Chapter Text
“You nearly finished, Anne?” Cole called from the kitchen. Beyond the clattering of plates and utensils, she heard Diana quietly cursing as she brought out the hot pan of brownies from the oven, quickly transferring it to the counter with a loud clatter. She simply rolled her eyes and huffed out an easy chuckle; if Diana was struggling, she couldn’t even imagine how disastrous she would have been, if she were to bake the brownies herself.
“Almost. Just polishing up the acknowledgements they needed by tomorrow morning, and then it’s all squared away!” She replied, her aggressively loud typing almost drowning her out at the sofa – however, that was a habit she could chock up to her boyfriend. It seemed that their close quarters had resulted in the sharing of multiple habits, as a matter of fact. Still, she couldn’t complain.
Speaking of her boyfriend, she finished up the short acknowledgement page, and read through it diligently in her head, almost unconsciously mouthing the words along as she did so. She smiled contentedly as she came to the end of the short paragraph. This section had been, without a doubt, the easiest part of her book – after all, it was something she had known right from the beginning that she would be including. It was a well-deserved act of gratitude, she thought to herself.
“Okay, I think I’m done – finally.” She sighed, leaning back into her chair, turning to face her companions. Cole was walking wildly around the living space, placing bowls of dip and platters of finger food onto the table, but looked over at her words. While he kept rearranging the party food, he grinned in excitement and slowly manoeuvred his way over to her, plopping ungracefully beside her and leaning over her body to try and sneak a peek at her writing.
With his chin on her shoulder, she had to jerk upwards and rotate away through her laughter, not wanting to spoil the heartfelt message she had written. At his groan of half-hearted frustration, she flicked her eyebrow at him. “What do you want to see?” She droned, willing to have a little leeway with her closest friends. After all, she had let them read a great deal of her first novel before it was ever published, and it hadn’t stopped them from dipping into their own wallets when it was eventually released in stores.
He gave her what she was sure he thought were his best puppy dog eyes. “I just want to know if she and Gilbert meet again – you’ve left me hanging for over two years Anne! I can’t wait a few more months, I’ve waited long enough!” He whined playfully.
“Oh no you don’t.” Came Diana’s tutting voice from the kitchen, as she got closer to where they sat, sliding onto the other side of Anne and whipping off her oven mitt in the process. “If he gets a sneak peek, so do I! Are we not both your best critics?”
She tapped thoughtfully at her chin, leaving them hanging for her own enjoyment, before resigning herself to the inevitable, laughing along and agreeing. Through their adorable squeals of excitement, she gave them each a deadly glare. “Swear that you won’t breathe a word about this to anybody before it’s released.”
“Oh, absolutely.”
“No promises.”
“Cole!”
“Kidding! Kidding!”
“Your Majesty?”
Cordelia lifted her head from her position at the table, perking up at the sound of Margaret entering her quarters, hands tucked neatly behind her back and head slightly bowed in waiting. She smiled, endeared by the girl’s insistence for proper royal etiquette, despite Cordelia’s own insistence that, within the palace walls, she needn’t abide by such fruitless restrictions.
“Yes, Margaret?” She inquired.
Her close confidante blushed at the use of her personal name, something Cordelia had learnt that she had not been referred to as by any of the other noblemen and women she had worked for. “Ah…a suitor is here in the throne-room. He says he is here to see you m’lady.”
Not bothering to hide her undignified groan, she lulled her head back against her chair. She thought she had made it perfectly clear that she was not interested in any potential prospects! Despite the obvious fact that she had only broken off the planned engagement with Prince Royal (whom she had never even gotten the chance to meet in person) a year prior, she also had no desire to give any other men the time of day, allowing them to think they had even the slightest chance at winning her heart.
Her heart would only ever belong to one, but he and his family had long since disappeared from all neighbouring kingdoms.
Therefore, she had vowed long ago, when her searches turned up empty-handed, that she would live out the rest of her life as a solitary queen, devoting all her time and energy into making her kingdom a far more prosperous and welcoming community.
Her parents untimely passing should not have hurt her as much as it did – she found that, no matter how distant, cold and cruel they had been towards her throughout her entire life, she could not bring herself to hate them as they laid riddled with typhus on their death beds, passing on within mere weeks of each other. In the midst of those weeks, she somehow found a small part of herself feeling grateful that she had been isolated from them so often, so she had never gotten too attached. Still, losing one's parents would never be an easy thing to go through, she had decided.
In the weeks that passed in her mourning, she somehow found the strength to attend her coronation, and take up the mantle of queen – being the sole heir of the royal family. As soon as she was in power to do so, she ensured to end her engagement, insisting that she would not be rushing into an arranged marriage any time soon, instead hoping to strengthen the kingdoms’ relationship through an influx in their trading market. Any resistance she had received from traditional members of the village had no legs to stand on when her people saw how prosperous the town's markets were becoming.
But a year later, she had somehow still found suitor after suitor arriving at the castle, in the hopes of seducing the eligible young ‘orphan queen’ who had somehow evaded marriage. Even if she had not already sworn off her heart to all but a doomed love, none of the men who came to her offered her anything of real value, and she had stated as such – with all the politeness she could possibly muster – when she turned them all away.
She supposed she should not have expected any less.
“Must we give him the time of day, Margaret? You know how I dread all of these ‘marital prospects’…”
“Actually, he insisted that you would want to see him, my queen – claimed you have been expecting him?” The young woman replied softly. “I figured I should inform you first, in the hope that you were actually expecting a visitor.”
Her face scrunched in confusion – she was not, in fact, expecting any guests, let alone any suitors. Intrigued, she supposed it was part of her queenly duties to be as accommodating as possible to outsiders. If not for herself, she owed it to the people of her kingdom to keep up relations with their noblemen and royal neighbours. She stood with reluctance, righting herself and smoothing down her skirt before gesturing for Margaret to escort her into the throne room to greet the stranger.
As they moved swiftly down the long hallway, she found her mind wandering, as it so often did, back to her long-lost beloved.
It baffled her to no end how he could have simply disappeared without a trace, but she could never blame him for vanishing as he did. She had great suspicion to believe that, despite being released, he had likely felt frightened for his family – innocent people who were already alienated from the rest of the village as it was.
Her only wish – aside from the one that she dared not voice, for fear that she would never stop the tears that flowed endlessly every night as she let the dark of night consume her – was that he was safe and happy, wherever he may be. The heartache she had suffered would be all for naught if he had, God forbid…
She took a deep breath, not letting that thought run away with her, and swallowed down her emotion enough to compose herself. Instead, as they drew closer to their destination, she thought over the possible ways she could reject the stranger in her throne room, and any way she could possibly sway him to change his mind about asking for her hand – she found it often worked more so in her favour when the men thought that their rejection was actually their own idea. She chuckled with only a hint of mirth, quietly proud of her efforts to stew in her own solitary and melancholy existence.
Margaret cleared her throat as she stopped at the entrance, leaving Cordelia a clear path to the see the ‘suitor’ that she had so desperately hoped to avoid.
