Episode 11: First Baby part 1

Tuesday, 10th of Winter, 1976

As soon as me and Ellen woke up, we showered, brushed our teeth, then Ellen got ready to cook me a Thanksgiving dinner while I check around the ranch to see if there are any fences I missed because Koro was barking like crazy last night.

"Honey, I'm going out to see if there are any broken fences I missed. I'll be back," I said.

"Okay, darling. By the time you return, I'll have something ready for you," Ellen said from the kitchen.

I went outside and began searching for fences that I missed. I missed 4 more! And they're in the southern part of my ranch too.

"Ah... That explains it. Well, time to get started," I said.

I went to the tool shed, grabbed my hammer, then went to the wood shed and grabbed 4 pairs of wood and started fixing the fence, undoing the barbed wires, and replacing the old broken posts with the new ones and reattaching the barbed wires. It all sounds easy, but it is hard work, no joke. The job would be easier if I had some hired help, but I didn't hire anyone, I don't want my Dad thinking that I don't have what it takes to be a farmer.

By the time I was finished, it is 11:39 a.m., and I haven't fed my chickens and Zara yet, so I did that. When I was done, I came back in the house for Ellen's Thanksgiving reward. She had it waiting for me on the dinner table.

"Here you are, darling," she said to me, showing me the delicious looking strawberry shortcake waiting to be eaten by me.

My mouth was watering like crazy, apparently.

"Thank you for working hard for me every day," Ellen smiled.

I walked up to her and gave her a smooch on the cheek. "You're welcome, sweetie. What else are husbands for?" I asked my wife with a warm smile I sat down at the table, and then using a butter knife and fork, I took a few slices of the pie and enjoyed myself.

All Ellen ate was a rice ball. She was okay about letting me have the whole cake. Besides, with all the hard work I do, I need to eat plenty of food to keep my energy up.

"Please work well from now on," Ellen leaned down at me and kissed me on the cheek.

I've been kissed by Ellen so many times, I lost count. Later on that night, me and Ellen fell asleep... But not before giving each other some more Thanksgiving kisses.

On Wednesday and Thursday, snow continued to fall, causing the amount of snow on the ground around my farm to increase. Now when I step outside, the snow is eight inches above my ankles, and I always have to mend the fences around my rance since they are made of wood and not metal. That means that I have to go out in the cold and fix them constantly. But its all good. Ellen always has some kind of reward for me for my hard work of keeping the fences fixed and feeding the chickens, Zara and Koro, and even shipping all the eggs or giving some to her. She has given me rewards like food, words of compliments, kisses... Just about every reward a loving wife can give to a hardworking husband like me. Later on Thursday night, Ellen and I came to a decision. Want to know what that decision was? We finally agreed that we are ready to have a baby, so before going to bed, we uh... I, uh... let's just say I gave her my seeds, if you know what I mean. I know it is natural and nothing to be embarrassed about, but still... Never mind.

Friday, 13th of Winter, 1976

When me and my wife woke up this morning, I noticed that Ellen was moaning softly.

"Ellen...? Honey? Are you okay...?" I asked her.

"Whew... I feel so tired and dizzy... I don't know what's wrong with me..." Ellen said in a queasy voice, placing her right hand on her head as if she has a headache.

I looked at her face. She didn't look very good, her face looked slightly pale green. I didn't know what was going on, but I suspected that it probably has something to do with last night. Then she suddenly dashed to the bathroom and closed the door. I walked up to the bathroom door and pressed my left ear against it to see what I could hear from the inside. From the other side of the door, I could hear Ellen retching, and the vomit splashing into the water in the toilet. I wasn't sure if her sick condition has anything to do with what we did last night, but I hoped that she does not have an allergic reaction to my seeds. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I was nervous, I had no idea what pregnancy symptoms are.

"Ellen? Are you all right darling?" I called out in a more urgent tone.

I didn't get a response immediately. Everything was quiet for a few seconds until I heard the toilet flush. Then I heard the sink running water, then after than Ellen came out of the bathroom, looking a bit healthier, but the strange thing is that she's blushing.

"Honey? What's wrong? Are you sick?" I asked her calmly.

