The Victorian Wolf Effect (Book III)

CHAPTER THREE - Collapse

The following two weeks found Timber adjusting to a new routine. Her sleep schedule was the same during the week as it was while she was in school and she found it comforting to keep the same morning routine. She was up, fed, and ready for the day by thirty minutes after seven every morning. The major difference was the coffee she had learned to make. She was not a coffee drinker and Henry liked his coffee strong and dark with just a little milk to add creaminess. So she learned how to make it the way he liked it.

During breakfast before school, she would read a book on her phone or catch up with her classmates on social media. Now, she was spending her breakfast time making her to-do list for the day, and the major chore varied depending on the day of the week. She had settled on Mondays for meal planning and laundry, Tuesdays for grocery shopping and meal prep, Wednesdays for yard work, Thursdays for full house cleaning, and Fridays for friends. Saturdays and Sundays were clear. She knew this routine would change when she started college in the fall, but for now, it worked well.

One Saturday afternoon, Henry had come home from spending the day with Dresden only to find Timber on the living room floor with a booklet, several notes, a plate with a partially eaten peach and cream cheese sandwich, and a glass of pink lemonade in front of her. She was so wrapped up in what she was doing, she didn't look up from her booklet but she greeted him with a simple hello.

"What are you doing?" Henry asked.

"Picking my classes for the fall semester," said Timber. "This isn't as easy as I thought it would be." She looked up at him. "How would you feel about me taking a child development class?"

Henry frowned.

"I'll pass, then. Can I ask why?"

"I had a few college friends who took that class. They were seniors when I started. Three of them had kids since then. They're spoiled rotten brats. They use so much weird psychology that it makes parents afraid to discipline their kids properly. I know this because I took a year of it. Learning how children develop mentally is important, but then they tossed in weird parenting advice. Parents are parents to kids, not their best friends. That comes later in life."

"I agree. I'll skip that then." She crossed something off on her list.

"Would you like some help?"

"Please."

Henry sat down beside her.

"So are you looking for a specific degree or are you just furthering your education?"

"I don't know," said Timber honestly. "I'm really considering just furthering my education. I'm really enjoying being a housewife but I'm also considering nursing or being an elementary school teacher for kids with special needs like Autism."

"I think you'd be a wonderful special needs school teacher," said Henry supportively. "You're great with kids and you have more patience than anyone I have ever met. But you would also be a good nurse. So when you say nurse, are you thinking nursing like Grace?"

"Not to that extent. Just to better understand what I know and learn more about it. What if something happens and you need medical care but we don't have access to Aunt Grace? I want to be able to take care of you properly."

"I don't think I told you today. I love you. Can I see your list?"

Timber handed him her notebook. It was the last blank page in her high school English notebook and she filled it with potential classes, with notes concerning her reasons why. Henry looked it over.

"It looks like you're aiming for a Liberal Arts Degree," said Henry.

"How do you know that?"

"I have one," said Henry. "I have a degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with an emphasis on American Politics and History."