But all thought processes had ceased function. Cordelia hardly heard her comrade’s voice over the ringing in her ears and clutched her chest violently to try and kickstart her heart – but she had frozen in time.
There was no possibility…
This could not be real…
And yet.
“Your Majesty, Sir…?” Margaret trailed off.
“Blythe. Gilbert Blythe.”
She knew it to be true – but hearing the words leave his lips caused an audible gasp to fly from her mouth.
He had not seen her standing behind Margaret until that moment, but he alerted to her presence at the loud sound. He swallowed.
There, standing in all his dashing glory, was the love of her life – but it was not the man she once knew, donning worn, brown vests and rolled up cotton shirts with dirt patches at the sleeves. No – this man seemed to be an illusion, a version of Gilbert Blythe that she had never even imagined. He wore a loose linen shirt, of a finer material and deeper red than she had ever thought he would be able to afford, fitted with a dark brown, leather belt. His pants were far more fitted than any of his farmers trousers had ever been, and his shoes seemed much newer from her brief appraisal.
His hair was messier than ever, though – somehow, that had only gotten more uncontrollable than before.
But his eyes – he was the same farm boy she knew. The one she loved.
His mouth had gone slack at the sight of her, and through the stubborn tears blurring her gaze, she could see the same watery expression reflected on his face. He held his own for another moment, before speaking up.
“I promised, didn’t I?”
Her brain had not wholly come to grips with his sudden appearance, but her heart was far ahead of her, stirring her to pick up her heavy skirt and rush through the open doorway, collapsing eagerly into his awaiting embrace.
She clung to him as though her life depended on it, and he clutched onto her sides with such a loving voracity that she felt steadied, even as the uncontrollable, joyous sobs racked her body. They both murmured unintelligible words into the others skin, hoping that they could somehow form the words needed to fill the void they had been living in for the past year.
When Cordelia brought on the strength, she pushed gently back to capture his face between her hands, stroking every inch of his chin, cheeks, forehead, jaw – anything tangible to prove to herself that this truly was not a dream. This seemed so alike to the ones that had consumed her in her grievances that she almost needed more convincing.
But he was real. She held him. He was with her.
“ You came back.” She whispered to his lips, words lost to the wind as they collided together, two lost souls bound back together, never to be torn apart again.
“Oh. My. God.” Cole gawked, slowly pulling Anne’s arm around as he listened to her finish reading out the passage, before he broke out into a triumphant grin. “Holy shit, thank you God!”
“So, wait…” Diana questioned, but smiled fondly down at the page, nonetheless. “What happened to Gilbert? Why did he disappear? Why is he dressed up fancy? Anne, I need answers!”
Anne only cackled in response, closing the laptop gently and putting it back into her case. “Well, if I told you that, who would be the number one fans going out to buy my book in a few weeks?”
“You are evil, Shirley-Cuthbert!” Cole groaned, knocking his head affectionately against her shoulder, while Diana simply shook her head in laughter, apparently fully accepting the fact that, no matter what, she would still be going out to buy her busom friend’s second novel.
“Moving on, before Cole murders you,” Diana stood, going back over to the counter, where the tray of brownies had started to cool down, leaving them ready to start plating up for the night, “what time are you picking up Gilbert again? Just so we know when everyone needs to be here by.”
“Around 3:30.” Anne chimed in, standing up to join her at the counter, leaving Cole to scurry back to his chosen field of party décor and setup, scampering off to the cupboard to grab the colour-coordinated napkins he had hand selected from the antique store. “That way, we should be back by about 4:30. Gives everyone plenty of time to get here and mingle first.”
“I personally can’t wait to finally meet Delphine.” Cole’s muffled voice came from the cupboard, shuffling through his assortments. “If I have to hear one more cute story, or about how wonderful you and Gilbert say she is, and I still don’t get to see her in real life, I think I’m going to lose my mind.”
“You’ve seen pictures, Cole.” Anne chuckled.
“Yes, your point being?” He poked his head out, giving her an incredulous look. “I’ve specifically said that I’m not drinking tonight so that I can be a good influence and get “fun uncle” status – I don’t give that up for just anyone. So, she better be here.”
“I’ll let Bash know how much her presence is being requested.” She chortled.
“But you must be excited to see a certain someone too, Anne.” Diana smirked cheekily, causing Anne to blush shyly, the thoughts of the incoming afternoon catching up with her.
“Yeah. Two and a half months of Face-timing is not ideal. But it doesn’t matter – he’s coming home now.” She sighed happily, basking in the glory of seeing her beloved in less than a couple of hours.
The room went quiet for a moment, and Cole finally emerged from the stash, spreading the napkins out on the counter beside Diana, and cast Anne an encouraging look. “Are you going to tell him tonight?”
She took a deep breath, reminding herself what tonight was about. “Yeah, I am.” She grinned, still slightly nervous.
“Don’t worry – I know he’s going to be so happy.” Diana jostled her shoulder comfortingly. “Besides, tonight is a celebration! Gilbert’s homecoming, and your new book publishing! I think he can handle a little party for the both of you, right?”
Breaking from the thoughts of her inevitable conversation that she would be having that night, she grinned, looking around the room. “We did say we would need to christen the house with a get together when he got back home…”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s what he meant by ‘christen the house’…” Cole jeered, laughing wickedly when Diana slapped him on the arm.
“Cole!” They shouted in unison, bursts of laughter echoing through the house.
“Okay, I’m not sorry for that one!” He chuckled, pointing between the two of them. “You know I’m right!”
Anne grinned conspiratorially to herself at the thought.
Too late for that ‘christening’.
God, she was ready for him to get home…
She stood anxiously in the terminal, betwixt the flocks of arriving tourists and returning locals. Thankfully it wasn’t a busy time of year, so she could find a pleasant spot in airport to sit while she waited for him to arrive. She could also take comfort in the fact she wasn’t likely to be able to miss him in the crowd, since it had started to dwindle since the last plane had disembarked.
She had given up her seat on the bench as time dwindled on, choosing to stand up instead once he was slated to arrive. She insisted to herself that she would be better off from her standing vantage point, making sure she spotted him before he got lost.
But he was coming home. He was so close she could feel it in her bones. She smiled to herself with giddiness, probably looking like a lunatic in the centre of the floor – she couldn’t care less. She had so much she needed to tell him, and so much they had to catch up on in person. There was only so much they could discuss over the phone, especially since she had only just gotten international coverage, specifically for his trip, mind you-
“Anne!”
Her stomach dropped, and she turned around, grasping for her bag on the seat behind her as she recognised the familiar voice calling out to her from the other side of the terminal.
There, with his hair tussled from sleep and his mouth already spread into a relieved smile, was Gilbert – in all his scruffy, jet-lagged glory.
Part of her incessant brain had tried to convince her that he would have changed during his time in Trinidad – that she wouldn’t even recognise him, despite the fact that she continually reminded herself he had only been over there for a little less than three months. She knew deep down that he wouldn’t have changed a bit, and she could now gleefully confirm her suspicions.