Ellen looked down at the ground and shifted her left leg anxiously, while she tied her arms behind her back in a nervous manner.

"Well... um... say... I... um... I guess I'm pregnant," Ellen slowly said.

I gasped, and the word "pregnant" echoed in my mind! I can't believe it. After 20 days of being together with Ellen, I am going to be a father soon. This is too unbelievable. I was so speechless and shocked, I backed away from Ellen slowly and sat down on our bed. I wanted to talk to her, but the words took some effort to come out.

"H... h... how did you find out?" I asked her.

"Just now. I heard that at the beginning of pregnancy, you feel dizzy and sick for a short period of time..." Ellen said.

I shook my head slowly, in shock, but not in disbelief.

"I can't believe it... I'm going to be a father soon..." I said, looking at Ellen's belly.

The baby is apparently far too small to enlarge her belly yet, it is still in the early stages of fertilization if I recall from my biology class back in high school. For now it is nothing more than a little embryo in my wife's womb.

"And I'll be a mother soon," Ellen sat down next to me smiling with satisfaction. "We'll be parents. Aren't you excited about this, Tony honey?" Ellen asked me.

I chuckled. "Darling, when I agreed to make love with you last night, I had no doubts in my mind. This is what I want," I said, reaching out and rubbing Ellen's flat stomach.

A few minutes later, Ellen was cooking breakfast, and I was watching television, starting off with the weather channel, like always. the weatherman said that it'll be fair tomorrow, no snow, just bright gray skies. We ate breakfast, waffles, sausage and toast with grape jam, and after eating, I went to the chicken house barn to feed my chickens and prepare their eggs for shipping. While I was pouring chicken feed into their cubicles, I told them: "Guys, guess what? My wife is pregnant. I'm going to be a dad soon! Woo-hoo!"

The chickens made no special reactions, they just clucked, as if the news had littleo r no meaning to them. But who can be sure? I'm sure they were saying: "Congratulations, Tony!" in Chicken, though.

Then I went to the horse stable to feed Zara. I grabbed a handful of hay and placing it in front of my horse and she gently grabbed it in her mouth and started chewing it.

"Zara, my wife is going to have a baby soon! Can you believe it?" I said.

After swallowing the hay, Zara neighed happily.

"Yeah, I know. I'm going to go to town and tell everyone about it," I said and left.

As I ran to Neighbor Town, I danced happily as I ran. When I got to town, I ran around the place shouting: "My wife is pregnant! My wife is pregnant! I'm going to be a father!"

"Huh?" Nina looked at me after I ran past her, frowning in confusion.

"Did he just say he's going to be a father?" Liz asked Nina.

"I'm going to be a dad! Woo hoo!" I yelled as I passed by Mayor Stan's house.

Stan, his wife and Maria came outside when they heard my shout.

"Ellen is pregnant?" Maria asked her dad.

"That's what it sounds like. If it's true, I'm happy for Tony," Stan said.

"Ellen is pregnant, everybody! My wife is pregnant!" I shouted as I passed by the bar, bakery, Doug and Ann's house and Ellen's uncle's livestock shop. Eve, Ellen's mom, Doug, Ann, and Ellen's uncle Reuben came out and started murmuring about the news I'm spreading. Then I ran to the mountainside forest to tell Luke and his carpenters.

"My wife is pregnant, guys! I'm gonna be a dad!" I shouted as I passed by Luke's house tree and Warren's tent near the fishing pond.

Luke, Emmet, Ingo, Toby, and Warren heard everything.

"Great job, Tony!" Ingo shouted.

"Congrats, mate!" Emmet shouted back at me.

"I'm really proud of ya, kid!" Warren said.

"You're growing up really fast, Tony!" Luke called out.

As I headed up the mountain forest, my shouting caught the ears of Terry deep in the forest.

"Great job, son... Great job..." Terry muttered and fell asleep under a bunch of leaves he sewed together.

I went to the peak of the mountain, stood at the edge of the cliff, looking out at the whole forest under me and shouted:

"I'M GONNA BE A DAD!"

My shout was so loud, it echoed in the sky for a few seconds, and I bet Ellen at my ranch heard it, and everybody in Neighbor Town, and all the hibernating animals in the forest.

