Chapter 40: Act 1: Chapter 31

Twenty-second day, Eleventh Moon, 247 AC

"More wine, Ethan?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No more for now. Too early in the day, and as I get older I find I can't deal with it as I used to."

Zane piped up from the other side of the table. "Pass it on over here, Michael. It's too beautiful a day t' not have a full cup in front of me!"

We were sitting around a large table in the open field by my house. We were having our annual summer family gathering where the entire family, all 26 of us, would gather at our house and spend the day together. The kids would be off playing with each other, whether it be sports, swimming, or some other game. The adults would spend time with each other, and we would cook up a big feast to celebrate.

The date of the gathering was usually the same time each year (barring poor weather), but it had no real significance. A few years ago, all our wives had gotten together and spent the day enjoying themselves, when they realized it would be a good idea to have a day where the whole family could get together.

The older children were currently swimming in the river, while the younger ones were either playing tag or make-believe.

Violet was the eldest child at 17 years old, although many would label her a young woman, she was still my little girl. It was indisputable however, that I had to keep running off boys who were interested in her. I let out an unconscious growl at running off that idiotic Rob the other week. As if he could measure up to my little girl.

Beside me, Ethan gave me a knowing look, seeing where my gaze was pointed. He said, "It's tough when your little girls grows, eh?"

I grunted. "Bloody, blasted boys. Uncontrollable animals at that age."

Ethan, Koryn and Zane all laughed. "And you were much better? Please!" said Zane mockingly.

"Of course, I was!" I protested.

"You were better," Ethan conceded. "Not by much though."

"Just you wait, you two!" I wagged my finger at Koryn and Zane. "Soon your daughters will be grown, and you'll have to fight off the boys!"

Zane had the most children of us all, at 7 living children, with four sons and three daughters. Jeran his eldest son was 14 years old, followed by Tarla at 11, Ethan at 9, Lucas at 7, Aline at 4, Dorthy at 19 months, and Denzin at 3 months.

Koryn had six children, with three sons and three daughters. Bran, his eldest, was 12 years old, followed by Dacey at 10, Jesryn at 7, Tobas at 6, Riler at 3, and Kegan at 13 months.

With my five children: Violet at 17, Evelyn at 10, Ryden at 7, Arthur at 6, and Anari at 3; that gave Ethan and Jess a total of 18 grandchildren, which was completely shocking given the community average was much lower. They themselves only had 3 living children, and only a few still-living distant relatives, so this was a huge change for them. Similar stories played out in the village, with more and more children living and growing, though not to the same extent as our family.

I had lost count of all the things that would make the difference that I had done over the years. Boiling water, soap, pasteurized milk, and even just more plentiful food had done its work.

All these changes had created even more changes. Things like the village being expanded and even named, or even new houses.

I cast my gaze over at my house, which was drastically different from what I had first built. The original, was a log cabin, that had been built into the hill on my property. Now? I had greatly expanded it to fit our family, as we had outgrown our previous home and were very cramped for space. It was now a two-story home built into the side of the hill, with a depressed cellar. It had a roofed porch in the front, which opened into the main area of the kitchen, dining and living room. We had six bedrooms, with three on the main floor, and 3 on the top floor, with another room for storage. The masonry heating and stove for cooking provided heat throughout the house. I had even went above and beyond a little and created a deck on top of the first floor, since the second floor was only half the size of the first floor. It created a spectacular view at dusk.

It had taken a lot of work to build the house, and very little of the original remained. The original plan was to just expand it, but as I had begun to dig I started to encounter problems. My foundation was already much weaker than I had anticipated, as the wood had begun to rot and warp. I ended up redoing the foundation and doing it properly this time. With stone and concrete I set a solid foundation for the house to rest upon and help to prevent rot and mold from forming. I was immensely pleased with the final result, even if I hadn't been happy when I first started encountering the problems.

While I was redoing the house, I realized it was the perfect time to finally get some indoor plumbing. I had to get a lot of help to get not only the materials I needed, but to get it built while I was building the house simultaneously. There was a lot of trial and error getting things done, and I was still a bit nervous about the upcoming winter.