She was relieved to see that he had chosen to wear one of his nice sweaters and a pair of jeans for the flight over, instead of opting for sweatpants – hopefully that meant that she wouldn’t have to explain her choice of outfit being a dark emerald dress, with a flared skirt, coupled with a cropped denim jacket and sandals. She was fully intending to down-play her party attire to avoid suspicion, but as she watched him watch her, she doubted either of them would care about that.
She pulled her bag onto her shoulder and paid no heed to the other departing passengers around her as she sped through to meet him halfway in his own mad dash. She let out uncontrollable giggles as she got closer to him and enveloped him in her arms the second that they collided. He wasted no time in lifting her off the ground, spinning her around in his firm grip, his own giddy laughter muffled by the hair falling down her neck.
As he finally plopped her back down to the ground gently, when they had stopped spinning, he pulled away to take her cheeks in his hands. Stroking her freckles in a way that was so familiar to her now, she leaned into his touch longingly, the two of them never taking their eyes off of each other.
“I missed you.” He whispered, a sneaking mirth in his voice as he spoke with an unruly smile.
“I missed you too. So much.” She grinned, placing an innocent kiss to his lips – she knew any more than that would make them completely forget where they were, leaving the people around them in a very awkward situation. Still, he smiled into her lips, and chased them greedily with more of his own affectionate pecks as she departed.
Not wanting to waste time and leave the rest of the guests back at the house hanging, she pulled at his arm, linking it with her own and escorting him through the airport towards the exit. “Hazel sent me a lovely email the other day. Told me all about the great work you were doing at the hospital.” She nudged him gently with her shoulder and squeezed his arm with her available hand. “Gilbert Blythe, you are far too modest for your own good!”
He flushed with a little embarrassment, while she kept nestling him as close as possible to her side. “It wasn’t a big deal…they needed a few extra pair of hands in the birthing ward and had to pick one of the transfers. It was luck, really.”
“Gil, you helped to deliver a baby! That’s not luck – it took a lot of bravery, let alone medical skills.” She pressed an eager kiss to his jaw to solidify her point, as they continued on their path. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Oh, you want to talk about proud?” He questioned in mock disbelief, reaching up for the hand that poked out from the crook of his arm and linking their fingers together. “I’m the one with a best-selling author girlfriend, who is quite literally weeks away from releasing her next hit. I think I win this one, sweetheart.”
Now it was her turn to flush red, ducking her head down to their linked arms, moaning self-consciously despite her grateful hidden smile. “Don’t change the subject…”
“Speaking of,” he inquired, settling his lips on her forehead firmly, bringing her to attention, “did Josephine confirm that the third is still on the table?”
She found her confidence again, exhilarated at the thought of her last meeting with the older woman – who had somehow grown to become a dear kindred spirit to Anne. “Better than that – we officially signed the three-book contract!” She squealed softly. “She said she’s so happy with the sequel that she already wants the new one to be put in the works for a trilogy!”
He stopped walking then, gawking down at her in shock. “Are you serious?” He exclaimed, gripping both of her hands and looking positively thrilled. She bit her lip in a smile and nodded.
“That’s my girl!” He shouted, careless to the people around him as Anne shushed him half-heartedly, slapping his arms as he raised them up over his head in triumph. He only looked down at her with undisguised awe. She blanched – she was so grateful he had never tried to mask that look around her. She understood now what all of those looks meant from far before they had started dating; knowing now that she had been oblivious to the emotions in his indecipherable gaze.
“Let’s celebrate in the car, you lunatic!” She used the term with far more endearment than annoyance, dragging him forward and chuckling at his behaviour.
“Alright, alright, I can hold off till then.” He sighed theatrically. “But just so you know, you’re going to have to hold me back from telling literally everybody we know the second I see them.”
“Promise you won’t.” She spoke with more seriousness in her tone, looking him directly in the eyes to make sure he understood. “Nobody else can know for a while – at least until we see how the sequel goes.”
“Oh, please. I have it on good authority that The Daring Ventures of Queen Cordelia is going to be an absolute hit.”
“And what makes you think that?”
“I know you.” The sheer sincerity in his voice sent shivers down her spine. She knew that if she were still in denial, like she was two years ago, it would have sent her into a complete tizzy. Now, she only nuzzled closer as he continued to reassure her. “You’re a brilliant writer, Anne – ignoring my obvious bias.” He added cheekily. “From what you’ve shown me, it’s going to be even better than your first.”
They settled into a comfortable silence – one where they were content to revel in the feeling of finally being reunited, holding the other close to them for as long as they wanted – as they finally reached the sliding doors at the exit, and Anne began directing them towards where she had parked the car, not too far from where they were.
He spoke up as they began approaching the spot. “So, have I missed anything else important? I want to hear everything.”
“Really? Everything?” She questioned incredulously.
“Well, I more so want to listen to your voice the whole way home, so the more stories you have for me the better.” He mumbled into her hair, smile evident in his voice.
“Ah, it all makes sense now…” She added sarcastically, tussling his hair as the car came into sight.
“Mm…” He closed his eyes at her touch, and she was silently amazed at the effect it seemed like she still had on him after all of this time. “Don’t leave me hanging, Anne-girl – anything else I need to know about?”
She hoped that he didn’t notice her swallow and tried to keep her composure as she contemplated telling him right then and there. But she knew it wasn’t the right time – she had planned a whole night of celebrating, and she would let them celebrate both of their successes with their family and friends before she told him. So, before she could blurt out a “yes”, she dove into the story of Ruby and Moody’s engagement: one that he had yet to hear in detail during his time in Trinidad.
All the while, she allowed herself to bask in the wonderful warmth coursing through her veins at their long-awaited reunion.
She could hardly contain her excitement as they finally pulled into their driveway. To her relief, the lights in the house had already been turned off (Diana had expertly decided to track Anne’s phone, and had sent her a text letting her know the party was all ready for the surprise), and Gilbert was none the wiser. Unbuckling from the driver’s seat, she took hold of the hand closest to her, smiling wistfully over in his direction, determined not to show a trace of anticipation on her face.
“Feels good to be home.” He sighed, stroking his thumb across their interlocked hands.
“Are you excited to catch up with everyone again?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “I have to say, I didn’t think I’d miss Bash’s incessant teasing as much as I did. Don’t tell him I said that.”
Chuckling between themselves, they began packing up their belongings and exiting the car, going to grab Gilbert’s larger baggage from the back. Unbeknownst to Anne, she was positively bursting with excitement; particularly now that she knew he was looking forward to seeing everyone and didn’t seem tired from his journey. Tonight would be the perfect evening. She would make sure of it.
Lagging behind a little and insisting she would wheel his bag through while he took his other, smaller bags and unlocked the front door, Anne watched as he fiddled with his keys and pushed the door open. Blind to the scene he was about to walk into, Anne sidled up as close as she could behind Gilbert, in the hopes that she would get a full view of his reaction. The second he switched the main lights on, she saw a sea of guests popping up from around corners, underneath counters and behind lounge chairs.
“SURPRISE!” They all cheered, laughing at the dumbstruck expression on his face.
Turning to Anne, he tried multiple times to form questions, but nothing came about as his flustered eyes searched hers for answers. His pleasantly surprised smile made her breathe a sigh of relief and cling to his arm.