A few minutes later, I came back home, drained of energy. Knowing that I'll be a dad made me feel like I ate too much sugar and I got too hyper, and now my sugar rush is gone and I'm tired. Ellen came up to me as soon as I walked in the door.

"Are you okay, Tony, I could hear your shout from the mountainside peak... I guess you're excited, aren't you darling?" She asked me, bringing me to the bedroom so I can lay in the bed and regain my strength.

"You betcha," I responded with enthusiasm."I'm happy like a kid in a candy shop!"

"I had a dream last night. You were in labor. I was nervous to leave your side, but I had to, and when I came back... That's when I woke up out of my dream," I told Ellen.

She smiled in approval. "I'm really glad you're looking forward to the baby being born, but it'll be a while before it's ready to come out," Ellen said.

"Oh. It's fine then," I said.

After that, we were eating breakfast and watching the news channel. "And, in other news, the people of Waffle Island are celebrating the mot perfect winter they've ever had." The newscaster said.

"Waffle Island? Hmm, speaking of waffles... Honey, can you make some waffles tomorrow?" I asked her.

"Sure, darling, whatever you want," Ellen nodded.

"Woof," Koro barked.

"You're right, Koro," Ellen said then knelt down and rubbed his head.

"Well, I better get outside, feed the chickens and gather more wood. something tells me this winter will get a little more colder," I said as I walked out the door.

After feeding the chickens, storing their eggs in the shipping box, and feeding Zara, I went to the mountain forest with my wheelbarrow and gold ax to get some firewood. By the time I got back to the ranch Derek had already arrived!

"Ha ha! Tony! The tiger of the ranch! I heard you and your tigress Ellen got a little cub on the way," Derek laughed humorously, clapping his hands as he approached me.

I was pushing the wheelbarrow full of lumber while he was talking, but I set it down and turned around to chat with him.

"Yeah. You heard, huh?" I asked Derek.

"No thanks to your happy run through town on Friday, everybody is in an uproar about it. How many days is Ellen pregnant by the way?" Derek asked me.

"She just started," I replied.

"I see. Well, I see you got five more eggs for me to ship. That's $250 as usual. Well, I wish you both luck," Derek turned around and left with my eggs, driving off. I headed back into the house.

Tuesday, 17th Of Winter, 1976

Me and Ellen woke up, showered together, and ate waffles, like we planned. I went out and fed my chickens and Zara and came back in the house. For the whole day, me and Ellen watched a few romance movies. It is 12:00 p.m. now, and we are still sitting on the couch side by side.

"Ellen?"

"What is it, darling?"

"Are you nervous?" I asked her.

Ellen looked at me, confused. "Nervous? About what?"

"About you having a baby growing inside you," I said.

Ellen blinked twice before replying.

"Oh, that. Well, I guess you could say I am," Ellen said, shrugging indifferently. "But, to be honest with you, I'm not exactly nervous," she added.

"You're not?"

"No... I'm more like excited and nervous all at the same time. Mostly excited. Because this is our baby. Ours," Ellen kissed me on my cheek.

"That's a very good reason not to be nervous," I said.

Just then, we heard someone knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" I called as I got up off the living room couch and headed for the door.

"It's Michael." he replied on the other side.

"Michael? What's going on?" I asked him as I opened the door.

"Well, I just came by to see how you guys are doing. I just wanted to say to you both: Congratulations, and I hope that your baby will be a cute and healthy one," Michael said as he came in the house and sat in one of the dinner chairs.

Me and Ellen were touched that someone way from Neighbor Town would come all this way to congratulate us.

"Well, thank you for your kind words, Michael," Ellen said.

"Yeah. In the spring, we're planning on having a baby shower," I said.

"Shower?" Michael frowned in a confused manner.

I frowned briefly too, then I shook my head. "By shower, I mean party, celebrating Ellen's pregnancy." I corrected him.

"Oh..." Michael nodded.

"As a matter of fact, tell everyone in Neighbor Town that they are invited. We don't know what day we'll hold the shower, but..." Ellen paused, unsure of what to say about the specific date.

"I plan on throwing the part on the second trimester of Ellen's pregnancy," I told Michael.

"That's great! I'll head back into town and tell everybody about it. Thanks for letting me visit," Michael said as he stood up from the chair and shook my hand graciously.

