AN: just to let you know, there will be some spiritual/religious aspects to this story, I don't mean to proselytize or anything that's just the background I come from and it was an important aspect of life at the time. Also I might be making comments about minorities/women that I don't believe myself but were commonly held beliefs at the time and I'm trying to make this story somewhat historically accurate. I'm not sure if it will come up but it might and no offense is intended.

Before Lily had been too preoccupied with the changes to her own body to notice the oddness of her surroundings but after looking out the window and realizing the street below looked nothing like what she was used to she began to look around as best as she could from where she was being held. The home confirmed what she had begun to suspect when she had seen the street; either she had been mysteriously transported to a very good reenactment of the past; or she had actually gone back in time. She wanted another rational alternative, something that made sense, but nothing had made sense since she had stepped off the edge of the duck pond, and she could not deny what her senses were telling her. The windows illuminated a small room with a table and day bed. A smaller table, just big enough for one or two people was pushed up against the window with a basket of fabric and sewing needles. Half-finished shirts sat next to it in a pile and lily realized the women must be a seamstress. She vaguely remembered from history class that before clothes were mass produced by machines they were made in pieces like this, women and children would be paid for every piece they completed and different people would make all the parts and then they would be assembled into a dress or shirt or whatever, but it had been a long time since Lily took a history class and she couldn't be sure if that was accurate, nor when that had been common. The room was well lit by the window but Lily assumed by the candle on the table that electricity had not been invented yet.

The women walked back into the room Lily had woken up in. This appeared to be the main room of the home, lily could tell it served as a bedroom and kitchen by the cot pushed into the corner, the cradle she had woken up in, and the fire that was going in the hearth. It was smaller than the other room, only some light filtered through the high window between the two rooms, but the fire provided plenty of light and made the room uncomfortably hot. The fire was heating a pot of soup and what Lilly recognized as old irons. Based on the books on the shelf and the bits of paper laying around Lily assumed that this was also where the family spent most of their time much as she had hung out and done homework in her own kitchen growing up. She almost began to cry again at that thought of home but pushed the feeling back, she needed to find out more about her surroundings. She looked at the bed and wondered at this new family. The women had said that Lily's, or actually Samuel's, papa would be proud, so apparently there was a husband, and apparently she was a boy. Lily wondered at that for a moment. She wasn't sure she wanted to be a boy; she didn't know how to be a boy and she had liked being a girl. Although she wasn't sure if she would like being a girl in this time, she wasn't sure she knew how to be a girl in this time either. With a mental shrug she pushed it out of her mind, there wasn't anything she could do about it and she would learn. Don't all baby's have to learn to be boys and girls? She had done it before and could do it again. Although she supposed she should start thinking of herself as Samuel. With that thought Samuel returned his interest to the room. He looked with interest at the cot in the corner. Did he have siblings or was that the parents' bed? He couldn't imagine a grown man sleeping in that cot, or a home without a proper bedroom. He wasn't sure if having siblings would be a good thing or not. Lilly hadn't had siblings and he didn't know what to expect. They would give him someone to play with and might help him learn to fit in, but they could also pick on him and would certainly notice if he did something 'weird'. Children often notice more than adults and can be brutally cruel to those who are different.

The women bent down to put Samuel in his cradle. Murmuring to him to stay for a moment while she turned back to the soup and tasted it. Samuel studied her. Her brown hair was tied up close to her head but the front was growing fuzzy in the warm room and he could tell it would be curly, or at least wavy, if it were let down. She was pretty he decided, with a round face, a small nose, and greyish eyes. Her outfit was clearly worn but clean, a long sleeve white shirt with a lace color and a light brown skirt that reached the floor. She added something to the soup and picked him up again. Samuel himself was wearing what seemed to be a nightgown; it was white and reached about to his feet. She walked back into the other room and sat back down to her sewing, placing Samuel on the floor at her feet. Together they passed a couple quiet hours. Samuel amused himself looking around the room He recognized some items like the jacks on the bedside table and the clothed hanging from hooks on the wall, but other things he had no idea about. He wondered how he could get back home and how long it would take Lilly's parents to start wondering if she was okay. He wondered where her body had gone, maybe it was still there by the pond where her soul had jumped out. Eventually he fell back asleep.

