Magda found her days finally settling into a new routine now that her children had reached their crawling stage. She would grab naps and bites to eat whenever she could, between caring for her children, and harvesting shat she could before the cold of winter fully settled in. Some days she even managed to get a partial bath in. She found herself missing the walks around the island. More than that she missed sleep, as the twins still wouldn't sleep through the entire night. Magda had managed to trade another painting for some new clothes that were slightly more suited to living on an island with small children, and a simple chest of drawers. She had very carefully stored her silks and satin's in a drawer out of toddler reach and wondered if she'd ever get to wear them again. The stairs creaked as Magda carried Apple up to bed, and Magda once again wondered if it would be better to move their beds down stairs. With the heat of summer gone, and the cool of fall and winter descending it was getting harder to keep both rooms heated. Magda realized that she must miss certain foods, like cheese, far more than she realized if she was painting pictures of them. Much to her dismay perishable foods weren't something she could get imported. Magda carefully surveyed the room. It was close to the kitchen, and if she could get the windows fixed it would keep them warm during the winter. She was confident in her ability to disassemble and reassemble the cribs, it was her own bed she was unsure of. It had taken Magda the better part of a day and half a night, but she had gotten all of their furniture moved downstairs. Even happier was despite the groans and creaks the staircase had held under the heavier weight of the end tables. She'd also managed to sell another painting and the old tv in exchange for new window pains. It had only been enough for the one room, but that was all she was concerned with keeping warm for now. The ships captain eyes had lit up as he had complimented her work, and Magda had felt a small flair of something deep inside. No one had ever genuinely complimented her on anything before. She found herself wanting to create another painting for the captain. More than once Magda wondered why she hadn't ordered a second potty chair, then she would remember the cost of the one and heave a deep silent sigh. As she mopped her thoughts wandered, and she wondered if there was something wrong with her children as they didn't talk or walk yet. As she moped her mind wandered further back into the deep recesses and a hazy memory surfaced of the couple running the orphanage teaching the babies how to walk and talk. Magda felt a flush of embarrassment creep across her face, and found herself grateful after a fashion that she was alone, with no one to witness her embarrassment besides her children who seemed oblivious to anything beyond the xylophone and sorting blocks. After that day she made sure she spent a small portion of each day teaching Apple and Vincenzo how to walk. She found it helped her focus on something more than how alone and isolated she was, or how confined to the house she was now that it was far to cold to spend more than a few minutes at a time outside. When the snow finally arrived it was deeper and colder than anything Magda could remember experiencing before in her life, and she found herself grateful that she'd moved their beds downstairs. She also learned that water pipes don't do well in the deep cold. Hoping it would help she shredded the ghastly pink dress that had seen her through her pregnancy into long strips and wound them around a few critical pipes. As she fought with the frozen toilet, Magda wished she had more of something to insulate the pipes with. The strips from the dress had been just enough for the kitchen sink and part of the pipes that ran to the bathroom. She'd shut off the water to the tub and bathroom sink in an effort to prevent those pipes from breaking. Magda inspected the plants she'd bought inside from the garden almost daily, and found herself wondering why she'd even bothered. They weren't producing anything anymore beside the occasional weeds. Yet every time she considered tossing them she found herself thinking of how soothing it was to tend them even though they weren't producing, and how much they brightened up the small room, and so she kept them inside for the time being. She also hung a small sketch on the wall. In time Apple and Vincenzo learned how to walk, or more accurately toddle around, and so Magda focused her time with them on learning how to talk. Magda found herself longing for the day when they would be steady enough on their feet to take outside. Magda hung her latest painting, a repeat of the cheeses, on the wall and wondered when the scientists would stop by again. It was hard to tell time, but she was fairly sure it had been several months since the last stop. The isolation was eating at her, she could feel her sanity slipping, and not even the twins were enough company on some days, and she would find herself talking to herself. One cold morning as Magda added more branches and twigs to the oven she wondered if the heat was enough to cook on. So far all she'd eaten was raw salads, as she had never cooked anything before in her life. She'd always made herself absent on cooking days at the orphanage, skipped home ec in school, and always gotten someone to buy her meals out after she'd left the orphanage. As she watched the apples in the pan she realized that she didn't even know how to heat up a microwave meal or a noodle cup. Magda stared at the paints on her pallet, she was almost out of painting supplies. She looked at her supplies and then the canvas on the easel, and hoped that one the ship would be by soon, and that someone on board would offer her more than 25 for the finished painting. The spring thaw arrived and so did the ship. There was a new scientist on board who liked Magda's latest painting so much that they paid her 300 for it. Magda turned around and spent the money on more painting supplies and a large play table for the twins, as they were showing signs of being bored with toys she'd previously gotten them. Magda focused on smaller paintings for a while, now that she had a full range of colors to work with again. While she painted the twins happily played with the new blocks talking back and forth to each other with their toddler vocabulary. Months sailed by, as Magda settled into the new routine of tending the once again active garden. Playing with the twins here and there between chores and house maintenance. Painting when she could, and selling the paintings for what she could get. During the hotter months of spring and summer she would move their bedding upstairs, and during the colder months of fall and winter she would move everything back down the stairs. Magda had even replanted the few plants back outside that she'd brought in and traded back the pots. As she stared at her latest painting, which to her was a celebration of her children's growth from infant to child, she knew she would need to use the money for new clothes and full sized beds. Apple and Vincenzo were steadier on their feet and had shown that they could sit at the table like a grown up. As she reviewed her trade list, she added their potty chair and cribs since they didn't need to use them anymore. She also added one of the racks from the kitchen pantry. Magda found herself grateful that she'd already repaired all the holes on the second floor while the twins had still been in their toddle stage, before they'd figured out how to climb up the stairs. She wasn't sure she was ready for this next stage of their life or the fact that with each year they grew she was getting older, but there was no stopping the steady march of time.
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