1920s: Josephine wants to move

 

While Anna has been in Selvadorada, life has continued for those who were left behind. In Britechester, Nash has just finished his studies in economics and just landed a job as an investor for Dewey, Cheatem and Howe. Josephine is delighted! Not only is she proud of her husband, but now they can finally get a new home and start a family! This is definitely a cause for a celebration, so Josephine has invited their friends and neighbors to celebrate. The women naturally gather in the (small and cramped) kitchen, while the men socialise in the living room.

Dinner is served, but as their place is small, some has to eat sitting in the sofa. Josephine looks forward when this is no longer the case.

Still everyone seems to be in a good mood, and Nash is in a very flirty mood. Overall, the dinner is a success.

The next day, Josephine brings up the thought of a new house. She's been looking in magazines for the latest decorating trends, and in the Sears, Roebuck and Co house catalog to get inspiration. "Besides, daddy said that they're tearing down the art museum back home. The lot will be sold, and it's right next to Ida and Nathaniel. You'll be close to Morgan too. Wouldn't it be perfect?" she asks.

Nash is a bit more hesitant. He has large loans to pay back for his education, and as he just started working he has not been able to save any money yet. "We need to be sensible," he argues. "And wait a little while longer." 

"But what if the lot is sold?" Josephine argues. "Of if I get pregnant? We can't raise a family here." 

"If that happens, we'll figure something out. But it hasn't happened yet, has it?" Nash concludes. 

Josephine is disappointed, but there isn't much to do about it, and she can't really explain to her husband why it "hasn't happened" yet, not when she knows he would not agree to the reason. Because like so many other women at the time, Josephine has resorted to illegal means to avoid pregnancy. 

Diaphragms were invented as early as the mid 19th century, but is illegal to sell, advertise, ship or own, yet many doctors still fitted their patience with these devices, and Dr Byron in Britechester is one of those doctors. Josephine hates it. She hates breaking the law, she hates the immorality of using something to prevent the birth of a child, but the thought of having a child in such a cramped home is something she hates more. In her internal struggle, the practical issues of a cramped apartment has won out over her moral objections to contraception. 

But as she has not told Nash about this, raised as he was in part by a conservative reverend, she cannot very well use that as a means of argument. She has to abide by his will. "So how long do you think it will be?" she asks instead. 

"A year or so, perhaps," Nash answers.

After dinner, the two sit down to listen to their favourite radio program, and Josephine knits the baby clothes she knows she won't need for quite some time to come. Perhaps if she did allow herself to become pregnant, Nash would change his mind? But that is a risk. Is she willing to take it?

The next night, however, as Josephine and Nash return from a night at the theatre, the radiator in the kitchen, again, has burst into flames! It seems the landlord has done nothing to make the radiator safer after the last fire.

"How can you expect us to live here when it's so unsafe?" Josephine asks, having now a new argument for why they need to move, and soon. "What if we hadn't woken up? We could have died!" 

This time, Nash agrees. Two fires in two years is enough to scare him, and he doesn't want his beloved Josephine to be scared. "I'll talk to the bank. A loan should not be hard to come by," he says, caressing her cheek. "You should not need to be afraid in your own home."

That night, Josephine leaves the diaphragm where it is as she and Nash heads to bed. He has promised her a house, and she can't wait to start building.