For Rilla, it's hard to describe how she felt. Besides the initial soreness from when she woke up, and the cramps that happened, she already losing the sickness. She didn't want to be relieved, but she felt it. Her stomach was still sensitive, and her throat was from all the bile and stomach acid. Magnesium and whole milk helped. By the end of the morning, she put on her best face and faced her children.
"I'm already on the mend," she says hugging them.
"What happened?" Clara asks still confused by the whole thing.
"Mommy was feeling well, and needed Uncle Jem and Aunty Faith to help her," Oliver says to her.
When Clara was sent off to play, she looks at her two older children. "I'm okay, truly I am."
"So there is no baby?" Rowena asks, and Rilla didn't realize she had caught on. "I remember you being sick with Clara somewhat?"
"No, not this time," she says quietly with a shake of her head.
"I'm sorry," Rowena says quietly.
"It's okay, these things happen," Rilla manages to say with a small smile. She looks over at Ken who looks like he has had no sleep in a decade.
"Let your mother rest," he tells the older two They kiss their mother, before leaving the room and Ken sinks down into an old chair. Looking more older than before, the grey at his temples seemed more prominent. Still thinking about the early hours of the morning when Rilla woke up.
"Are you all right?" Kenneth asks, unsure what else to say. "Never mind that was a stupid thing to ask." He spent the better part of the night pacing around and worried out of his mind. When Faith had come out of the room, drying her hands, his hair had been standing up and his face pale. A far cry from the man who had been there for the births of his first children.
Faith squeezed his forearm.
It's for the best, she'll rest for a day or two and then be back on her feet.
It was Jem that tells him of any warning signs to look out for. Fever is the first one, and then of course blood loss. He sits with her as she wakes up from whatever Faith has given her to knock her out. The room looks barely used but slightly changed, he caught sight of what looked more like torture devices than medical and wanted to throw up himself.
"You don't have to sit with me," Rilla tells him.
"Seriously Rills?" Ken blurts out when he realizes his wife is still carrying her grudge against him. "Can we not just let it be water under the bridge? Why are you still holding on to this after everything last night?"
Rilla struggles for a moment, trying to sit up more, but her head swarms. She sighs, but Ken silently gets up and helps her fix the pillows so she can recline better.
"For once I am happy we were on this island because Toronto...Toronto would have told you to deal with it." Ken says shaking his head in disbelief.
"You don't even believe…" Rilla begins, she still has hormones coursing through her body and it's enough to make her stomach turn.
"I never thought I would ever be in the position that someone I loved would ever…need one. I wasn't lying last night when I would always choose you." Ken shakes his head.
"The kids?" Rilla says quietly.
"They knew you were ill," Ken says with a nod of his head. "I believe a lot of cocoa was made at Ingleside last night."
"My parents…they don't?" Rilla asks frowning.
"I think Faith told them that you were having a miscarriage, I'm not entirely sure if your father bought it or not. I'm not entirely sure who knows about their knowledge in such things?" Ken says. "Do you need anything?"
Rilla can only shake her head.
"Your family will watch over the kids tonight for us," Ken says. "I have to go call my parents, or write them a letter or something? I'll be out on the porch."
"So you're going to have a smoke and a drink then?" Rilla asks opposing the idea.
"If it helps me clear my head, then yes I will." Ken shoots her a look not caring what she thought or not. "Call if you need anything."
"I should warn you, Mom is convalescing," Jimmy tells Constance when gets off the train.
"What happened? Should I have not come?" Connie asks.
"Long story short, she lost a baby. She probably won't say anything about it to you, but I just wanted to warn you if things are…well a-bit odd or tense?" Jimmy explains with a kiss. "And you are very welcome, we have you set up at Ingleside, you know for propriety's sake. I don't think Mom and Dad would care if you stayed with my room at the summer house, but the kids are around and all." Jimmy tries to explain.
"I get it," Constance squeezes his forearm.
"But no one will say much if I walk you home late or something?" Jimmy grins. "There are some decent haunts for romantic rambles and trysts" he whispers stealing a kiss.
"Be good I'm here to meet your extended family," Connie warms him.
"Yes, but they are understanding and nice," Jimmy says with a grin.
"So Ingleside is where Rilla lived when she took care of you?"Connie asked.
"Yes, actually, It's on the way, I'll show you where I was born," Jimmy says putting her things in the back of the truck she borrowed for the day. "The train was all right though?"