He was woken next by a man entering the home. The woman scooped him and went to greet the man. He put his hat on a hook and dropped a bag on the table with a weary sigh before holding his arms out to the woman. She passed Samuel over as he leaned in to give her a small kiss on the cheek. The man grinned down at Samuel and then lifted him into the air above his head with a whoosh. It was like an amusement park ride, the air rushing past him as he was gently tossed into the air. Samuel grinned down at the man as he did it again. The man had dark brown curly hair that ran into a short beard and startling blue eyes that shone through his worn face. He had creases at his eyes and on his forehead either from laughter or worry or both.

"how was my baby boy today?" the man asked in a deep rumbling voice "were you good for your mama?"

"he turned himself onto his back today" the woman responded proudly

"onto his back by himself? Why pretty soon he'll be crawling" the man said with a smile handing Samuel back over "and how was your day?"

"it was good, the baby stayed quiet today so I was able to finish some housework and some of the pieces for Mr. Harrington. I'll have to have Mauve's girl bring them over to him tomorrow"

"that is good news. What's for supper?"

"Soup, come have a seat, the children should be in soon" she said glancing out the window where the sun had gone down.

No sooner had she finished speaking than Samuel heard feet pounding up the steps and some young girls calling good night to each other. A young boy, Samuel guessed he was around eight, his face still having traces of baby fat, walked in holding the hand of a small boy and impatiently held the door for his sister. The older two had the round brown eyes and slightly snubbed nose of their mother. The girl had her father's dark curly hair while the youngest had gotten his bright eyes. It was harder to tell who he would take after since he seemed to be barely more than a toddler. They started walking to the table. When the mother's sharp voice stopped them

"Lev, did you wash?"

"yes mamma, we both did before coming in" he said in the tired voice of a young boy who has heard the same question too many times. The woman grabbed the little girl's arm and inspected her hands. Seemingly satisfied with the children's cleanliness she set out four more bowls of soup and a plate of bread.

Samuel paid attention as they talked and ate their meal. It seemed that the children were all in school. The girl, Ruth, chattered away about her friends in her class. The boy, Lev, said little other than mentioning that he had to practice his letters later that night. He learned that the youngest, Arnold, had just started going to school that year and that he was four and he didn't think it was fair that he had to wait since there was another boy in his class who got to start school already and he was only three! This was said with the righteous indignation of a small child facing an unjust world, and unfair parents. His parents reminded him that at least he got to go to school now and other boys were his age or even older than him. His mother chided him not to wish his childhood away and Samuel mentally agreed, after all you never know who's listening. He gathered that the man, whose name he found out was Henry, worked in some kind of store but he was worried if sales didn't pick up they might fire him. The mother's name was Sarah and she reassured him not to worry, they would make do, she might be able to do some more work now that Samuel was growing older or they could always take on another boarder as they had before. Before long the meal had ended. Sarah got up to do the dishes while Henry packed his pipe and sat with a book by the candle. Lev sat with a piece of paper and took a coal from the bucket by the fire to practice his letters. Sarah put Samuel in his cradle before taking Arnold and Ruth out to the outhouse. They came back and got into the cot in the kitchen. Samuel closed his eyes as the family settled down around him. In the quiet darkness his mind whirled with everything he had seen. He had survived his first day, and he couldn't help but be intrigued. He fell asleep with his mind full of the faces of his family; both this new family he found himself in and Lilly's family, which had been his until this morning, although it felt like it had been much longer than that. He wondered if he would still be here in the morning of if he would wake up as Lilly again, and he wasn't sure which he hoped for.

What do you guys think?

ConfessionsOfAGeekyFangirl –thanks for being my first (and only so far) review! You made my night

AN: Sorry this is a slow chapter, nothing really happened. But I needed to set the scene and introduce everyone, hopefully your not too bored. Also, this is going up really rough. If anyone wants to pre-read and help me with grammar I'd appreciate it. I'm just trying to get it up before my mojo dies and then I can edit haha.