Chapter 7

I want to thank everyone for the reviews and follows. I am really glad how people are responding to this.

September 1920


Their marriage, no their entire relationship was a many of firsts for Rilla. First kisses, first times, first quarrels, first burned dinners. Many of those firsts Rilla could look back and smile at, he was her one and only. Something she cherished deep down in her heart, knowing he was her first love, and hopefully her last love.

For Ken life was a many of seconds. He wasn't sure if he truly loved Amelia Blackwood, but she stirred something in him in his teen years. The strange nights in Amsterdam, where he escaped his father. Wandering into the most peculiar of a district. His own mother had been widowed without knowing it.

He was a family of seconds, but Rilla always came first in his mind. Her comfort and safety, they were placed well above his. She was the first thing he thought of in the morning. She was one of the most important things in his life. She may have not been his first, but he made her his first.

Still, somehow they came together, came together in a strange wonderful life.

Rilla had been sitting at the small table, trying to put together a monthly budget for the first time. She knew they were well off, Ken never seemed worried about money. Both of them had come from affluential families in their own way. It was when they returned to Kingsport, Rilla became conscious about the money they had. It was only then she realizes she had no idea how much truth they had coming in each month. How much they had in the bank? Ken much like any other man, he wanted to support her and their home. That was his job as a husband supporting his family as small was. His pride wouldn't allow anything else. It took a fair bit of persuading to allow her father to gift them the apartment in Kingsport.

"This is ridiculous!" Rilla shouted as her hands shot into the air. "It's a gift, a wonderful practical gift for us Ken!"

"It like they don't think I can provide for you Rilla!" Ken spat out frustrated with the whole situation.

"You know that's true! It's like they said, the place is mine practically at the end of the day! What difference does it make?" Rilla countered she couldn't get over how he could be so pigheaded about something so wonderful. Any newlyweds would love to have a place to live gifted to them? "Or is it the fact that it comes from my family and not yours? Do you have no problem living here which belongs to your parents? So why! Why is this any different! Because I sincerely hope its not because it's my name on the deed?" Rilla asked him bluntly.

"Of course not!" Ken exclaimed. "Who gives a lying pigs ass who the place belongs to!"

"Then I suggest you check your pride at the door Kenneth Ford and get over yourself," Rilla told him sternly. "They aren't offering this, because they think you can't provide for me! They are offering us, a way to save more money for when we want to buy a house! A little help has never hurt anyone!"

Rilla had been telling the truth when she told him the place was already hers. As Shirley didn't need it as he was studying engineering in Montreal. Nan and Di both were teaching in different school around the Island. They had spent the better part of an evening arguing over it. It wasn't until Rilla asked him how it was any different from them living in his families summer home? It wasn't, it was a wedding gift. A way for her parent to sleep better at night. Knowing they weren't wasting money on lodging when they had a perfectly suitable option. In the end, he agreed begrudgingly. It was close enough to the college for Rilla, yet still far enough away that they had their privacy. Privacy away from the prying eyes of the many students. They could have a relatively normal life, in their area of town.

After the debacle, when she mentioned going into the bank to get a bank note for her tuition. He merely nodded and asked if she wanted a ride into town. Still feeling rather small about his pigheadedness about the apartment.

In the end, they went back and forth between the island and Kingsport. Trading out furniture and decorating the apartment so that it suited both of them. They replaced the old, slightly too narrow for two people bed for a larger one. For the living room, they found room another desk. Allowing him space for his typewriter while next to it was a new shelf for the books he wanted to bring with him. Rilla was never a great reader and only had a stack of textbooks and a few older novels.


It was a teary-eyed day when they left the island for the start of term. Her parents had come to see them off. Her mother dabbing her eyes as she went on a mile a minute about a new adventure. She had been married for six weeks, yet it was like it was truly hitting her parents that morning.

Gilbert pulled her into a hug her. "You have everything?"

"More than needed," Rilla confirmed with a nod to her hatted head. "We'll be fine, and we will see you at Thanksgiving," she added as she kissed his cheek.

"Take care of her Ken," Anne added as she straightened her son in laws tie. "If you ever need anything, just give us a ring."

"Of course Mrs-"

"How many times have I told you-you can call me Anne, or mom if you are feeling sentimental," Anne gave him a look. "Just no grandmother just yet from you too," she warned him with a cheeky smile. Suddenly he understood just where Rilla got her smile, her sass.

"Of course," Ken nodded. "I'm afraid, it will take a while for me to get used to addressing your so informally," Ken half smiled as he adjusted his hat.


