1892 Part 2 | 1894

(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.)

1893 (Winter)

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.

1892 Part 2 | 1894