“Think of this as a little celebration for both of us…” She smirked, as Cole turned the music back on midway through a Maggie Rogers song, and the group bustled with the energy of their successful surprise, leaving the newly reunited couple to talk privately for a minute. “For your wonderful work trip and your homecoming, and for my book release! Diana and Cole helped me to organise it, but everyone wanted to show you how much they we missed you.”
Motionless for a moment, just smiling down at her with his mouth parted and eyes sparkling, he swooped in, planting one of his familiar, passionate kisses on her lips. He broke away far too soon for her liking, but he kept his forehead rested on hers.
“You know I’m going to marry you, right?” He murmured warmly, grinning like a lovesick loon and making her stop breathing entirely. She recovered quickly enough, though – she just hadn’t heard him to say that to her face in a little while. She doubted she would ever get used to hearing those kinds of promises.
“I think I’d be remiss to forget something like that.” She laughed breathlessly, trying to remind herself not to pounce on him right then and there, in front of all of their friends and family.
“Oh, don’t worry. It’s coming.” He spoke lowly, pecking her a few more times for good measure, as he noticed Bash approaching him from the other side of the room. Sending her a wink and a grateful smile, he led them further into the room to meet Bash halfway across.
“My brother!” Bash exclaimed excitedly, embracing him firmly as they each clapped each other on the back. “Good to have you back, you big moke!”
“Ah, there it is.” Gilbert shook his head in laughter. “I knew it seemed more peaceful while I was away…”
“Oh please, we all know you’ve missed my impeccable wit! Admit it!”
“He told me something along those lines in the car, just before...” Anne interjected slyly, with Gilbert’s arm still wrapped around her shoulders from when he retreated from his and Bash's hug. He turned to her with wide eyes, a mixture of mirth and faux betrayal as she held back her laughter – Bash did no such thing, letting out a loud peal of laughter as he regarded the two of them.
“Ah, I knew there was a reason I always liked you, Anne Shirley-Cuthbert.” He grinned, as Gilbert rolled his eyes good-naturedly, squeezing her shoulder. “But more importantly, did my mother give you any grief over there?” He joked.
“Absolutely not! Hazel claims I’m her new favourite child, I’ll have you know.” Gilbert smirked smugly, holding his own as his brother hit his arm in retaliation.
“You’ve already nearly stolen my daughter, now my mother too? I’ve gotta be grateful for Anne here, so I know you won’t steal Mary as well!”
The three of them chortled in a close circle, Gilbert warming before her eyes as he got reacquainted with his family once more. The sight was beautiful, and Anne didn’t think she had ever felt more grateful for her chosen family.
“I swear – this fool came home that day with the dopiest grin on his face, and just kept on denying! Like it wasn’t obvious to everyone with a good set of eyes…”
Gilbert groaned out loud for the fifth time in the last few minutes, as Mary and Anne continued to play dumb and not interrupt the blatant and ruthless teasing going on. “Will you stop it? I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one day, right?”
“Oh no, Blythe, not nearly enough. That was only on the first day you met the girl! I don’t think I ever got to tell Anne bout the time when you got in the car after that party you went to! This moke was so downright flustered, he was completely silent the entire car ride home! Wasn’t all that silent when he made it back to his room that night though-“
“Uncle Gilby! Auntie Anne!” Dellie ran over to join the four adults, effectively saving her boyfriend from complete embarrassment (though to be perfectly honest, Anne was enjoying herself greatly) as Mary and Bash smiled proudly down at their rapidly growing daughter. It seemed that his little pride and joy was the only thing that could distract Bash from downright roasting his own brother.
“There’s my little princess!” Gilbert exclaimed eagerly, bending down to squat in front of her, meeting her as she jumped into his awaiting arms. Meanwhile, Anne stood crouched behind him, watching fondly as beautiful little Delphine wriggled about in his arms as he chuckled in their embrace.
“My goodness – when did you get so big?” He said in shock as he pulled back, keeping her within arms-reach while she grinned over up at him. “I haven’t been gone for that long, have I?”
“Mummy says that I’m going to be taller than the boys in my class soon!” She cried excitedly, before shifting her gaze back over his shoulder to her newly appointed aunt, who had begun leaning further forward to beckon her into their own hug.
“I better look out, soon you’re going to be even taller than me!” She giggled, smoothing down her plaited hair as the adorable little girl beamed at all the attention she was being showered with.
“Well, that won’t be too hard of an ask, Anne-girl…” Gilbert murmured cheekily into her ear, loud enough for all the grownups in the conversation to hear and chuckle at, and haughty enough to elicit a light smack and a pointed glare from his girlfriend in response. She masked her amusement poorly, though.
He quickly changed topics though, flashing with remembrance and turning back to his niece. “Oh! You won’t believe what your mum just told me, Dellie! Do you wanna know what she told me?”
At his eagerness, she giggled and nodded along.
“She told me that a boy in your class likes you!” He claimed indignantly, but still smiling down at her. The adults all painted shocked expressions on their faces to play along, as Delphine turned red at the teasing comment. She huffed, shaking herself off and holding her chin high into the air.
“I don’t care – Jack stinks, and he just pulls my hair all the time – and I don’t want him to be my boyfriend, not ever!”
“Yeah, I think boyfriends are off the table for a while, sweetheart…” Mary cooed.
“More like forever…” Bash replied lowly.
“I don’t want a boyfriend anyway! All the boys are so gross! I told all my friends that, but they wouldn’t believe me!” She crossed her arms defiantly, looking very proud of herself. She looked over at Anne, all wide eyes and dimples. “So, I told them what you told me!”
Anne quirked an eyebrow, leaning closer to Gilbert while they both squatted in front of her, finding any excuse to enjoy their reunited closeness. “And what was that, Dellie?”
She grinned, bounding closer and putting her hands on the woman’s knees to balance herself at a closer distance. “Remember? You told me that I don’t need to have a prince! I can be a princess all on my own!”
As the words left her mouth, Anne could only gape down at her with the beginnings of tears pricking behind her eyes. She couldn’t believe that this wonderful, beautiful girl had remembered something she had told her years ago, that had seemed so much less significant to her up until that moment.
God, she was so excited to have kids.
She couldn’t hold back a grin at the thought.
Thankfully, she could play it off as a response to Dellie and leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “That’s exactly right, Princess Delphine. You are already the most magical princess in the whole world.”
While the girl bit her lip, and Anne became more aware of the three pairs of eyes watching the duo with outright endearment, she leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially. “I didn’t tell them that you were a fairy princess, though. I can still keep a secret.”
When the small family had quickly vacated the room after their conversation to take their daughter to the kitchen, Gilbert rose with her and placed an arm around her waist, breathing in the scent from her hair as they took their own moment to snuggle together and observe the bustle of the party.
“You’re going to make the most wonderful mother someday, Anne-girl.” He whispered, planting yet another kiss to the side of her head.
She smiled – not wanting to make eye contact with him in the moment, she settled for watching the empty space in front of them where Delphine just was. She leaned further into his touch.