So life began truly for them for the first time. The previous six weeks was barely a trial run of what real life would be like together. The daily morning rush to get to school and work, the keeping on top of chores and groceries. She had taken to wearing her wedding band around her neck while in classes. Not wanting to let on to anyone know of the changes in her marital status. Though she mentioned in passing that he was working in the city. It was an easy way to explain his appearances if they were seen around town. All she had to say he was living in the city to be closer to her.

"Ken?" She asked him as he came from the bathroom. His suspenders still hanging and his shirt unbuttons and tails out. She stared for a moment, realizing how comfortable they had become with each other.

"Yes, my dear?" He hummed as he rummaged through the pantry, they were running low on groceries it appeared. He instead poured himself some coffee, grimacing when he realized Rilla had made it. He really needed to show her how to make coffee, somehow she always made its way like it was supposed to be jet fuel. How she drank it was a mystery. He still remembers the first morning she made upon their move back to Kingsport.

"Its called espresso," Rilla told him the one day. "Apparently it's Italian," she explained.

"I know what espresso is, this is not espresso," Ken teased her. "This is can power a tank-," he said before he stopped himself short.

Rilla sucked in her breath, she wasn't sure if he made a joke about the war, or if he was going to spiral into an episode. They were far and few at this point, but still she knew the nightmare still plagued him. She could find him up at 3 am, starring out the window the moonlight highlighting the angles of his body.

Some nights she would quietly lead him back to bed, cradle him like a baby in her arms. Sometimes things got intimate. Her allowing him to focus on something he could actually grasp. It wasn't often, knowing for the majority of those moments he barely realized who was with him. He never hurt her, but the soulless look in his eyes would haunt her own dreams.

Other nights that weren't so bad they talked until he came back to reality.

"Who was the first girl you kissed?" Rilla asked him curiously.

"Do you really want to know, or is this some sort of weird woman thing where you will get mad at me for answering?" Ken answered after a moment.

"Ken you are several years older than me," Rilla drawled. "I can safely say that you kissed other women before I grew up and turned pretty. I can also be all right with the idea of you being with other women before me," she blushed at her own admittance. "Where else do those skills of yours come from? One of us was a fumbling virgin, and it wasn't you."

"My first kiss was with a girl named Amelia, I went to school with her for a short while. I supposed I cared for her in some way." Ken spoke after a moment. "She wasn't that sort of girl though," he added. "She ended up marrying a classmate I believe."

Rilla nodded and absentmindedly drew figure eights on his bare chest.

"As for the other question, I have travelled to many places with my father. I may have landed in some strange districts. But I will tell you there has never been another since the day I saw you at the lighthouse dance."

"I know," Rilla answered. She didn't need him to tell her that. It was something she felt like she knew along.


"Earth to Rilla?" Ken's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Oh1 Umm I was wondering just how much money do we have?" She asked him out loud for the first time. She felt silly for not asking about their financial situation over the past six weeks. "I'm trying to set up a household budget and I know what I could live off of when my parents were supporting me here. But you eat three times more than myself and laundry is doubled," Rilla tried to explain.

"Well, I make about twenty-five dollars a week writing for The Telegraph in Charlottetown and the Chronicle in Kingsport. There is also the various newspapers that I send out to. As well as the photographs that I sell to magazines. I get paid generally five dollars for a local magazine. Regional can go up to ten dollars depending on the publication. While national ones sometimes can go up to twenty-five to thirty depending on the issue and photo?" Ken replied after a moment. "Then I have the interest from my own trust that I use to offset any wants or needs" He added after a moment. "I don't think we need to worry," he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm a woman, it is my job to worry," Rilla remarked as she went back to her list, filling the amounts that he had given her. The fact that they didn't have to pay rent made their budget much more padded. The groceries averaged out to about ten dollars for the week. While the hydro bill and telephone rental were about another eight dollars a month. If she went by the past bills her parents paid for her. Laundry service and ice delivery were another three dollars a week.

She even had a column for miscellaneous items. Those held clothing and entertainment funds. While another column showed what she considered a good amount to try and save each month. Her parents always had installed the notion to save for a rainy day. To save for the future because everything could be lost in a moment. Both of them came from very little. Her own mother had been an orphan living in situations and homes that were not kind to her. Her father worked his way through medical school. They led a privileged life, but that life could be taken away in a moment.

"Don't you have class?" He asked looking over at the clock that was little past eleven.

"At one" Rilla nodded. She was still nervous about going to school. It was strange to write B.M Blythe on her papers after adjusting to being called Ford for the past six weeks. "You'll be fine for dinner?" She asked looking at her watch, wondering if she had time to prepare something ahead of time for him.

