Clara was sleeping when Rilla pulled into the back driveway. Ken was already home, sitting out on the side porch. He crossed over the railing and came up to greet her. "How was your day?" He asked kissing her quickly before gently picking up their youngest from the back seat.

"Same as usual," Rilla sighed. "How was your day?"

"Same as usual," Ken said as he adjusted their daughter in his arm. "I am curious just what she does at the Merediths that has her this tuckered out?"

"Playing with goats?" Rilla replied as she closed the car door for him. "I'm being serious," She told him when he looked at her in disbelief. "Carl had them out in the barn today when he came back from teaching. Playing with the animals and helping feed the kid."

Ken shook his head with a laugh as they walked up to the house. "I made reservations for 7 pm for us."

"I'll be ready, just need to get her into the bath and into bed," Rilla tells him. "Where are Ollie and Roe?"

"Ollie is down over at Persis's with George and Roe is at her friend Katrina's birthday party and sleepover"

"That was today?" Rilla panics.

"It's fine, she already had the gift and bag ready to go," Ken told her, as he made his way over to the living room and laid Clara down on the sofa and sat down on it.

"Daddy?" she rubbed her eyes.

"Right here Pumpkin," he said with a small smile sitting down and letting her crawl into his lap. He would miss the days when she grew out of these moments. She yawned into his chest rubbing her eyes in the process.

"I got to play with goats today, Uncle Carl let me pet them and there was a little baby," Clara told him of her day.

"Sounds like you had a very fun day?" Ken said acting enthralled. Though his day was spent looking at paperwork, budgets and revenue for the month. Anything was more exciting than that!

"I did," Clara nodded. "Can I have a pony Daddy?" she said mid-yawn.

"I don't think we can afford a pony sweetie," Ken says with a chuckle. "But maybe we can look into getting you some lessons next year when you're a bit bigger."

"Really?" Clara perks up.

"If you're a good girl," Ken affirms before nudging her to where Jimmy was standing in the doorway. Half dressed in his constable outfit.

"I don't like when you go to work Jimmy," she said climbing across the sofa towards her older brother, her legs still across her father's lap though. "What happens if a bad guy gets you?"

Clara was one of the few who actively voiced her worries. Of course, Rilla fretted, but Jimmy was grown up and she had to accept his career choice. Rowena seemed to think it was more dashing to have a brother who was in the police force. Oliver stayed fairly silent on the matter. He was rather serious, more serious than Jimmy had been at twelve and thirteen. He never stated what his issue was with Jimmy's chosen profession, but he refused to talk about it. Even to Jimmy himself.

"Well, I don't let the bad guys get to me," Jimmy said trying to reassure her.

"Come on Clare, you need a bath before dinner," Rilla said from the doorway of the sunroom. "You smell like Uncle Carl's barn."

"Daddy, can you braid my hair afterwards?" She asked looking up at Ken.

"As you always wish," Ken said as she climbed off of him. He got a playful pat on her bottom before she ran off and he sat there for another moment.

They barely made their reservation, as they rushed into the restaurant. Rilla fixed the skirt of her burnish red dress as she sat down. The lights flickered around them and on the silk of her dress. The neckline teased Ken with each move she made as she leaned her elbows on the table, to which he smirks.

"Nineteen years," Ken says slightly amazed. "After so many decisions and changes. I don't think anyone would have pictured us here."

"I thought we would just be Kingsport forever," Rilla agrees her stomach still flummoxes and he catches that look on her face.

"We need to talk about it, " He whispers to her. "You need to see a doctor."

"I already have Ken," She says sighing. "I don't even understand how this happened."

"Well, when two people love each other…" Ken starts off and she shoots him a look. "It happened, we make do."

"We're too old of this."

"Clearly we are not though," Ken says shaking his head. "It will be okay, you will see."

"We have no room," Rilla points out sighing.

"Jimmy will move out eventually, and Ollie can take the attic and we can move around the girls and by the time this one needs a room of their own, we'll have a free one. Next worry?"

"I die?"

"You won't die, having a c-section is not the end all, or death sentence for women in future pregnancies. We'll just make sure you take an easy and not overwork yourself." Ken reminds her. "You're better than usual, though. That has a count for something?"

Rilla sighs, taking a drink of her water. "Can we just order?"