“Yeah. Someday.”
“I’m just surprised we could manage to pry him off you. The guy’s been basically attached to your hip the entire night!” Tillie giggled, champagne flute in her hand and a mischievous twinkle in her eye that told Anne that she didn’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.
“What did you expect? Blythe’s been away for months, and he could barely handle not seeing Anne for a day before he went overseas.” Josie smirked, taking a sip of her own drink. Anne was grateful that Diana and Cole also hadn’t been drinking that night, to make it feel slightly less awkward and strange that she wasn’t either.
“We’ve just missed each other, that’s all.” Anne blushed, scrunching her mouth up into a crooked smile as she tried not to look over at him where he stood, engaging animatedly in a conversation with Marilla behind the group in front of her. She just knew that she was rubbing off on him.
“Okay, you guys are so cute, it’s almost sickening, so let’s move on for one second.” Jane interjected, her usual good-natured snarky-ness returning, much to the groups delight. “I have some exciting news!”
“Billy finally moved out of your parents’ house?” Josie sneered, as everyone laughed along with her at the thought of the idiotic brother that Anne had unfortunately finally met. Needless to say, she was not amused by his…let’s call them ‘Neanderthal-like’ beliefs.
“Nope.” She rolled her eyes, before continuing. “Prissy’s getting married!”
The girls all made excited squeals of shock at the news – Anne had gotten to know her friend’s older sister a little over the years, at least before she moved out to France to start her own interior design studio. From what she had heard, her business had become an immense success in a surprisingly short amount of time, but she hadn’t heard anything from Jane about the older girl seeing anyone.
“Since when? When did she start dating again?” Diana voiced her concerns before the words could leave her mouth.
Jane could only grin wider. “Get this – she didn’t want to say anything until it was serious, because she didn’t think that our parents would approve. Prissy’s seeing a woman – her name’s Winnifred Rose!”
Anne visibly blanched in recognition of that somewhat familiar name. “Winnifred Rose?”
Jane regarded her redheaded friend with obvious confusion. “Yeah, why? Do you know her?”
She couldn’t stop herself from letting out some light laughter at the hilarity and irony of the situation. She knew if that name had been brought up earlier on in her and Gilbert’s relationship, when he had initially told her about the woman, she would have felt threatened at the intimidatingly perfect picture she painted in her head. But now, she could appreciate the universe’s funny way of somehow connecting everyone she knew.
“I might have mentioned her before…” She chuckled, glancing around at her friends intrigued and confused faces, leaning in for some good quality gossip. “I think Gilbert dated her when he was a freshman at med school.”
“What?” Ruby shrieked with amusement, as the other girls made similar sounds of shock.
“It’s not a big deal!” She insisted. “He told me they just saw each other for a month or two when he got to college, when they met in one of his advanced classes – they ended things as friends. It all makes sense though, because the last thing he had heard from her was that she was moving out to Paris for this huge apprenticeship opportunity. That must be how she met Prissy over there!”
"You’re kidding.” Josie deadpanned, a slow smile spreading on her face. “Finally, some drama!”
“Oh, hush!” Diana smacked her arm playfully. “We all know that doesn’t change a single thing!”
She theatrically sighed, failing to hide her amusement with an eye roll. “I know – as if Blythe could ever see literally any other woman. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; the guy is whipped.”
Never one for the spotlight among her friends, and not wanting to dwell too much on the topic and make it about her and Gilbert, she quickly shifted topics. “Speaking of – Ruby, let’s see that ring!”
Flushing prettily, before proudly jutting out her hand, Ruby looked every bit the queen she deserved to be treated as.
And with that, they were successfully diverted – for now.
“Attention everyone! Attention!” Cole tapped a spoon to his glass dramatically, garnering the attention of the entire party within a few seconds. With the conversations quieting down, Anne turned from her conversation with Marilla, a confused smile aimed at her sober, yet still dramatic, best friend. He only grinned back at her with a wink, straightening up at his spot closer to the front door by the main living area.
“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests and second graders…” he indicated down to Dellie with a flourish, leaving her blushed and giddy in Bash’s arms on the couch. Continuing on with his dramatics and leaving everyone laughing in the wake of his pomp and ceremony.
“I think it’s time for a little toast. But I don’t think my skills as a painter are going to come in handy here, so I think I’d better hand it over to my party-planning partner in crime – the lovely, Miss Diana Barry.”
Playing along with the fanciful nature the night was taking, everyone whooped and applauded as Diana walked up with a saunter that told Anne they had been planning this beforehand. Giggling at her two best friends’ antics, she clapped along and tucked herself further into Marilla’s side to try and hide her face from them.
In the meantime, she felt a chin come to rest on the other side of her body in the crook of her shoulder. She would know that splendid chin anywhere. Leaning her head over to rest on the side of his head, she exhaled happily when Gilbert pressed a quick peck to her cheekbone and settle onto her other side to complete the picture-perfect family image around her.
She tried to not get caught up in it all and refocused as Diana started speaking, Cole watching on beside her.
“As I’m sure all of you know, tonight was to celebrate our good friend Gilbert’s return home. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that is wonderful to have him back with us.” She smiled over in their direction. “But, tonight was also to celebrate our dear Anne’s success as well, which I’m sure you also know. Because, in just a few more weeks, A.S. Cuthbert will be releasing her latest book, The Daring Ventures of Queen Cordelia!” A round of cheers erupted from the room, even from her parents, right beside her, Gilbert’s whoop leaving her nearly heaving with belly laughter.
“No spoilers everyone, but I think it’s going to be even better than the first. But of course, I wouldn’t know, so nobody is allowed to ask me what happens. Because I have absolutely no idea. And if I did, I would have been given strict instructions not to tell you anything.”
While everyone laughed, she caught her busom friends gaze. “I thought it would be a good idea to invite our dear A.S Cuthbert up to the stage, since clearly none of us can do her words justice.” She raised her eyebrow hopefully. “Anne?”
Sighing contentedly, she broke out of her familial embrace, and came up to join Diana and Cole at the front of the room, distantly hearing the sound of her friends egging her on and Gilbert whistling in the background, as she enveloped the two of them in side hugs and sidled herself in between them.
“I mean…” she trailed off, allowing her eyes to wander round the room over the various faces that she had become so fond of. It was hard to believe that so many of these people had been complete strangers to her up until only a few years ago. She had thought it over so many times in her moments of gratitude, and remembered each and every time, with a start, that without Gilbert she may have never gotten the pleasure of knowing half of those faces – let alone how important they could all become in her life.
“…Honestly, I don’t think I want to stand over here and talk about the book. Not when I can look around this room and thank my lucky stars that I know all of you, and that I get to call you all part of my family.” She trembled slightly with the weight and truth of her words but ensured that she didn’t let her emotions overcome her over something so joyful. “I just want to thank you all so much for being so supportive for all these years – I most certainly wouldn’t be here today without every single one of you. So…just thank you. Words rarely fail me this much, but I promise you that I can’t express how much you all mean to me.”
