27th July, 1890 — Ari & Dionisia’s House, Bartonburg
Dionisia Fisk
Dionisia Fisk
Funny how the time flew, how days became weeks became months and in the blink of an eye their son was more than a year old. Still, he remembered well how things had been little more than a year and a half ago, and for the most part he was grateful for how his life looked now.
The rest of him, naturally, was still wading through the guilt of it.
But this evening had been almost a dream, his shift over early enough to spend some time with Elliott before putting him to bed, and Elliott evidently so tuckered out by the nanny that there had been no time for tears. He had lingered a while in the darkened nursery, enjoying the peace in there and the gentle rise and fall of his breaths.
When Ari padded back out, busy undoing a button on his shirtsleeves to roll them up more relaxedly, he met Dionisia on the landing with a fond smile. They were so often like ships in the night, with her shifts nowadays. “He must have been exhausted,” he said softly to her, so that she could revel in this too, “- he was out like a light.”
Pulling the door a little more closed behind him and beckoning her over towards one of the other rooms so that he could speak a little louder, Ari added conspiratorially: “We’d better make the most of it, hadn’t we?”
(He was thinking he might start reading a new book, himself.)
The rest of him, naturally, was still wading through the guilt of it.
But this evening had been almost a dream, his shift over early enough to spend some time with Elliott before putting him to bed, and Elliott evidently so tuckered out by the nanny that there had been no time for tears. He had lingered a while in the darkened nursery, enjoying the peace in there and the gentle rise and fall of his breaths.
When Ari padded back out, busy undoing a button on his shirtsleeves to roll them up more relaxedly, he met Dionisia on the landing with a fond smile. They were so often like ships in the night, with her shifts nowadays. “He must have been exhausted,” he said softly to her, so that she could revel in this too, “- he was out like a light.”
Pulling the door a little more closed behind him and beckoning her over towards one of the other rooms so that he could speak a little louder, Ari added conspiratorially: “We’d better make the most of it, hadn’t we?”
(He was thinking he might start reading a new book, himself.)
