"Oh, I am stronger than I look," she said with a smile. "Takes a lot ta carry a babe about and carry on a job as a maid. Not that I am complainin' one bit, mind ye." And she wasn't. She was flourishing there. She had never been happier, to tell the truth, and then she realized that ever since Edward had declared their friendship, she had been happy just to be around him. He didn't need to know that she wished he would look at her the way a man looked at a woman, but she also knew he was off in his own world in many ways still and wouldn't be looking her way like that any time soon.

"I am sure you are. But... life is often more fragile than we think."

These words seemed to dip the man's mood considerably and he stooped down to start gathering up his materials. He was muttering under his breath and if she listened closely it wouldn't do her much good. It sounded like math equations for whatever he was planning to do with the stakes, rope, and various other things he'd gathered for whatever strange experiment he was getting up to. Though in truth it was less strange and more simple, he was going to build a sun clock. Not a simple sundial but something that could be used to chart the relative position of the earth to the sun based on time of year not just date.

Her eyes dimmed as she watched him retreat into his own world again. But she wouldn't let him retreat. Not this time. "Sir... I know..." Jacob whimpered again and she adjusted him on her hip. "Do ye welcome some help? I can put Jacob down fer a nap and help ye with what it is ye're doin."

"Hrmmm?" Edward blinked when she spoke again and looked her way. "You seemed to be enjoying your time with your son. I don't want to intrude." He had some vague notion that it must be her day off since she wasn't working. There was no reason for her to trouble herself over him when she could be spending time with Jacob.

"It is no trouble at all," she said softly. "In fact, I can keep an eye on him easily enough, he'll sleep fine in his basket." She gave a smile and then moved to sit on the blanket again, laying the baby on his side only for him to roll onto his belly and start scooting himself toward Edward, stop to take a breath, and then he cried out, "BabababBABABABA! Mmmmm!" He was looking pointedly at the man, determination in his dark eyes. "He seems taken wit' ye," she said.

"Er is he now?" Edward said with a slight blink as he found himself being stared down by young Jacob. While he had started to drift it seemed the baby had a capacity to capture his attention no matter his state of mind. Whenever the lad made any noise at all Edward looked his way, he couldn't stop himself some small part fretting that the noise might mean the child was distressed in some way and that thought terrified the slightly addled man.

Ruth put him back on the blanket. The baby rolled onto his belly and started trying to scoot himself toward Edward, but he wasn't quite there with his muscles. So instead, he began to speak baby speak. "Ha! Ahhh!"

"Is that so?" asked his mother in amusement, "He's talking to ye, sir. I think he likes ye," she gave a soft chuckle. He continued to coo at the man, wanting to crawl at his heels and investigate whatever it was he was doing.

"Is that so?"

Edward said, there was no denying that the lad seemed to be fixated on him. He hesitated with uncertainty for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders lightly.

"Well if he wishes to observe and you wish to help, I suppose we can do the little experiment here. I was just going to make a rudimentary solar time-keeping device."

He explained as he settled down the stakes, string, and measuring tools he'd brought with him to set things up on the lawn.

"I'd like that," she said honestly... any excuse to spend a little time with him. Perhaps she could get him to come out of his shell a bit more with Jacob around. The thought had crossed her mind before.

"Yes, well, let's see if I mark where to put the stakes you can drive them into the ground."

Edward said as he took the first of them, walked a short distance from the blanket and drove the first one into the ground. He then used the string and his measuring tools to start figuring out where the other pieces would fit.

"We might need to do some digging for some since they will need to be at specific heights."