Rachel Lynde was beat. This was no new state of being for her, with seven children ranging in age from 15 to 14 months she was always exhausted. The constant whining and fighting were the worst, and the lack of sleep. Little Robin had always been a terrible sleeper. She was used to being covered in sticky things and had spent so many years with a smear of dried milk, sick or snot on her shoulder that she no longer noticed.
But now she felt another level of tired and worried that she may be in the family way yet again. If only there were some way to stop all these babies, she felt she only had to look at Thomas or he at her and another one would be on the way.
Her unmarried and therefore childless neighbour Marilla Cuthbert had invited her to tea this afternoon. Rachel was in two minds about it. She could barely drag herself out of bed, so the walk up the lane felt like a mountain, but on the other hand, Marilla's house, the idyllic sounding Green Gables, was a refuge of calm and cleanliness such as Rachel could only dream of at this stage of her life. So, she ordered her eldest daughter Mary to mind the younger children for a couple of hours and carrying little Robin, trudged up the lane and knocked on Marilla's door.
"Rachel, dear. You look exhausted, come in I've just made tea," Rachel hoisted the baby on her hip and walked over the threshold. She stopped for a moment listening ... to nothing. She could even hear birdsong in the distance. She hadn't heard birdsong in her house during the afternoon for years.
"Is everything alright, Rachel? Are you ill?"
"No, I'm just enjoying the peace is all."
Marilla nodded, Rachel's house was noisy - all the time. If the children weren't laughing, they were screaming or grizzling, more often the latter. She found it an exhausting space and seldom lingered for too long.
"Well come in and sit down. I thought we could sit in the parlour today. It's more comfortable. I've got the blocks here for Robin to play with."
Rachel and Robin settled down in the parlour. It was warm, and the sofa was comfortable. Robin played happily with the blocks enjoying not having to compete with a sibling for once. Usually James stole the best toys which made him cry. Rachel watched Robin playing happily and felt her eyelids drooping.
Marilla walked into the parlour saying, "sorry I kept you waiting," as she carried in a tray with the tea things and a cookie and milk for Robin. Setting the tray down she stopped, noticing that Rachel was sound asleep on the sofa. She looked at Robin and smiled "That's your fault, you know," turning around she found a blanket for Rachel and placed it over her noticing a smear of dried snot on her shoulder. Placing her fingers to her lips to shush Robin, she gave him his cookie and sat down with a cup of tea for herself. Rachel snored gently on, her round face lax.
Rachel showed no signs of stirring and Marilla was getting bored watching Robin play. Holding out her hand she whispered to him, "come along, let's go out." Robin knew his Aunt Marilla well, so he trustingly took her hand and they walked out the door.
It was a beautiful sunny autumn day. Marilla stopped on the doorstep and considered what she should do with Robin. They could go and see the horses, the barn, play in the drifts of fallen leaves or just go for a walk and see what took his fancy.
It wasn't often Marilla took time off housework, but she figured poor Rachel needed a break, so she decided to think of this interlude as her job for the afternoon. Looking around at the farm bathed in sunshine, it was certainly a more pleasant task than scrubbing the floor. Holding Robin by the hand because he wasn't terribly steady on his feet yet, they slowly made their way out to the barn. Matthew was there, fixing some piece of farm machinery.
"What's this then?" Matthew asked Robin "where's your Ma disappeared to?"
"She's asleep in the parlour Matthew," Marilla replied, "so I'm looking after Robin for a while."
Matthew grinned at Robin, "that's a nice idea, Marilla. I could leave this and join you both,"
Marilla smiled back him. It wasn't often they took an afternoon off and even more seldom that they did it together. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time they'd done it,"that would be lovely, brother. Shall we?"
Matthew took Robin's other hand and they played swinging him along, which made him laugh with joy. They made their way over to a large cherry tree by the house and sat down in its dappled shade. Robin toddled around picking up sticks and bright autumn leaves and bringing them over to be admired. Nodding towards him, Marilla asked her brother "do you wish you'd had children?"
Matthew considered young Robin for a minute or so and replied, "well, maybe, but then you know I would have had to speak to a girl first, and I could never manage it. I reckon I'm pretty content with my life as it is. What about you, Em?"
"It's true I would have liked a few of my own. Though considering Rachel's situation, I'm not so sure. She never gets a moment's peace. I don't know that I would have the patience. Maybe, our lives turned out for the best."
Matthew nodded and lay down on the grass. Robin toddled over, sat on his stomach and started tickling his beard, "I guess we missed out on this," Matthew stated, between giggles.
"Yes, that's true, but we both get a full nights' sleep. I don't think this little one sleeps much at night," remarked Marilla.
Matthew grimaced, "no, that doesn't sound like much fun. You give your Ma grief little one? You should try sleeping at night, it's nice. I like it," he waggled his finger at Robin who grabbed it and stuck in his mouth, "ouch! Don't bite me!" Matthew grabbed his finger back.
"Did he really bite you?" Marilla was astounded.
"Yes, just a bit, little blighter. See," Matthew held his red finger out to Marilla to show her the tiny teeth indentations.
"I shouldn't do that if I were you, Robin. I know where those hands have been, you'll get sick."
"Hey, what about me?"
"You'll live, brother."
Just then they heard Rachel calling out for them and they called out to her to let them know where they were, "Marilla, I am so terribly sorry. I just dropped off there for a moment."
Marilla looked up at her and laughed, "Well not for a moment actually. You've been asleep for about two hours," she patted the ground next to her, "sit down here Rachel. I'll fetch you some fresh tea."
Rachel plopped herself down on the grass saying, "two hours? Oh, my goodness, gracious me. I do apologise, I just . . . "
". . . Needed to sleep. It's fine Rachel. We've been having a lovely time out here, together haven't we?" Marilla replied.
Matthew nodded while Robin toddled over to his mother and sat in her lap.
"You stay here." Marilla said to them all, "I'll bring the tea things out."
Matthew, Rachel and Robin watched her walk away, "are you quite well, Rachel?" Matthew asked concernedly.
"I think I might be having another baby."
"Oh, are you sure? What does Thomas think?"
"I haven't had a chance to tell him yet. I think I might be, because I'm always terribly tired at first. Of course, it could just be lack of sleep," she said with a glance at Robin.
"Em tells me he's not sleeping."
"He's the worst one yet. And there are, um, other signs." Signs such as tender breasts and the cessation of menses which Rachel did not want to divulge to Matthew Cuthbert.
"Just so, just so," said Matthew who desperately wished to remain ignorant.
Marilla reappeared with the tea tray, bending down she placed it on the grass and held onto Matthew's proffered arm to gently sit down.
"Well, this is nice, I must say," said Rachel as she sipped her hot tea, "I know I shouldn't have done it but thank you for letting me sleep. I feel quite refreshed."
"It's always been my experience that if you fall asleep like that in the middle of the day, you must really need it. I'm not remotely surprised that you are exhausted Rachel. Anyway, Robin and I had a nice afternoon, didn't we darling? It was much nicer than scrubbing the floor."
Robin was looking decidedly tired, he was rubbing his eyes with his fists and beginning to grizzle, "I better get him home," Rachel said with a sigh, "maybe he'll actually sleep tonight after his lovely afternoon. Matthew leapt to his feet and helped Rachel to her feet and picked Robin up. Rachel held her arms out for the baby, but Matthew said he'd carry him home for her.
Marilla watched them go and thought how about how lucky she was. She could enjoy Rachel's babies from afar, and still enjoy the luxury of a tidy house and a good night's sleep.