"Ignoring won't make it go away," Ken says sighing but picking up the menu.

"I know, but I feel alright and we can talk about this later. I just want to try and eat something right now." Rilla tells him.


The summer is hot, hotter than what Rilla remembers. The kids run around splashing in the lawn sprinkler and swimming in the pool depending on who was home to watch them. Rilla had a strict rule of no swimming without an adult present. While Clara's birthday had just passed filled with fanfare with Phoebe as they rode the Pony that Uncle Carl brought along in the back year.

"Shopping budget, and milk money," Ken says to himself counting the balance in his ledger

"We'll need school supplies for the children." Rilla reminds him.

"Yes, I just got the tuition bills," Ken nods his head. "Do we need uniforms this year?"

"A few pieces each I think? Shirts for Ollie and trousers, that boy really needs to stop growing. Roe needs some new blouses, her jacket was large enough last year it should be fine this year."

"Clara will need a uniform," Ken says carefully and he can feel his wife's intense gaze.

"Not this year," She tells him.

"She needs to be in school," Ken says setting down the school fee pamphlet for Rowena that year.

"She's not going," Rilla shakes her head looking out the window to her children.

"Rilla, she needs to go. Not only that Branksome is a safe school, but there also hasn't been a case of polio there yet that we know about." Ken reminds her. "We can't keep her at home, she needs to make friends."

"No," Rilla says through her teeth. "I mean it Ken she isn't going, I'll teach her at home, surely the government and children's aid will be fine with that."

"I'm not making it a choice Rilla, she is going to school like every other child, she's turning six," Ken says sharply and sternly looking at his wife. "You have too much going on to teach her anyway, she needs to be in school."

"And I said not yet, Kenneth!" Rilla snaps at him. "You're going to send her to her death!"

"She will be fine Rilla, you need to get this death sentence out of your head. It is school!" He snaps back.

"She is not going!" Rilla finds herself shouting.

"This is not a discussion, this is my final decision. She needs to go to school and school she will go Rilla." Ken stresses to her calmly.

"Well, fuck me for thinking this house was a democracy and not a dictatorship," Rilla curses at him and goes to stalk out of the room but he grabs her arm. She looks at him red in the face and slaps his face. "Don't you dare touch me?"

"Limiting Clara's interaction in the world to protect her isn't going to bring her sister and our other child back." Ken finds himself saying. "It was out of our hands Rilla you know that. It kills me that Cora didn't survive. We did nothing wrong, and everything right and we can't change that and we can't keep her locked away any more than what we can with this that you're carrying!"

Rilla just looks at him, before turning on her heel and locking herself in the washroom nearest her.

He hears her be sick, he feels guilty making her sick and in such a state when she's in fighting all the hormones of early pregnancy.

"Rilla, please," he says from the door and he stays there until she comes out. She stalks past him, and he follows watching her grab her bags.

"I have to go to work," she tells him stonily and he watches her kiss the kids goodbye, telling them she had to run to the hospital. Before hopping into the car and driving off.

Ken found himself in the kitchen watching the coffee pot,

"So Mom's really mad isn't she," Jimmy says in passing.

"You heard all that?" Ken says sighing.

"Well, some of it, I was asleep for what I am assuming would have been the first part of it," Jimmy says shrugging. "You're face going to be okay though?"

"I hope so," Ken says sighing touching it gingerly "I probably deserved it, but the fact of the matter is that Clara needs to go to school. The outbreak was two years ago at this point and yeah we kept Clara safe, and the kids out of the school for a while until it calmed down, but it's no longer such a threat but she is still…also I know you know but I never touched her."

"Oh I know," Jimmy says nodding his head. "I don't think I have ever seen you raise a hand to her, ever in my life."

"Because I haven't," Ken says gruffly. "Not to any of your kids either, though your mother hasn't either. This is just a rare case with her, I'm sure she'll apologize when she calms down."

"And when she does I'll take the kids for ice cream, or a movie," Jimmy said with a nod of his head.

"Why do you say that?" Ken asks his curiosity peaked.

"Because they don't need to hear you making up," Jimmy gives him a look. "Do you know how many times you forget I am in the attic above you? They don't need to hear that…"

"Shit," Ken curses. "You should have mentioned it before…"

Jimmy just shrugs. "You're married, and it's not like you argue like that often."