The coos, whistles, and blown kisses in her direction from her group of girls in particular, filled up her heart more than she thought it could be filled. She caught Marilla’s eye, sucking in a steady breath to control herself when she saw tears reflected in her adoptive mother’s eyes, smiling over at her with unabashed love.
“Cheers to Anne!” Gilbert called out, catching her gaze once again, as he lifted up his own flute for everyone else to follow. She giggled breathlessly, watching as everyone raised up their glasses, clinking them together with the people around them and taking a celebratory sip after shouting out in response, “To Anne!”
She saw Ruby bringing up some champagne for her to join in and didn’t see Diana and Cole’s panicked looks beside her – clearly, neither did Ruby. Without thinking, Anne shook her head good-naturedly, refusing the drink politely before speaking up. The cheers had simmered down at the same time, thinking that 'Anne The Hostess' was going to make another address.
“No thanks, Rubes.” She smiled, laughing a little at the situation. “I’d love to join, but obviously I won’t be drinking for a while…”
The minute the words left her mouth, her eyes widened comically, and she clamped her mouth violently shut – the sound of her teeth clashing together at the impact vibrated in her ears.
If those words weren’t a giveaway, her reaction definitely was.
Ruby had looked at her in confusion before she came to the realisation of her implication within a few seconds. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Diana and Cole grab each other, her palm coming up to cover her mouth and his shoulder rising suddenly with tension.
Slowly forcing herself to look around, she knew that everyone had heard her, and it didn’t take a genius for them to deduce what she was unintentionally referring to. The only person who didn’t have their mouth hung open in shock was little Delphine, who seemed none the wiser despite the obvious shift in the atmosphere of the party, and was content to just dangle her legs from her father’s lap.
With the scariest fate awaiting her on the other side of the room, she turned back to face Gilbert. Like everyone else, he looked completely shell-shocked – but she realised with some relief that there was some kind of glint in his eye. Whatever it was, she knew that she had gotten better at reading him, and it didn’t seem like he was upset, or even worried. No, instead, it just seemed that he had been caught off guard, and was cautiously approaching her, like a zookeeper trying not to spook a skittish gazelle.
He was still halfway cross the distance between them when he spoke up in the gentlest voice she had ever heard, the entire room hanging onto his reaction.
“…Anne?”
Despite the trepidation there, she swore she could see the hint of a smile splaying at the corner of his mouth – it gave her the courage to speak up at the same quiet volume. She forced herself to bite back her all-consuming smile.
She was ready.
She just had to blurt it out.
“I’m pregnant.” She whispered. “Two and a half months.”
For one soul-crushing moment, he didn’t say a word, didn’t move a muscle, he didn’t even make any kind of sound in response. She heard some of the other guest’s gasp – even though she was sure they had figured it out beforehand, she supposed it felt very different to hear the words actually confirmed, right from the horse’s mouth – but she hardly registered them.
Then, to her delight, his face lit up completely within a few more seconds.
“You promise?” He murmured – a phrase that had become both nostalgic and familiar to them through the last couple of years. She couldn’t help but laugh.
“Yes, Gilbert – I promise!” She spoke louder. “You’re going to be a dad!”
With a disbelieving, breathy laugh, he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her high into the air, leaving her squealing and giggling as she clung to his neck for stability, and he spun her around in circles. The rest of the party seemed to let loose a collective sigh of relief, watching in amusement as the normally cool and collected Blythe finally let himself go in front of the entire party.
“I’m going to be a dad!” He exclaimed heartily, pressing his head into her stomach from where he held her to him. He looked up to her as he finally brought her back to the ground slowly, cupping her face to look into her eyes. She noticed the slight tear tracts down his cheeks and tried to wipe them away with her thumbs, but he was pulling her in for another crushing embrace within only a couple of seconds. “We’re going to be parents!”
The first loud cheer they heard, that broke them out of their fierce hold, was from the couch, where Bash had gotten out of his seat, Dellie still in his arms.
“I knew it, I knew it!” He shouted out, dancing with a giggling Dellie, before turning back to Mary, who sat, burying her head in her hands and laughing at her husband’s antics. “Didn’t I tell you Mary? I told you she had the pregnant glow – I knew it!”
With that, the entire room erupted with noise – the girls immediately swarmed her and Gilbert, with Ruby being consoled through her excitement by a relieved and overjoyed Diana and Cole, Moody, Bash, Mary and Dellie came over to Gilbert’s side to congratulate the pair, and Marilla watched on from the sidelines, not wanting to crowd the couple anymore but enjoying the thrill that she would be becoming a grandparent.
She found her among the crowd of friends she had been kissing and hugging and felt her heart tug when she realised that this was the first time she had been told as well. She hadn’t planned on telling Gilbert until the party was over, and then she had hoped to plan an entire dinner with the Cuthbert-Blythe-Lacroix extended family to announce the news, but things had, of course, not gone exactly to plan. Still, she couldn’t find herself being upset or disappointed with the turn of events. After all, she probably should have expected by now that something wouldn’t go exactly to plan – it was par for the course for her life at this point.
With a quick look back to Gilbert to silently tell him what she was doing, he nodded in understanding, giving her look that told her they definitely weren’t done for the night, before letting go of her and letting her gently break through the group to envelop her adoptive mother in a hug that surely took the breath out of her.
It was perfect.
The night had been a complete success. Though, she shouldn’t have ever expected anything less – as if Cole and Diana would have settled for anything less than a perfect evening under their jurisdiction. Needless to say, they had been ecstatic in congratulating her for handling the whole ‘accidental pregnancy reveal’ thing so well, but Anne found that she could hardly function for the rest of the get-together. It seemed Gil was having a similar problem and had made no move to leave her side for the rest of the night after she returned to him. Not that she was complaining – having Gilbert’s arm tucked snugly around her waist was just enough to keep her upright.
If it were possible, everyone’s mood seemed to have lifted even more so after Anne had broken the news. Bash had effectively tackled Gilbert with a bear hug when he had gotten him away from the rest of the group, giving him a few gentle punches to the gut in “congratulations”. Dellie eventually figured out why everyone was so excited, when her mother explained to her that Anne and Gilbert were going to become parents, “just like her mummy and daddy”. With that information, she had bounded up to Anne with the energy and excitement that only a child could bring to the party, leaping into her arms when the woman bent down to meet her on the ground again. She could only be coaxed down from her excitement when Anne promised she would have to wait a while before she could meet the little one, but when she did, she would get to hold them all on her own.
The girls had been in utter shock – although Tillie insisted that she noticed a pregnant glow about her, but simply “chose not to point it out. Do you know how rude it is to ask someone if they’re pregnant?” – and had refused to go home for the night until they heard the entire story (well, Anne decided she would exclude certain details of how it actually happened. That was between her and Gilbert, she thought.) Thankfully, while Anne oriented herself again, Diana and Cole swooped in to save the day, answering all of the questions that they possibly could to save her the job of retelling every single detail. She did get a lot of enjoyment out of listening to her friends jabbering about excitedly, though, and it warmed her heart to see how genuinely excited they were for her.