"You're welcome, Michael. Anything for a friend," I replied.

"Here, have a warm oatmeal cookie before you go," Ellen gave Michael a cookie.

"Gee, thanks, Mrs. Tony," Michael said.

Me and Ellen looked at each other laughed.

"Just call her Ellen, okay? And you don't have to say 'Mr' when you address me," I told Michael.

"Okay, then. Have a great winter! Oh! Tony! About that snowball fight you said you promise you'd teach me... Come visit me this Saturday, all right?"

"All right, Michael. I'll be there Saturday," I said.

Then Michael departed the ranch, munching on the cookie as he approached my gates. Ellen sighed and relaxed on the living room couch.

"I hope spring gets here soon," she said, looking at television, watching a romance movie called "A Broken Heart Can Be Fixed".

I sat down next to Ellen, sitting so close to her that my left leg touches her right leg.

"It'll take a while for spring to get here. If I were you, honey, I would enjoy winter while I still can instead of wishing time would skip to spring. You never know what you might miss out on this season," I said.

Ellen looked at me, her eyebrows arching upwards as if amused by what I said.

"You're right, darling. We should let time run it's course," Ellen said as she crawled on me and started smooching all over me.

"Woof... Woof! Woof!" Koro barked, watching the television sitting between us and the T.V.

Wednesday, 18th of Winter, 1976

After eating Ellen's delicious pancakes and waffles with syrup, and scrambled eggs from the chicken eggs, I went outside to fix some of the broken fences because the snow is falling down harder than yesterday. I put on two pairs of gloves before heading out so my hands won't get numb, and I put on a blue coat over my overalls so that I won't freeze. I might be longer out there than I think. But after my job was done, I realized that I still had time to play around with Ellen. I came back in the house, my coat covered in snowflakes.

"Hey, Ellen! Put on some warm shoes, gloves and a coat! We're going to go out in the snow!" I cheerfully urged Ellen.

"Well... alright. Hold on a minute, honey... We don't even have a hat..." Ellen said, getting dressed into a warmer dress and putting on her own coat.

After moving 13 yards south from my tool shed, I stopped walking and turned to face Ellen.

"Ellen, come on! We'll worry about those details later! for now, let's just get started on the body," I said.

I knelt down at the deep snow which covered 6 inches above our ankles.

"Now, do what I do?" Ellen asked me. She crouched down with me, and dug into the snow, forming a mound of snow. two minutes later.

"Okay, that's step one. Now we got to form the mound into a perfect circle. Follow my lead," I instructed Ellen.

We sculpted the mound with our hand covered gloves into a circle... A nearly perfect circle. I examined our work.

"... Okay, that'll do. Next, we make the upper parts of the snowman's body," I said.

I knelt down and picked up a handful of snow. Ellen followed my lead, picking up a handful of snow herself. Then we the put together snow we picked up together and made it into a perfect circle, putting it on top of the spherical snow mound.

"What now?" Ellen asked me.

"Next is the head." I picked up a small mound of snow and softly pressed it into a perfect circle, then I put it on top.

"Great!" Ellen smiled.

"Yep. Now all we need is a carrot, two tree branches and a fedora hat or something like it," I said.

"Let's get back in the house. i'm starting to freeze," Ellen said, rubbing her hands together and exhaling sharply.

"Okay, we'll take a break today. Let's go home and warm up," I said.

We walked through the deep snow into our house.

Friday, 20th of Winter, 1976

After showering, I was putting on my overalls, shoe and cap while Ellen was in the bathroom fixing up her hair. Since she plans on letting her hair grow out, she hasn't been cutting it short anymore since she married me. In the bathroom she was tying the hair on the back of her head into a ponytail. I stood near the open door, watching her in the bathroom making a ponytail hairstyle. Her newly grown hair now reached down to her rear end almost. She noticed me 3 seconds later.

"What? What is it, darling?" She asked me. I was standing there, smiling, with my arms crossed. "Nothing. It's just that I never thought I'd see you have a ponytail," I remarked.

"Really? Well, there's a first time for everything. I don't want to have short hair all the time. Things just have to change," Ellen told me as she looked back at herself in the mirror above the sink as she tied a white ribbon around the upper part of her ponytail style hair.