The main piece was a water tower, that was powered by a small windmill on top. I debated endlessly with myself on the size of the beast but decided having something larger than I needed would be better than smaller. It pulled water from an enclosed well and put it into the tower. Copper pipes then fed the water underground to my house. This then fed a kitchen sink, toilet and bathtub. I did my best to make sure that the pipes were close to heat sources so that it would not freeze, but I was nervous as I had never done anything like this before. The toilet was a basic thing made of metal and wood, but it beat using an outhouse any day.

The wastewater however, was still an issue I was working on. A basic septic tank was simple enough, as I had experience with those from back on Earth. What was causing me trouble was dealing with the water after that step. I knew that one form of treatment was putting it through a wetlands environment, and the vegetation there would clean the water, but unfortunately, I had never dealt with one first hand. So, I had rigged up something I had hoped would work, and so far, it was. I mean, I had no intention of drinking the water it produced, but it looked clear and didn't stink, so I didn't feel bad about letting it run back into the river. I was concerned how it would handle the winter and hoped that the subsurface flow that seemed to be present would last throughout the winter and keep the system working.

It was a lot of work and worry, but it sure was glorious to be able to shit inside a house again.

Loud barking shook me from my reverie. I looked back over to where Violet was and saw her playing around with Mimi, while her cousins watched on. Mimi was Violet's dog, after her previous dog, Max, had finally passed from old age. Mimi was a corgi-mix, from a line that started with Max, but was significantly larger than Max had been.

It seemed that Violet and Mimi were having a race, with Violet standing on her hands and Mimi using her front legs. It was another exercise that Violet had started doing to practice her skinchanging. Doing two different complex maneuvers simultaneously helped her skill, or so she said. I was uncomfortable with it still, but only in the fear that others may look down on her for the ability. The rest of the family had taken it in stride, and Violet had dedicated a lot of time to figuring out what she could do with it, and how to do it better. The rest of the family was initially shocked, but very accepting of it, though no one else showed any signs of it. Or perhaps, they were just not old enough to show signs.

"Children! Come and wash your hands for dinner!" Nyra called from the house.

A stampede of children made their way to the house, while Koryn and I went and brought the freshly cooked meat to the table. Our wives brought out the food that had been in the house and ushered the children to the table after washing their hands.

We had a separate table set up to hold all the food, sort of like a buffet style, and I started to cut the lamb and place it on everybody's plate as they passed. It took a while to serve everyone, and the delicious smells of the food caused my stomach to grumble loudly while I waited.

The lamb was made in a beautiful, thick, wine sauce, and served as the main dish of the meal. Alongside it we had, creamy mashed potatoes, and cooked carrots and onions. The aroma of cheese and freshly baked bread permeated the air, as they were still hot from the oven. They were already sliced and had a layer of fresh-churned butter atop them. There were sauces were scattered throughout the table, fresh honey from the nearby hives, as well as some other homemade recipes.

There was a large variety of drinks, both alcoholic and not. Mead, cider, beer and wine were the drinks of choice among the adults, though some of the older children received a cup. The children drank fruit juices and milk with their meals, and I felt a brief pang of regret that they would never experience drinking pop at a family party.

For dessert, we had pastries with berries and maple sugar. There was pie and there were various sweets to choose from, though the adults all had to make sure that the children didn't sneak any before they had finished eating their dinner.

I quickly loaded up my plate once everyone was finished and took my seat.

With such a large group, no one had bothered waiting for anyone else, but that was tradition by this point. The noise we made drowned out the sound of the farm animals, as people talked, laughed and even argued. I tore into a piece of freshly made garlic bread, the smell of which had been taunting me all afternoon. The garlic and the butter that had made my mouth water for so long tasted just as good as it smelled. Good bread made the world go 'round.

As I ate, I savored the moment. The taste on my tongue, the laughter in my ears, the sun on my head, the smell of the food, and the companionship of my family.

Life. Was. Wonderful.

A/N: I will release a family tree soon, not to worry. I know it was kind of an info dump of kids, but I did want to highlight some of the things that had been going on in the background, of which, there was many kids.