"Still," Ken says gruffly feeling embarrassed. "I'm sure we'll have worked it out by the time we head to the island."

"I'm sure as well," Jimmy says nodding his head.


They don't though and Rilla refuses to budge and takes the kids without him. She always forgets how long the train ride is and is somehow even more torturous with teenagers than children Rilla finds herself believing. You could entertain the children, you could bring coloured books and toys for them. Teenagers, moody teenagers were another thing altogether while battling never-ending nausea.

"I'm bored," Rowena says from her seat.

"Then work on your embroidery," Rilla tells her fanning herself.

"I don't want to," she complains.

"Then go for a walk, or sit like a lady you're almost fourteen after all" Rilla shakes her head and nudges her daughter's feet that were over the arm of the chair in the lounge with her hand as she sits down on another chair.

"Why are you mad at Daddy?" Rowena asks her.

"Who says I am mad at your father?" Rilla raises an eyebrow.

"Well, we left without him…" Rowena says bravely.

"He had things at work to do, he'll catch a train on Friday," Rilla tells her simply as she sees Clara and Jimmy come into the car, arms-filled things from the candy cart.

"Did you spend all your allowance on sweets?" Rilla shakes her head. "You'll ruin your dinner and your teeth."

"That's why I brush them!" Clara giggles. "I got you chocolate Row," she says handing her sister a chocolate bar.

"Where Oliver?" Rilla asks looking around for her eldest.

"Playing chess with a boy, in another car" Clara chirps and Rilla nods her head. "When will we get there?"

"Tomorrow sometime, we transfer in Montreal tonight and then take a train to New Brunswick to catch the ferry, and then we'll catch the train in Borden to bring us to Glen St Mary and Ingleside," Rilla explains to her and Clara climbs onto her lap.

"When does daddy come again?" Clara asks next.

"Dad will be a few more days he had a work emergency," Jimmy says for Rilla. The fight seemed to sour more when Ken came home the next day saying he couldn't make the train as planned. He would switch the tickets, they would still spend a few days less on the island. It created another row, that had Rilla yelling at him and telling him they would leave as planned and he could do whatever the hell he wanted. Or go to hell, for all she cared.


She was exhausted by the time they stepped off the train in Glen St Mary. She really did not like travelling she concluded long ago and her predicament made it worse, but everyone was supposed to be here this summer.

It was Jem waiting for them at the station. Jem, who is now mostly white in his ruddy curls with a face of laugh lines and wrinkles around his eyes.

When did they all get so old?

"Rilla!" He stands with open arms. "A sight for sore eyes, it's been too long," he says hugging her.

"Who is this?" He says next seeing Clara. "This can't be the little imp who I saw four years ago?"

"This is your Uncle Jem," Rilla says quietly to Clara. "You might not remember him as the last time you were here you were just a baby," she tells her daughter.

"Do you cut people open like Grandpa?" Clara asks loudly and Jem laughs.

"Got a cheeky one have you, I am a doctor yes little imp," he says grinning. "Ollie, Rowena, Jimmy," he says nodding his head to them.

"Hi Uncle Jem," they all say in unison.

"Your cousins are excited to see you," he adds.

They pile into his truck, with their suitcases, the kids sitting in the back of the truck as they drive down the old familiar roads. He drops them off at the old house, handing them the keys that he had on him.

"Where's Ken?" Jem asks his sister as the kids all jump out of the truck. Oliver and Rowena take Clara to show her the old haunts of their own childhood vacations.

"He had a work emergency," Rilla says shrugging. "He'll be here in a few days, how are the kids?"

"Well Ceci is heading off for Redmond this year," Jem says. "Walt is thinking about going to medical school, you know carry on the tradition of Dr Blythe. I can't imagine having a little one going to school for the first time these days."

"Well, if I had my way she wouldn't be," Rilla says under her breath. No need to air our dirty laundry at the beginning of the trip.

"You can't protect them from everything Rilla," Jem says sympathetically. "But I understand that Toronto is far larger than the island, but even we haven't had a case in over a year."

Rilla looks up at him ready to argue when her stomach flips and she looks around and rushes towards the bushes. Her brother raised his eyebrows, before looking at the kids who seemed to be used to it.

"Are you serious?" He looks at his little sister with a dopy sort of Cheshire grin.

"Shut it," Rilla tells him.