February 7th, 1895 - First Friday, Irvingly Arms

"Emilia what," maybe it was who? "Do you keep looking for?" Winnie mused as she sat at the bar with her sister-in-law, sipping on a brandy smiling with a bemused twitch to her lips. She'd known Emilia had been attending the First Friday at the Arms for a while now, but Win couldn't always come. When asked, her sister was a little evasive about what happened when she went, but tonight Winnie was going to find out for herself.

She was comfortable in her chair, one leg crossed over the other under her skirts as she surveyed the pub at large over her meal. The music was lovely and lively. Win missed things like this. She needed to get out a little bit more sometimes. Her life had settled down again into an easy rhythm that she found therapeutic if nothing else. "You look like a lost child looking for their parent in the crowd, Em." She teased further.

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Emilia Moony

  

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Winnie couldn't always come with her to First Friday — she tended to have an unpredictable schedule, given the chaotic nature of pregnancies — but Emilia was always pleased when she did. And she was pleased tonight, even though she kept finding herself looking to see if Mr. Podmore was here. After their chat at the December First Friday, she'd gone alone again to the one in January, and had spoken with him again. She liked talking to him, despite herself.

But it was bad if Winnie could tell that she was looking around. "Oh, nothing," Emilia said, with a small shake of her head. She smiled at her sister-in-law, hoping to convince her. "I suppose it was just a long week. I'm glad you're here with me again."

  

Winnie pursed her lips and hid the expression behind her brandy. It had been a long week. Winnie felt like she was gearing up for a busy month. For some reason she had several mothers due in the next couple of weeks and she knew some of them were going to be tougher than others. She had faith in herself though, so she was sure everything would be fine.

"Mhm," she hummed out skeptically. "I'm glad I could come. It's nice to get out and let loose for a little while without responsibility." Not that Win had responsibilities outside her job. She paid her half of the rent, left Ivy alone for the most part and kept to herself. She didn't have to worry about anyone else and it was much easier that way. Well, that wasn't strictly true, she was trying her best to keep an eye on Gus. She was worried about him and the children in the wake of Sophia's death and was trying to help lighten the load as much as she could. "Plus I love not having to find something for dinner."

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   Emilia Moony

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Emilia smiled. "You know I always have food in the icebox if you want to come steal some," she said. Her maid helped with a large amount of the meal preparation, and that meant that Emilia was always having extras around, both because she cooked as if Kit came over every night and also because she tried to spare Emilia from having to cook for herself.

  

"I do know that," Winnie beamed at Em. "But it's not your responsibility to feed the poor waifish sister-in-law all of the time." Winnie had subjected Emilia to more of her presence that was strictly necessary in the last year, but she suspected Em didn't mind. In fact, though they had never discussed it, Winnie thought they both might need it more than either would let on. 

"How's Ned doing?" Win knew how Anne was doing, based on her niece's recent letters, but she hadn't said anything to Emilia about it yet. She rather thought Anne could handle it, even if Winnie had been rather frank in her advice.

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