After she was done, she spun around in a 360 degree angle, her ponytail swinging like a horse wagging its hairy tail. Then she faced me and smiled modestly.

"How do I look, darling?" She asked me.

"Different... But I like it." I gave her two thumbs up and a smile.

"Thank you honey." She gave me a smooch on the cheek and moved past me, leaving the bathroom while I stood there motionless. I miss her old hairstyle, but like she said, we have to adapt to changes. Our marriage caused that change, even her pregnancy, so, we have to move on. Ellen was in the kitchen, cooking biscuits, sausage and pancakes while I was watching the news channel.

"Tomorrow, there is a 92% chance of snow. Wow, we've been getting a lot of it these days, not that I'm complaining," The weatherman said.

I changed the channel with my right hand as I petted Koro who was laying next to me on the couch with my left hand. I went outside to give Zara and the chickens breakfast, then I came back into the house just in time to hear Ellen shout: "Tony! Koro! Breakfast is ready!"

Koro ran to his dinner bowl while I ran for one of the dinner chairs and sat down, waiting for Ellen to give me my plate.

Once she gave me my plate then sat down next to me with her own, we both started eating.

"As always, I love the pancakes!" I said to Ellen.

"I plan on cooking something different, but I don't know what... Eh, I'll wait some other time," Ellen shrugged.

Several minutes after breakfast, I was outside collecting some firewood from my woodshed and bringing them into the house and throwing them into the fireplace. The fire burned even brighter, giving off more heat in the room.

"You know what, Ellen?" I turned to her standing next to me.

"What?"

"You're not the only one wishing Spring will be here soon," I added.

Ellen smiled. "What, you're tired of Winter already?" Ellen asked me with a surprised smile.

"Wait, don't get me wrong, I love winter, but... Oh no!" I cried.

"What?" Ellen looked concerned.

"Winter is halfway over, and we didn't even finish our snowman!" I whined, taking a seat on the couch.

"Honey, never mind about the snowman. We'll make on next year," Ellen said reassuringly.

I sighed. "Okay... But still... I want to do something while winter is still around," I said.

"Like what?" Ellen asked me.

"Well, tomorrow I promised Michael I'd show him how to have a snowball fight, so... on Sunday, how about you and me have a snowball fight?" I looked up at Ellen with a sly, mischievous smirk when I was talking about having a snowball fight with her.

Ellen thought it over. "Hmm... Okay, sure," she nodded.

"Great! I look forward to it, honey," I said as I started flipping through channels with my remote.

"I'm sure you will," Ellen smiled.

At 12:00 p.m. I arrived in Neighbor Town. I'm here to buy something from Reuben. I've saved up a lot of money for it, and now I think today is a perfect day. I walked up to Reuben's place and opened the door.

"Tony! How are you? Are you treating Ellen right?"

"Yes, sir." I nodded.

"Good. I heard that she's pregnant. do you know if its a boy or a girl?" Reuben asked me as I approached him.

"Sir, I don't know yet. I'll let you know when the time comes. Anyway, I'm here to by something," I told him.

"Really? Is it a cow or chicken?" He asked me.

"This time, it's a cow." I said. "Ohhh...! A cow now, huh? They'll be $5000. Deal?"

"It's a deal," I gave him the money.

"Great. I'll send it over to your ranch." Ellen's uncle came out form behind the desk and headed for the steel gray door leading to where the livestock are kept. "Sir? Can you manage out in this weather?" I asked him.

"Now son, don't you worry about me. I maybe 59 years old, but I'm still sturdy as a grizzly bear!" Ellen's uncle Reuben looked back and smiled at me.

Then he left out the steel gray door. I left out the entrance I came in. After that I bought a cow brush from Doug and chatted with Ellen's parents for bout 10 minutes, telling Ellen's mom about how me and Ellen are doing, what we've been doing these past few days, and Ellen's current condition in her first trimester of pregnancy. Ellen's mom was relieved to know that Ellen isn't nervous about being pregnant. After that, I left. heading back to the ranch.

As soon as I got to the ranch, I saw Ellen's uncle leaving the cow house and heading towards me.

