Spring had come and gone, and now they were settling into fall. In Hyote that meant that the days were still tolerable in temperature, but the nights well below freezing... and yet the days still warm enough to allow standing water and snow that had not yet been packed into ice melt during the sunlight hours which would soon start to rapidly shrink. It also meant that Arcturus spent a few hours every day chopping firewood, and stacking it neatly under the eves along the front of the house so they would have a ready supply for when winter came in full force. He already had it stacked two deep and half as tall as the wall across the whole front of the house... he wanted it stalked to the eves and at least another row deep before the heavy snow season stated. Stars forbid they get caught without enough wood to keep Imogen and the baby warm threw the winter. Maybe he was... a little paranoid. He thought he was being practical... he also already had enough wood to keep two households good for the winter, probably.
It was another hour after he finished chopping the tree he'd felled the day before into proper cords of wood, before he finished stacking it all against the house. He dripped with sweat, and had stripped down to his bare chest, leaving him in pants and boots, and scattered layers of shirts and jackets and cloaks tossed about the porch. He ran a hand threw his sweaty hair, pulling it from where it clung to his face and neck, before gathering his abandoned clothes, and stepping inside.
Their home, the house he had built for them, was not huge, but it was not a small affair either. It was likely one of the larger houses in the village. It had three bedrooms (because maybe Arcturus wanted lots of kids... and the girls and boys shouldn't have to share the same room...); it also had a kitchen, family room, and a dining room, as well as an extra room for him to store his wears and anything else they needed to store away. There was also an attic and a root cellar. The kitchen had a large, cast iron stove, and there was a fireplace he'd laid the stone for himself, in the living room.
He did most of his work at the blacksmith's forged, which they had updated and added to over the years sense he'd been living in the village. There was really no need for a second forge in a village so small, but an improved one where they could ply their different crafts was useful.
Arcturus smiled wide at Imogen when he saw her there standing in the kitchen stirring a pot. "It smells like heaven in here." He didn't know if it was the pot, or something else she was cooking, but something in the house smelled spicy - delicious.
He dropped his clothes by the door, he could deal with them later, and it was a lot warmer in here than outside anyway. He moved closer to her and wrapped one arm around her while he caressed her belly with his other hand. "How are you two doing?" He kissed Imogen's cheek.
