1894 | 1896

1895 (Summer)

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.

1894 | 1896