"Oh it was fine," Connie tells him still looking around the small village. She had only lived in Toronto her whole life. It was strange, but somehow it matched the man she had fallen in love with in a way she never imagined.
The house is old, and smaller than what she had imagined. It was run down from afar, and all but looked abandoned the closer they got.
"I was born there, an early August morning," Jimmy says stopping the truck and jumping out to open the door for her. He leads her through an old path, towards an old grave marker.
"Wilhelmina Anderson," She reads on it. "It looks new?"
"I got it made a few years back when I graduated from the academy," Jimmy explains.
"You know when we first met, I thought Rilla was actually your mother?"
"You're not serious?"
"But I am, I thought she had you young and managed to keep you? That the sister you were looking for was actually your father or something?"Constance tells him.
"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," Jimmy finds himself laughing with his arm around her.
"I mean think about it, an Upper Canada boy, graduating from the police academy. You could have done so many things. Instead, you used the name, Anderson, when you can use Ford. You live in Rosedale of all places. It sounds implausible at the very least."
"Fair enough, I suppose it strange, but Rilla nor Ken are related to me by blood," Jimmy reassures her. "Not to mention I am blonde while they are clearly not."
"But they are the people who matter most to you?" Connie nudges him, "And the kids of course."
"Without Rilla, I would have mostly died as an infant, and if not for Ken accepting my and Rilla's bond…I wouldn't have ever met you?" Jimmy says with a nod of his head.
"I'll have to thank her one day and get her some flowers when we go over. Miscarriages can be rough," Constance says quietly, frowning enough that Jimmy looks at her.
"Are you trying to tell me something?" He asks cautiously something.
"It was long before we met," Connie says shaking her head. "I was young and stupid and luckily it ended as it did, and now don't look at me like that."
"Look at you like how?" Jimmy asks, still slightly shocked.
"Clearly I was no virgin when we met and you knew that," She gives him a look. "You on the other hand were rather green, but you learned fast." She pats his face with a gloved hand and laughs at his indignant look.
"I was not..." Jimmy says huffing.
"Maybe not, but you were still clueless." Connie laughs again at him.
Ingleside is filled with people of course.
"This is Doctor Blythe and Mrs. Blythe," Jims introduces them.
"It's lovely to meet you," Connie expresses. "And thank you for allowing me to stay here for a few days."
"It's nothing, what is one more?" Anne says waving off the inconvenience with a light laugh. "We have plenty of room, even with extra people around.
"Well thank you again, Mrs. Blythe," Connie said as she followed Jimmy up the stairs. Looking at the old photographs on the wall, old black and white and sepia tones. "This is your room for the day and fun fact, it used to be my room once upon a time when I lived here with Rilla," Jimmy explains the little white room.
"Oh so if I
"Jimmy!" Someone calls out to him and he looks back seeing three girls of various ages.
"Connie these are my cousin so to speak," he says. "Deena and Maggie are Aunt Nan's girls who live here at Inside and the redhead is Elsie, Aunt Di's daughter. There is also Beau running about this place as well." Jimmy explains."It's lovely to meet you," Connie says.
"Were you kissing?" Elsie asks.
"No we were not," Jimmy says shaking his head. "Now, why don't we all get suited up and we spend the afternoon by the shore?"
"Oh yes please!" The girls say before rushing off.
"You know I don't swim." Connie looks at him.
"Well, you are going to learn today." Jimmy grins. "I'll grab you a towel, dress in a cover-up, we'll most likely walk down."
"Should I not say hello to your parents?"
"It's fine, the kids are here when can stop by later to see them if you wish," Jimmy tells her.
"Stay still," Connie hears as she walks downstairs, a redheaded woman says to her daughter as she braids and what appears to be sewing the braids down around the girl's head who was dressed in her playsuit.
"What are you doing here?" She hears and she looks down to see Clara. Who was not looking impressed?
"Clara!" Jimmy calls out reprimanding her. The older redhead looks up, and the brunette was fixing her own daughter's hair.
"Clara, don't be rude," her Aunts call out to her.
"Constance is here as my guest," Jimmy says to Clara shooting Constance an apologetic look. "If you can't be polite I'll leave you here and tell Mom and Dad that you were being rude, you know they don't like rudeness."
"You are not fun," Clara glares at him and runs off, only to be caught by her other brother.
"She'll get used to it," Constance tells him. "Really she's six and adores you if she wasn't jealous it is more worrisome."