"Well, I just finished putting the cow in the barn," he told me.

"Thank you sir." I said with a polite nod.

"Now listen, Tony, and listen good. Raise cows with love and care. If you don't, they'll get sick."

"Understood, sir."

"... Good! i'm glad you understand." Ellen's uncle said.

"Well, the first thing for you to do is name your cow with affection. Take good care of her!" Ellen's uncle Reuben added.

"Who? Ellen or the cow?" I asked in confusion.

"Who do you think? The cow. I want you to take care of my niece too," Reuben said.

He followed me into the cow bar so I can name my cow.

"Uh... I will call you Aloe," I told the cow.

Aloe mooed.

"Great! Have a nice day, Tony," Ellen's uncle said before he left.

I walked up to Aloe, with my cow brush in my hand.

"That's right. Good girl. Yes, Aloe, Good girl. You look fine today," I said to Aloe as I knelt down and brushed her.

"Moooo!" Aloe mooed happily.

I stood up and put the brush in my pocket.

"Well, Aloe, I bet you're hungry, aren't you?"

"Mooo!"

"I know. Wait there."

I walked over to the fodder spout and yanked out a handful of grass and fed it to Aloe. She started eating it. I then left the cow house. I went back in the house.

Sunday, 22nd of Winter, 1976

Me and Ellen woke up at 7:00 a.m. Our soon to be born baby is doing fine, I think. Ellen's abdomen is slowly losing its flatness. I noticed that when I showered with her, I saw a small bulge. Too small to be visible under clothing, but it is there, our baby is slowly growing. After eating breakfast, I was about to go outside to feed Zara, Aloe and the chickens before me and Ellen have our snowball fight. But as soon as I opened the door and came outside, I saw Michael standing in front of me, standing next to Zara who was wearing a saddle and two saddle bags on her back... At least I think the horse is Zara.

"Michael...? What..." I blinked in surprise.

"Oh this?" Michael pointed at the horse's saddle.

"Your horse grew up, and luckily I had made saddle bags recently. I'm letting you use them. All you have to do is put the items you want to ship in the bags here. You don't have to run back and forth to the shipping box anymore," Michael told me.

I nodded slowly. "Oh. Ha. Thanks, that's useful. Thanks, Michael," I said while nodding slowly.

"My pleasure. It'll be very convenient for you since your horse can carry them for you," Michael said.

I gave Michael a thank you handshake.

"Well, Michael, you ad my other friends have been very helpful to me. People like you make my farming career easy and worthwhile," I said as Ellen stepped outside and stood with me to my left.

"I'm glad to hear that, Tony. Well, Tony, Ellen, I hope you two have a nice day," Michael turned around and walked away, heading out the gates and walking down the road back towards Neighbor Town.

I sighed and looked at Ellen. "So many people have helped me out recently, it's amazing... upgrading my tools, giving me useful tools to make my farming life convenient... It's just jaw-dropping," I told her with awe in my voice.

"You are receiving all this help because you're a kind, honest person, Tony," Ellen remarked.

I shook my head and looked up at the thick gray clouds completely obscuring the sun skies.

"I think it's more than that, but you're right. Let me go feed Aloe and the chickens, then we'll have a quick snowball fight, then I want to ride Zara around for a minute," I said.

As soon as I walked into the cow barn, my nostrils quickly caught the pungent scent of cow poop.

"Ugh! Oh no!" I gagged, quickly realizing that Aloe had recently taken a dump.

After I was done cleaning up the poop pile Aloe made and fed her, Ellen popped me with a snowball as soon as I came out of the cow house.

"Hey! That's unfair! I wasn't ready for that!" I shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Not!" Ellen threw another snowball at me!

I dodged that one and made a snowball and quickly threw it at Ellen. It hit her right in the chest. Ellen flinched but quickly retaliated by throwing another snowball at me. It hit me right in the face and I fell back.

"Game over! I win!" Ellen cheered.

I stood up. "Round one goes to you this year, but I'll get you back next year," I said.

We walked back into the house to warm up. Later that night, me and Ellen jumped into bed in our pajamas, getting ready to fall asleep. Well, we kissed each other several times before we fell asleep, actually.