"For the hundredth time Rilla, I don't mind cooking," Ken chuckled. "I enjoy cooking, which suits both of us at the end of the day."

"I know, I just feel guilty leaving you to fend for yourself." Rilla sighed as she packed up her papers. "Or not being able to help you." She added knowing that she would be home until past seven in the evening. "Sometimes I feel like a lousy wife, after seeing all those women at the church socials." It was the first time she had voiced such a notion that was planted her mind.

"Rill's, just because you're my wife, hell, just because you are a woman doesn't mean you have to cook, or even be good at it." Ken tried to reassure her. "We all know I didn't marry you for your abilities in the kitchen. Your brother made sure everyone knew that at the wedding supper," Ken smiled at the memory.

"Uh!" Rilla made a sound of disgust. "Please don't remind how much I to get back at Shirley," Rilla huffed. "He can barely make toast himself. Actually, only Nan and Di managed to learn how to cook fairly well. Jem is decent in a pinch the same with Walter," she faded softly thinking of her brother. She stood straightening her weight and a tan plaid skirt that was pair with a soft long camel coloured sweater. She packed away her papers into her leather school bag.

"I know Susan and Mother tried their best to teach us how to cook and survive out on our own. But the reality is that we knew it wasn't expected of us to really learn. What can I say I aimed to marry well and have my own Susan one day," Rilla told him cheekily as she patted his cheek.

"Oh was that your plan?" Ken smirked as his hand reached for her waist, posing to tickle her at a moment notice. "Maybe I should take away your allowance? I could threaten to make you cook every meal? But that hurts me too." He grinned.

"I am not fifteen years old, I do not have an allowance," Rilla objected. "I am twenty-one years old, and I earn my keep thank you very much. Unless you don't want repeats of the other night?"

"Oh that is low Mrs. Ford," Ken feigned hurt by covering his heart with his hand. "You know how to hit a man right where it hurts."

"Well, I only learned from the best," Rilla smirked. All her siblings had grown up knowing how their mother and father danced around each other for years. They had grown up hearing about the whole slate incident and the coincidental teasing that came with playful quarrels. She knew her father would do almost anything for their mother. She knew her mother could play their father with a twist of her dainty wrist. They were still very much lovesick for one another, it was oddly romantic seeing her parents as they were.

"I am sure that you have," Ken agreed. "Though I do have to say, I am mighty glad you are not fifteen," Ken whispered huskily.

"Don't get any idea's I have to run to the library before classes," Rilla warned him as she took a step back with a shake of her head. "Don't you start pouting you have your own work to do," she chastised him when she saw his eyes soften. She turned to reach for her hat and her light coat.

"Outside," she warned him, as her back was turned as she heard him rustling for his lighter.

"How do you?" Ken shook his head exasperated at her abilities as he held a cigarette in his hand.

"Magic darling," Rilla grinned and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tonight." She waved to him as she reached the door.

She turned to look back, seeing him barefoot on the small balcony, his shirt done up properly. She shook her head and blew him a kiss before skipping away to walk the fifteen minute to her school.

Life was much more different, more than either of them ever imagined. It wasn't until they both realized that their marriage was theirs alone, they began to relax. Society could be damned. The government and church who tried to dictate their rights on them or more so Rilla as a woman could be damned.

Life was a series of firsts and seconds, even thirds. It didn't mean anything which they were, or what they came as. It was the moments when Rilla came home late in the evening. Frazzled from school, and shoulder aching from her books to find dinner waiting for her. One of the many recipes the Ken liked to try from the various cookbooks she had been given as wedding presents.

It often brought her back to that first night, one that barely happened a year ago. She would never think life would be as it was then. Her firsts were held dear to her heart as she felt herself tremble from the sacred memories.


Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this one.

Next Chapter will end up probably about Remembrance Day 1920, and the whole mental battle that will accompany such a day for our couple.

I had to do a fair bit of historical research about a woman owning property as well as daily, monthly yearly earnings for mine. The average income in Halifax in the '20s was about 25$ a week for a man, with Rent being around 25$ some of the highest in Canada at the time. Rilla owning the apartment really elevate them in a way as they aren't struggling newlyweds. Still, at this time, Rilla could own property, but if she ever wanted to sell it, she would need either her husband or fathers to sign the documents and actually do allow the sale.

Anyways enough of my research, as always i enjoy your comments and look forward to hearing them. Don't be shy, i don't bite haha.

Tina