They make it down the shore, the older kids sitting their things down on logs, and some of the girls pulling swimming caps over their hair now at the beach. They aren't afraid of the vast ocean, and while Jimmy makes sure that Clara stays close to the kids and does not go in too deep, she focuses on Connie.
"It's just the ocean, nothing to be afraid of," he says pulling off his shirt and then undoing his trousers revealing his swimming trunks that were short and fitted without being overly tight of course.
"Stop starring," Jimmy winks at her. "Come on we don't have all day," he tells her with a wink. She shakes her head and undoes the button to her skirt and pulls off her blouse, it's a simple yellow swimsuit, but the back was cut low with various straps tied together.
Jimmy watches her dip her toes in rather skeptically at first. He laughs shaking his head before picking her up as she yelps.
"Let me down, James Kitchener!" She uses his full name.
"Never," Jimmy laughs. "Remember if you make me drop you, it's the water for you."
"You can always throw her in!" Walt says gleefully as he lets one of his cousins stand on his shoulder before he stands up quickly and the girl jump off at the same time, cannonballing into the water and splashing everyone, where Ollie has Clara up on his shoulders, dunking here and there.
"Don't you dare!" Connie says. "What if a fish touches me!"
"Well, it is an ocean, but it's far too close to the shore for that to happen," Jimmy says laughing.
"You should be in bed," Ken says as he finds Rilla up and making something in the kitchen after spending a day in bed. She was dressed in her robe and a pair of Ken's pyjamas.
"I'm not an invalid, I can make tea," Rilla tells him thinly. "Shouldn't you be happy that I'm hungry and not wanting to throw up?"
"Of course I am, but your brother also warned me that your stomach might be still sensitive or sore. You were throwing up blood after all." Ken tells her.
"So I'll have some oatmeal, even I can make that for myself." Rilla rolls her eyes.
"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should have to, or do so," Ken stresses and takes the pot from her hands and puts it on the stove. "Is this going to be our whole summer, fighting? Because of some silly thing about Clara going to school? What do you want me to do ask for the tuition dollars back? Can I can have that hundred and fifty back please?"
"She's my last one, Ken," Rilla says sighing.
"And she's not my last?" Ken retorts back with a look before quickly stirring the pot that was quickly bubbling. "Though look at us talking for the first time in two weeks?"
Rilla shoots him a glare.
"How did you even manage the train?" Ken goes on.
"I barely did, and I had both girls with me and Jimmy and Oliver next to us," Rilla says holding her head.
She eats slowly, trying to remember the last time she actually enjoyed food. Ken mainly sits and watches her. Looking just as exhausted and tired as she felt.
"Why do I feel relieved?" Rilla says quietly after a short sigh.
"Probably because you know you won't be sick anymore or have to worry about another traumatic delivery?" Ken tells her honestly. "And if it was me feeling this way you would most likely say that it was completely natural to be relieved?"
"Ollie must have been fretting to no end?" Rilla says quietly.
"He was beside himself," Ken says with a nod of his head. "I believe a lot of cocoa was made at Ingleside last night."
"My parents…they don't?" Rilla asks frowning.
"I think Faith told them that you were having a miscarriage, I'm not entirely sure if your father bought it or not. I'm not entirely sure who knows about their knowledge in such things?" Ken says.
Rilla looks up at him, setting down her spoon at the sound of children talking loudly up the walkway to the house.
"Mommy is feeling better," Clara exclaims and Ken catches her before she can jump on her mother.
"Not quite, but I am getting there," Rilla tells her. "Constance, I forgot you were coming!" She says suddenly aware of how she looked and wanting to brandish Jimmy for bringing the young woman here.
"Please, don't not for me," Constance waves her hands in stopping her from getting up or feeling like she needed to be presentable. "I just want to say thank you for allowing me to join Jimmy on this. He showed me around today and it was...well, I just wanted to thank you for raising him as you did." Constance says looking at Jimmy.
"Does this mean you're going to get married soon? Do I get to be a bridesmaid?" Rowena asks interjecting. "Are you engaged now? Is that why you are here?"
"Jimmy is not allowed to get married!" Clara cries.
"Okay, I think someone is tired," Ken says grabbing his youngest, giving Constance a look of an apology. "I think we need a lesson in proper etiquette and manners again?" He says to Clara who is trying to wriggle her way out of his arms. He taps her butt with the lightest of spanks, trying to get her to behave.
Jimmy just looks at Constance and smiles. "I think it takes a very deep love to marry into this circus of a family?"