The only person who had the slightest indication of not being entirely over the moon was Moody, who spoke to the couple with Ruby once things had actually settled down. While he congratulated them and joined in with Ruby’s excitement at meeting a little Shirley Cuthbert Blythe (a mouthful, he had commented jokingly), she thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head at his fiancé’s enthusiasm at how much she wanted a child as well, and how she had inspired her to start thinking about baby names. After that, he shot Gilbert a look, silently telling him “I blame you”, before coaxing her back to the ground by ensuring that they could start trying in a year or two, once they got married.
That being said, as the clock struck 11, and the party effectively started to wind down for the night, Gilbert had been virtually pushing the last of the guests out the door with ‘thank you’s and promises of catch ups as soon as possible – but he didn’t bother with those promises when Bash was the last person standing by the door, nearly yanking him out of another brotherly embrace to shove him out of the house, flinging the door shut.
With that final close of the front door, he wasted no time before rapidly turning around to face Anne, who had long since stepped away from the entrance to watch his frantic display with an endeared smile. A mischievous grin slowly appeared on his own face as he took her in, and only a few seconds passed between them before he practically dashed towards her, pulling her into his arms again and crashing his mouth against hers.
Finally relaxing herself, she melted into him immediately, sighing loudly against his lips and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to meet him head on. He responded the second she reciprocated his advance, lifting her up into his hold for the third time that day, allowing her to wrap her legs wantonly around his waist as he grabbed a hold of her thighs, walking blindly in the direction of their bedroom through their lustful haze.
She’d missed this – she had missed everything about him while he was gone, obviously (how could she not?). Their quiet nights, where he would study his medical textbooks on the couch – a habit he hadn’t ever dropped after he finally graduated from medical school and got junior position placement at a practice in Charlottetown – with Anne’s feet tucked into his lap, while she stretched out longways across the seat midway through one of her chapters. Their nights where they would celebrate a particularly good week with a night in of red wine and Monopoly and would end up with fake bills and board pieces scattered around their bedroom by the end of the night, board tossed to the side of the room and score count long forgotten. Their Sunday afternoons on the porch swing, cuddled up and talking about the future while fiddling with each other’s fingers.
But getting to be with him in the most intimate way – a way that nobody else would know him now – gave her both a rush of thrill and excitement, and a settling comfort in her gut. It reminded her of how right the world now was, of how it always felt slightly off its axis when Gilbert wasn’t around, and how she thought moving in with him this past year had definitely made that disorientating, lonely feeling so much more unbearable when she was alone at night.
But there was no need to dwell on that anymore. He was here, and currently, he was kicking their bedroom door open from its ajar spot and guiding them to the foot of their bed.
Content and able to hold her weight with one arm, he shifted around, bringing one arm up higher to wrap fully around her middle, while the other slid up her body, finding purchase in her hair and carding its fingers through her loosely curled locks. As he ran his digits through them, she felt him smile into their kiss, and didn’t bother resisting the urge to tighten her hold around his waist, pressing herself into him and eliciting a gruff moan in the back of his throat. It seemed that the small action made him completely lose himself, as she felt him go off balance with a startled grunt, and she squealed lightly in surprise as he fell backwards onto the mattress, taking her with him and leaving her straddling him in his new position.
Reluctantly breaking their kiss, she couldn’t stop herself from laughing out loud when she opened her eyes to see him staring breathlessly up at her, an embarrassed, wide-eyed expression on his face. Within a moment, he had joined her in her laughter, and she had bent over and tucked her head into his shoulder to muffle her noises, the mood definitely disrupted.
Collecting herself, she came back up to face him, bringing both hands up to cup his cheeks as he lay beneath her. Her giggles slowly subsided into silence, leaving her smiling broadly as he slowly joined her in their silence. She heard his quiet, sharp intake of breath – her hair cascading down the sides of her head and creating literal tunnel vision around his face.
It was hard for her to convince herself of what that look truly meant, but after the last few years, she had accepted it for what was actually behind his eyes in these moments – he was watching her as though he worshipped her. He’d likened her to the sun multiple times, and though she couldn’t understand where he would ever come up with that idea, but that didn’t mean she didn’t nestle closer and press an appreciative smooch to the underside of his jaw in acknowledgement of what his affections really meant to her.
“I’m so glad you’re home.” She whispered, breaking the silence once more.
“I missed you so much.” He squinted up at her, taking her in for a little longer, while she breathlessly chuckled.
“You said that already.”
“Well, I meant it.”
“I know. I did too.”
Craning his neck up to meet her in a far tamer kiss than before, she stroked his temple lovingly, before pulling back. Ignoring his look of playful dejection, she scooted up to lay on the pillows set at the head of their bed, leading him to come up and join her before she had even finished patting the spot beside her to bring him back to her. Tangling their legs together absent-mindedly from their close proximity, she thought back to the events of the night. He must have somehow read her mind, because eyes went southward down her body, reaching her stomach with a lingering stare. She read the look in eyes and very nearly jumped him on the spot.
Ducking her head to catch his attention, she raised her eyebrow with a smile of anticipation. “You want to feel it?”
She thought she heard him sniffle softly, before he briefly nodded and reached a tentative palm out. After waiting for him to reach his destination, she gave in to the impatient part of her brain and gently brought his hand to rest on her stomach. She remembered how scared she had been that she might start showing before Gilbert got home, which would mean she would have to tell her family and friends, and likely tell the actual father of her child over Skype. Not ideal. Thankfully, she had yet to start showing, and she hadn’t even finished her first trimester yet, so nothing had changed greatly in her overall appearance.
“You know that we definitely won’t be able to feel anything yet, right?” She grinned at how eager he had been.
He smiled softly, with a quiet bout of laughter, but never took his eyes off her stomach. “Yeah, I know. I had to help birth children in Trinidad, Anne-girl. I would hope I knew a little about pregnancy.” His hand ran in caressing circles around the area, and she stifled a trembling sigh at the contact. When he went to speak again, she heard a slight crack in his throat.
“I just can’t believe it.” He said. “I know we’d talked about it, but it hadn’t even crossed my mind that the last time we saw each other…”
“Yeah, looking back, we weren’t thinking very clearly, were we?” She giggled, fondly looking back on their last few days together before he left and growing a little hot at the memory of that fateful, long night.
“No regrets, though?” He looked back up to meet her eyes, a little worried but hopeful. Not letting him get caught up in those feelings, she pressed a quick peck to his lips in reassurance.
“None at all. I think we’re ready.”
He grinned in response, scooting further forward to reciprocate with his own short kiss, but filling it with as much love as he could possibly manage. Moving back down to face the other object of his affections, he smiled across at her belly again.
“I think we might have a girl.” She murmured.
“Hm?” He responded, quirking an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“I’ve just got this weird feeling. I could be wrong, but…”
“Any potential names yet?” He asked, genuinely interested as he turned slightly to lie on his stomach and rested the side of his head carefully onto her ribcage.
Sifting one hand through his dark tresses, playing with all the little curls she could get her fingers on, she hummed the affirmative. “Maybe Amelia? I always liked that name. Or Amelie, either would be so beautiful, but I suppose we’ll know when we see her. Or him…”
“I’m guessing Cordelia is on the table?”
