Mary would last, and whether her Mother would finally acknowledge Florence’s birth once she was gone. Florence was turning one in the next few days, and Juliet’s Mother still had yet to say anything about her in her letters.
Pushing aside these melancholy thoughts, Juliet cuddled her little girl, rejoicing that in a few short months she would finally be up and toddling around the house. Sure, it would pose a completely new set of challenges for her as a parent – but at least there would be room in the cradle for a new baby.
For, indeed, her hunch had been correct – she was expecting again. She hadn’t told Stefan yet because she had wanted to be completely sure first, but she knew he would be overjoyed. She dearly hoped this one would be a boy, however, so as to not disappoint him again. Juliet planned to tell him this evening, and she watched Florence crawl around the bedroom, working on her knitting and waiting impatiently for Stefan to be done outside.
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