George turned the chair around and sat on it in a “cool guy” pose. He and Amelia loved playing chess together, but Amelia was getting more and more clumsy as her pregnancy progressed. The problem was that her belly kept getting in the way.
And when Amelia and George were halfway through the game, Amelia got up to reach a piece, and her belly knocked over the pieces. She sat back down and her eyes welled with tears.
“Oh, I’m huge!” Amelia said, her lower lip quivering.
“And what is wrong with being bigger, Amelia?” George asked. “My own mother is large lady. My grandmother was an even larger lady. But you’re pregnant! You’re having a pollywog. This is all very natural and beautiful. And if you never lose the extra ounces, I don’t care a bit. I think it suits you.”
“Do you really think so?” Amelia asked.
“I certainly do,” George replied seriously. “A frog likes having a little extra to hold onto.”
“What if my post-pollywog body is… rounder, George?”
George shot her a roguish smile. “A frog can hope, Amelia.”
“Oh, George,” she giggled. “But what about our game?”
“You were going to win, anyway,” George said. “You had that marriage set up between my bishop who is now apparently leaving his position in church leadership in order to marry your pawn, and it was going to cause untold drama on the board. I think we can just agree that love saved the day.”
Amelia liked that plan, and she felt much better about her pregnant figure. Did George really like her this way? She looked at her husband’s happy, guileless face, and she decided that he was telling the truth. How lucky that he loved just as she was, no matter the stage of life they were in.
One day, Amelia rescued a fish. It was the last fish in the pet store, and it looked so sad that Amelia brought it home and named it Francois The Fish. It was nice to have another little member of their household, and Francois swam in happy circles in his fresh, clean bowl.
The cats came up to inspect the newest member of the household, and Amelia wasn’t sure she liked the way they licked their lips when they looked down into the bowl. Herman dipped his paw into the water, and Amelia shook her finger at him.
“Herman!” she said. “We do not eat family!”
Herman put his paw down again. She was going to have to keep an eye on this dynamic, she could tell.
“Don’t eat family!” Polly, their rescue parrot, called from her perch above her cage. “Don’t eat family!”
“That’s right,” Amelia said.
The last time the cats had licked their lips at Polly The Parrot, Polly had flown down and bitten them both solidly on the nose, and the cats changed their minds about Polly being a potential meal. She was too feisty to eat, and it might set a bad precedent if they tried, because Polly might decide to make a meal out THEM!
So the cats wandered off, and Amelia looked down fondly into the fish bowl.
“Welcome, Francois,” Amelia said. “I think you’ll be very happy here.”
One day, Fed Ex delivered a box. It was a heavy box. George carried it to the kitchen table and used a kitchen knife to cut the tape.
Inside, he discovered some books.
How To Get Away With Murder by Timothy Fields
Cleaning Up a Crime Scene by Angela Smeld
Living Off the Land by Vernon Goldstein
Now, if George was married to any other frog, he might be worried. Instead he put the books back into the box and he called,
“Amelia, a box arrived for you!”
“Oh, it’s here?” Amelia asked, pottering in the room with a smile on her face. “Wonderful!”
She picked up the books and turned to go.
“Uh… Amelia? A book you’re editing that needs some fact checking?” he asked. While he wasn’t worried, a little confirmation did make him feel better.
“Of course, George,” Amelia said. “My goodness. I do hope the government doesn’t have anyone following me around because of my purchasing history.”
George looked out the window. He didn’t see anyone, but he waved in the friendliest way, just in case. Amelia kept his life interesting, at the very least. And if the government really did had some secret service agent following them around, George would invite them in for some tea.
He had a plan that involved befriending that agent and giving them free Patricia Johns books. George liked to be prepared.
I hope you enjoy these Knitted Newlywed stories. I enjoy putting them together! My miniature addiction goes to good use. 🙂
If you’d like to keep up my writing (and there will be a few suspense stories coming up…) check out my book page. You an also sign up for my newsletter and never miss out on a release.
Happy reading!
❤
Patricia Johns 
Your comments make me feel warm and fuzzy. Seriously!