Elaine has been teaching Betty how to walk. I've been handling teaching her how to talk. We started with words like fish and farm and vegetable. She can almost say fish, but vegetable is a little too advanced for her right now.
Speaking of fishing, I've been improving my skills slowly but surely. The Riverview Fish Hatchery truly is a blessing. They have such a large variety of fish stocked there.
Elaine is such a good mother to our little Betty. She spends a lot of time with her teaching her skills even though I know she is tired from her second pregnancy. I try to spend as much time with Betty as I can, but it's difficult with trying to keep up the garden and fishing for fertilizer.
"This meal is delicious, love."
"Thank you. It's ratatouille, my favorite!" said Elaine.
"Rata-what? I may not be able to pronounce it, but it sure is delicious," I joked.
We were both happy with our life, despite money being tight all the time. I knew one day we would be more comfortable.
One night Elaine convinced me to dance with her. It's something we do when we both need to let off some steam. I was a bit concerned this time though because she was reaching her due date. Sure enough...
She went into labor right there and then after dancing. This time I wasn't as anxious; we were old pros at this by now I thought.
I got my wish for a son. Meet James Hart, my eldest son and heir.
Little Jamie, as we took to calling him, was such a sweet baby. He hardly ever cried.
With money being so tight, we made the difficult decision to have Elaine take a part-time job at the grocery store. It made sense. We were selling our produce to the store anyway; Elaine would work as a sort of middleman and help us get the best prices for our products and her helping stock the store and check out customers would earn us a bit of extra money, which we desperately needed.
Two children under five plus a full garden plus fishing really takes a lot out of a person. I found myself taking naps quite frequently. Elaine and I take turns getting up with the children in the night so sometimes I would just be so exhausted.
When winter rolled around, I got a bit of a break finally as the plants went dormant for the season. Now I could concentrate more fully on my fishing and spending time with my children and wife.
You may think I'm crazy but fishing in the snow is actually rather nice. The snow is so beautiful, and yes it does get chilly, but I can still manage to squeeze a few hours in before I get too cold.
It felt like time was passing quickly. Maybe having two young children does that. Anyway, Elaine became a mature adult, with maybe a few more fine lines, but I wasn't complaining. She was still just as beautiful to me as ever.
"Henry, this is the last time," she told me as she discovered she was pregnant with our third child. "We just don't have the money."
I reluctantly agreed even though I'd always dreamed of a really big family.
Speaking of time flying by, our little James was a toddler now. Somehow he has blonde hair! Elaine told me that her grandmother had blonde hair so maybe that's where it came from. Even still we were both pretty surprised, but he sure is a cute little man.
Our house was beginning to feel quite small, and it would soon feel even smaller when the third baby arrived. I was determined to make enough money so that the children wouldn't all have to share the same room for their entire childhoods.
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