Monday, 23rd of Winter, 1976

Me and Ellen woke up, bathed, brushed our teeth and ate breakfast. Then me, Ellen and Koro were sitting on the living room couch watching the news channel to see what's going on.

"... And now it's the Star Night Festival tomorrow. It'll be nice with clear skies so you'll see the beautiful stars at night. And in other news, Mineral Town..."

I looked at Ellen.

"Well, it's the Star Night Festival tomorrow," she said with a happy smile.

"Yep. This is the festival I've been waiting for. By the way, where do you plan on going in the festival?" I asked her.

"I'm going to the place I always go." Ellen replied.

"Where is that?" I asked her, frowning in confusion.

Ellen sighed in disappointment. "I thought you knew. Well, I won't tell you, I'll leave it up to you to figure out."

"Ah, forget it. I'm gonna go do my work, then think it over," I said.

I went outside and as always, before the day of every festival, Mike stopped by to chat with me.

"Mike. How's the shipping job going for you?"

"Perfect. How about the farming? I also heard you got Ellen pregnant," Mike said.

"Thing are going good in the ranch, and about the baby... I'm happy about it." I said after shaking Mike's hand and blushing a little when he mentioned the baby.

"Back to the main topic, it's the Star Night Festival tomorrow. There are a couple places for you to go for the festival, so you should ask the townsfolk where are the best places to go," Mike said.

"Ask the townsfolk..." I muttered to myself, scratching the tuft of hair that sticks out from my cap and I got an idea! I could ask Ellen's parents where Ellen usually goes for the festival!

"Yep. Well, see ya around," Mike said with a nod, turned around and left, jumping into his truck and driving off.

After Mike was gone, I brushed and fed Aloe and Zara, and the chickens. I even gave Ellen all the eggs the chickens laid so that she can make cakes for the next five days. Then I rode around the ranch on Zara. The cold breeze felt good for a while... Then I remembered I had to go ask Ellen's mom where Ellen usually goes for the Star Festival! I rode on Zara to Neighbor Town. Getting there with Zara was a lot more convenient than walking on foot.

When I got to town, I headed for the bakery.

"Whoa, whoa, girl." I told Zara, signaling her to stop in front of the bakery.

I climbed off Zara and entered the bakery.

"Tony! How's my hardworking son in law?" Ellen's mom greeted me with a bear hug.

Ellen's mom is big and tall, so I don't have to tell you that she was squeezing the oxygen out of my lungs.

"I... can't breathe, ma'am..." I said in a strained voice.

Ellen's mom finally let go of me.

"Sorry about that. I got a little carried away," she apologized.

"Just like how you carry your jokes too far," Hank remarked.

Ellen's mom ignored him. "So what brings you here, Tony?" She asked me.

"Well, I wanted to ask you where does Ellen usually stay during the Star Night Festival?"

"What? Why, isn't it obvious? She doesn't move too far away form home," Ellen's mom remarked.

"Meaning...?" I didn't get it.

Ellen's mom shook her head in pity at my ignorance. "My, my... Not very bright, aren't you? She goes to the town square, Tony," she said.

My eyes widened. "Of course. Of course...! Thank you, ma'am! I'll see you at the festival!" I said.

"Good bye! I'm glad I could help!" Ellen's mom waved bye as I came out the door.

As soon as I came outside, I saw Eve with a bag of groceries in her arm, looking at Zara. I could see a loaf of French bread and a stick of celery sticking out of the bag.

"Hi, Eve," I called as I approached.

"Tony? Is this your horse?" Eve asked me.

"Yes. Her name is Zara," I said.

"Zara... That's a pretty name... How's Ellen?" Eve asked me.

"She's doing fine. We're planning on having a baby shower sometime next year in the spring. You're invited to come, if you want to," I said as I rubbed Zara's smooth mane.

"Oh... I'll see if I can... Thank you," Eve said in a relieved, happy tone.

Apparently she is pleased that I would invite her to a party.

"By the way, I met some old man in the forest a few weeks ago. He was grumbling about how the new generation of his family doesn't like to spend time out in the forest and stuff like that, especially you," I told Eve.

She gasped in surprise. "W...was his name Terry?" She asked me.

I searched through my memories. "...Yep, that's him," I nodded.