She scoffed, rolling her eyes and slapping him gently on the arm. “We’ll just see. I would hate for her to have her own tragical romance one day.”
"Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.” He insisted, shuffling back up to wrap his arms around her and bring her into his chest. “Some might say that our romance was a little tragical…”
“Oh?” She inquired, smirking up at him from her comfortable spot just beneath the line of his jaw.
“If she’s anything like her mother, though, she’ll figure it out eventually.” He added cheekily.
Chuckling into his shirt, she spoke against his vibrating chest as he laughed along with her. “We were both idiots, we’ve been over this!”
"I know, I know…one more name suggestion, but you’re gonna hate it.”
“Well, now I’m intrigued. Go on…" She looked back up at him, almost daring him to come up with a name that would truly annoy her.
“…Is Carrots completely off the table?”
“Gilbert Blythe! You fiend!” She guffawed, lifting out of their embrace and grabbing the pillow from beneath her, swinging it around to come into contact with his face. He let out a startled yelp, breaking out into laughter as he reached blindly around to try and grab her waist, while she continued her playful onslaught. “You didn’t learn the first time not to speak that name?”
Somehow, in the chaos and laughter of their childish play-fight, he finally managed to grab a hold of her waist, pulling her off the mattress for only a brief moment, as he dragged her across to sit on top of his lap, where he now sat upright. As she settled herself in place, allowing herself to give up the fight for now, she swivelled to mirror her position from earlier, straddling his hips as she faced him head on. The same thrilling heat wasn’t there, but the moment was just as tender – if not more.
He clearly felt it too, as he held her close to his chest, his chin almost poking into her collarbone from how close he was. Grinning softly up at her, he spoke.
“I would propose to you right now if I could.” He said, an almost tortured edge to his gentle tone.
For the second time that night, he somehow caught her off guard, despite the fact that she knew it wouldn’t be too long before he inevitably popped the question (if she didn’t beat him to it).
But his comment still confused her – this was the perfect moment for them. They didn’t need some big, public display to show how much they loved each other. It was an indisputable fact that they had become deeply rooted in each other’s lives, and there didn’t need to be fancy dinners or expensive gifts to prove how important they were to each other. She knew that they were in this for good – that this was it for the rest of their lives. She knew that the moment that they finally got together, and that hadn’t changed from then on.
“What’s stopping you?” She asked seriously, not worrying that her party dress had long since become crumpled and messed up around her, and that her denim jacket sat discarded by the bedroom door.
He shook his head resolutely, never taking his eyes off of hers. “I just want it to be perfect.”
“But it is perfect, Gil.” She insisted, scratching the back of his neck in the way she knew comforted him. “Anything you do will be perfect.”
Smiling despite himself, he cocked his head to the side, still looking at her with wonder alight behind his gaze. “I know, but I want it to be special for you. You deserve everything, and I made a promise to myself a long time ago that, when I proposed to you,” he smirked with the implications of how long he had been planning this whole thing, and she didn’t hide her blush, “it was going to be that ‘everything’.”
“Do you not think that you’ve already given me everything that I could possibly want?”
“I just know that I don’t have the money right now to afford the lifestyle you deserve.” He sighed. “I know there haven’t been any sunbursts or marble halls…” he trailed off, laughing slightly.
“I don’t need sunbursts or marble halls, Gil.” She cupped his face to make him see how serious she was being. “I just need you.”
After a few seconds of silent bliss passed, he pressed a kiss to her palm, and murmured into her hand, as if he were trying to plant the words into her skin. “Promise you’ll let me give you a good proposal, though? For my sanity, at least?”
A breath of laughter between them, she agreed. “Okay. For you – and I’m sure, whatever you do, it will be positively wonderful.”
“Well, whatever I do,” he tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially, “you can expect it much sooner after tonight.”
“I’ll have you know, Gilbert Blythe,” she said, punctuating his name with a poke to his nose, to which he responded by scrunching it with a poorly hidden grin, “there’ll be no shotgun weddings in this household.”
“No shotgun wedding – I promise.” He assured her solemnly.
“Hmm…” She pretended to examine his face for a moment, before leaning forward to whisper in his ear, “I think you just want me to be pregnant in my wedding dress.”
Somehow, his grin widened at the idea. “Well, I’m not opposed. You’ll look beautiful whatever you wear, so why not show off our little miracle?”
“Wouldn’t it be even better if we got to really see them on the big day, though?” She pulled back to rest her forehead on his, the idea making her light up. “Marilla could hold them in the front row so that we can see our baby the whole time…”
He hummed softly, voice sounding like it was off somewhere in a dream. “Our baby.”
Settling into a comfortable moment of silence – Anne holding back any loose tears from falling, purely because she didn’t want him to worry, but deep down she knew he was doing the same – she rested her head against his shoulder, tucking her nose into the crook of his neck and slowly allowing her eyes to flutter closed. She imagined what that would really look like, seeing their baby while they got married.
She didn’t think she could imagine anything so wonderful.
“What if it’s a boy?” He inquired quietly, as they were both reminded of the fact they had almost forgotten.
She pulled back once more, a small, shy smile playing on her lips. She had thought of that, actually.
“I was thinking…maybe John?”
She felt him stop breathing beneath her, but his face expressed nothing but awe. The topic of his dad had gotten much easier throughout the time she had known him, so she had hoped he might like the idea.
“Even if we have a girl this time, maybe…when we eventually have a son as well, we could name him John.” She probed anxiously, gnawing her bottom lip between her teeth.
When he came back to himself, he shook his head in slight disbelief.
“God, I love you.” He rubbed her back unconsciously, as she broke out into a blinding smile and leaned forward, meeting him halfway for a far more passionate kiss.
“I love you too.” She whispered against his lips after they broke apart (a lengthy period of kissing later).
After a few more minutes of cuddling, she regrettably realised they still had to change out of their day clothes before they went to bed, and got up from her position agonisingly slowly, pulling him up with her to make sure they didn’t have to put much distance between them. They changed separately, staying close by each other and passing clothes back and forth to be put away – already getting back into their domestic routine – and before long, they hopped back into bed, this time pulling back the covers as they sidled up close.
It wasn’t initially what she had expected to happen that night, but it was all she really wanted.
“Hey…” he whispered, after they exchanged a few more kisses for good measure and had begun to slowly drift off, “I didn’t get to read the book yet.” He pouted adorably, and she could somehow still find the energy to pull herself up from where her head lay on his arm and peck him between the eyes, before settling back down.
“Don’t worry, you can read it tomorrow. Cordelia’s not going anywhere.” She beamed.
“Perfect.” He mumbled through his own smile, nuzzling down to leave his mouth pressed against her forehead.
Right before she slipped into her dream state, and at a volume so quiet she wondered if he even heard her, she mumbled into his neck.
“I think you’ll like the acknowledgment.”
The Daring Ventures of Queen Cordelia
By A. S Cuthbert
This book is dedicated to my muse – the real Gilbert Blythe. Thank you for believing in me, and for believing in us. Here’s to the rest our not-so tragical romance – a story with no ending.