Eve sighed in frustration. "Grandpa can be so strict... If I don't want to live in the forest, I don't want to! He always wants to control my life! I'm in control of my own life! no one else is!" Eve fumed.

I can tell that she and her grandpa don't get along very well. I wished that I could help, but this is none of my concern.

"Well, I gotta get home. I hope things work out between you and your grandpa," I said as I climbed on Zara, then rode off back home.

"Yeah..." Eve said under her breath.

I came back home just in time to chat with Derek for a while. I didn't have anything to ship, and he couldn't stay long. So I went back in the house to get a reward from Ellen for working hard.

Tuesday, 24th of Winter, 1976

Me and Ellen did our usual morning routine, and at 12:00 p.m., I called Mike to give Ellen a ride to Neighbor Town so that she can be with her parents until the festival tonight. For five hours, I was at the ranch alone, taking care of my chickens, Aloe my cow, and Zara. At 5:30, I decided that it's time to head on over to the public square, which is where Ellen will be at the festival, according to what her mother told me. As I left the ranch, I remembered that Mrs. Fortune told me that Ellen's favorite spot for the festival is the public square! That must be the place! Ellen was right, I should have know, I just forgotten about it! I am so stupid...

By the time I reached the square, it is already dark out. I looked up at the dark sky. I could see the stars! the glittered beautifully in the pitch black sky, like diamonds shining in the sky. Reminds me of that song mom used to sing to me when I was little. The only people in the square besides me is Ellen's mom, Mayor Stan and his wife, Mrs. Fortune, and last but DEFINITELY not least, my beautiful wife, Ellen. I saw Ellen's mom looking at a statue of an angel woman wearing glittering white robes with short cropped blonde hair and a halo above her head and stars around her feet. I walked up to Ellen's mom, standing next to her looking at the statue. She noticed me and our eyes met.

"...May my business get better," Was all she said to me.

I said nothing, I just gave her a firm nod. Then I walked up to Stan's wife who was standing near the glowing northwestern lamppost.

She was looking at the stars. I joined next to her, looking up.

"The starts are looking amazing, aren't they, ma'am?" I said, starting up the conversation.

"Mm-hmm." Stan's wife nodded. "The light of the stars we are seeing now is that of millions of years age. It's mysterious when I think of it," she said.

"Yeah. The world is full of mysteries... But if the world was never full of mysteries to begin with, it would never capture our imaginations so easily," I said.

Stan's wife slowly craned her head down and looked at me. "... I never thought about that before. But you're right... Mysteries fuel our minds with imaginations... Thank you for telling me that," she smiled warmly at me and gave me a soft hug.

"It was nothing, ma'am," I said and walked away.

I headed for Mayor Stan nearby, who was talking to Mrs. Fortune about something. I didn't walk close to them to clearly hear what they were saying, but as far as I could tell, Stan was saying something about expanding the town, but Mrs. Fortune is against the idea. After they were done speaking, Stan finally noticed me.

"Tony," Stan smiled as I approached.

"Mr. Mayor," I shook his hand.

"No need to waste words with me, my boy. I think there's someone who's waiting for you," Mayor Stan said, pointing over at Ellen close by, standing next to the water fountain behind the statue of the angel.

"Right. Good bye, sir," I said and walked on over to Ellen. "Hi, honey... I'm here," I smiled.

"Mmmm..." Ellen nodded while smiling in approval.

She looked up at the stars with me. What can I say? Every time I look at stars up in the night sky, I imagine them as glitter. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I think of when I see stars. Glitter. Stars are like glitter pasted on the artwork of a beautiful starless night sky.

We eventually saw a green shooting star shoot by and disappear into the dark blue void.

"Wow...!" I gasped.

"That was a pretty one," Ellen said.

"Yeah..." I said in wonderment.

Ellen took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and said: "Will those stars still shine when we become really old?"

"Most likely, yes. Those stars have been shining for a long time," I said.

"I'm glad to know that. Because every night like this, as we get older, I want to watch these stars. Because when I watch them, I'm reminded about how beautiful life can be, no matter how long or short it is," Ellen said.

"I get that same feeling too," I said as I saw two more shooting stars shoot by in the sky.