"There's another baby—" Gilbert looked away, as if embarrassed, as if he didn't dare look at Anne. The sunlight falling from the window cast a shadow on his tired face, keening his jaw. Ruby would call him handsome and dreamy, like a prince in a storybook. Had Anne didn’t know better about grief and the scraps of the dead, she would agreed. Gilbert just looked like a boy from this angle, weary and grieving; all of human skin and bones that could break.
"There's another baby—" He repeated, hoarse. His forehead creased wearily, and he chewed the corner of his left lip. The lines of vulnerability on his face were clear, exposed, almost unbearable to look at. Anne was used to the steady voice of Gilbert, who was her rival in class; the light smile of Gilbert, who was her family and friend in some complicated way; a mischievous gleam in Gilbert’s eyes who had offered to slay a dragon on the first day they met.
But this, this withered and almost scattered-looking Gilbert, she wasn't used to, and her heart ached for him.
"—who will grow up with no mother in this house." He cooed the fussy Dellie for a bit, then added slowly. His voice, which had almost disappeared with the wind, sounded like an afterthought. "Just like me."
Anne looked at him, lost, and felt the sadness wash over her again like waves. She wanted to comfort Gilbert and conveyed some poetic lines about rising and waking up to a new, sunny day.
She didn't—there was nothing pretty or even elegiac about losing a mother.
Mary would know what to do or say, never tripping over consolation the wrong way like Anne had been before, but if Mary were here, they wouldn't have this conversation.
(Mary's death hit hard; Gilbert was left to pick up the fragments for Bash and Dellie. In the kitchen on a quiet Saturday afternoon, he talked to Anne about babies who only grew up with their fathers.)
Can we talk about how we were robbed of getting a scene where Gilbert is holding Delphine and just spilling his guts about how he feels about Anne? Like Gilbert with a baby combined with him gushing about Anne? Now that I think about it maybe it’s best we didn’t get to see it, it would’ve been to powerful and I probably would’ve died on the spot
May our darling Anne love this, almost as much as you
Pairings: Gilbert Blythe + Anne Shirley
Summary: Gilbert accompanied Anne to Charlottetown as she went to Halifax to find out about her parents. Slight alternative if Anne never had time to change back into her regular dress.
After Anne had found out the truth about her parents (they had died from a fever, weeks apart, when she was just 3 months old, and that her parents fled from Scotland - the home of the redheads).
She had to quickly catch the ferry back to Prince Edward Island, and with that running slightly late - it set everything back, as she quickly hurried to Aunt Josephine's.
"Why, Anne, my dear. You should have been back 20 minutes ago!" Aunt Jo exclaimed after Rollings opened the door to a slightly out of breath Anne.
"Aunt Jo! I'm so sorry, the ferry left the island late, and I don't have time to go exchange my clothes," Anne apologised, making Jo shake her head.
"Cole, fetch Anne's clothes down," Aunt Jo called, taking Anne's hands in hers. "There is nothing to be sorry for, dear. This is the way that the cards have fallen," Aunt Jo told her, as Cole came running down with the satchel that Anne left behind.
Cole reached over and faffed with one of Anne's curls which had come loose from when she was running. "Take the horse, you need to get her on the train, quickly," Aunt Jo said, making Anne and Cole nod and rush after Rollings - who was surprisingly quick for his age.
Anne sat in front of Cole as they rushed to the train station as quickly as Lady Di (its name given by Anne, in honour of her bosom friend, Diana).
When they got there, Cole quickly jumped off and helped Anne down (as she struggled with her current state of dress).
They got onto the platform, Gilbert was already on the train, waiting for Anne.
Cole handed the bag over to the redhead. "It will not matter to Aunt Josephine when it comes back. But, you look gorgeous, dear Anne," Cole complimented her, making a flush of pink run up her cheeks. She had gotten very few compliments throughout her short life.
"Thank you, Cole," Anne smiled, reaching up and pressing a sweet kiss to his cheek. "Expect a letter in due time," she gave a small curtsey, making him laugh, and she hurried on the train.
Despite spending some of the afternoon in Winifried's company, he sat by the window, fiddling with a purple flower.
This is when he saw Anne rushing onto the platform, Cole McKenzie behind her, holding the small satchel she had this morning.
The dress she was wearing was gorgeous! The green dress fitted her perfectly - however, thinking about it, she could be wearing a corset that he'd heard dreaded things about.
He watched Cole hand over the satchel, and say something to Anne. This resulted in the young man getting a kiss on his cheek (near enough the same place she hit him with her slate when he first met her).
He lifted his fingers and run them over where the bump had been, it was probably obvious to anyone that he was completely smitten with Anne. She owned the key to his heart, there was no one else for him!
Looking down at the flower between his fingers, he didn't know who he was kidding, moving on from Anne? It was physically and mentally impossible! He would love her to his dying day. If she told him she loved him the day before he passes, he would be the happiest man on the face of the earth.
She quickly boarded the train, waving to Cole and taking her seat next to him.
Anne could tell that Gilbert was staring at her out of the corner of her eye, probably wondering what in heaven on earth she was wearing.
"Don't say a word," she stated, waving at Cole as the train left Charlottetown Station, heading back to Avonlea. "We must go to yours, so I can change. Marilla will have my head if she sees me like this," Anne said, setting her bag on her lap (which made a surprising thud).
This made both Gilbert and Anne's faces scrunch up. A gentle hand in her bag and Anne pulled out a well-loved copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. When she opened the first page, written there, in handwriting similar to hers:
My Walter,
One day, may our darling Anne love this tale, almost as much as you do.
Forever yours,
Your Bertha.
Anne ran her fingers over the handwriting, this was something that was handed between her mother and father - and it made her smile.
Anne gasped as she looked at the date her mother had written down. "Look at the date," Anne pointed, "It was written just weeks before I was born," It made her smile and held it to her heart.
This made Gilbert smile, it was nice that Anne had another piece added to her puzzle over who her parents were.
Anne was grateful that Marilla, Matthew and Mrs Lynde weren't at the station. She breathed a sigh of relief and got off the train. They left the train station and saw the horse that Gilbert brought with him this morning still tied up - happily eating something from the trough.
Anne patted the horse's nose, as it nuzzled her happily. "Let's get going," Gilbert said, holding a hand out to Anne (she knew she would have to sit side-saddle - how a 'lady should sit'), and helped her up. He knew that she wouldn't need help, but it was the gentlemanly thing to do, that his father taught him to do.
He held onto the reigns, in a way he was keeping her 'safe' as well as stopping her from falling off Bessie. Gilbert clicked his tongue a couple of times. "Come on, Bess,"
They arrived at the Blythe-Lacroix farm, Bash walking out with Delphine in his arms, gently rocking her and shushing her - she'd recently started teething.
Anne launched herself off the horse and landed on her feet perfectly (like she was a cat), as she turned round to smirk at Gilbert. "I'm no lady," she took her bag that was hanging from the side of Bessie and headed into the home.
"You," she pointed at Bash. "Never. Saw me dressed like this," she gave him a look, and he nodded. "Hello, Dellie," Anne cooed, running her finger along Delphine's cheek - making the baby squark happily.
She lifted one of Delphine's small fingers which had wrapped itself around one of hers tightly. Anne kissed it gently and gave Delphine a sweet smile.
"You can change in Mary's room," Bash told her, chocking up slightly at Mary won't be sleeping in her room anymore, and Gilbert sometimes sees Bash's room as his dad's room.
Anne smiles at Bash, reaching up and pressing a kiss to his cheek. She took her bag and went to change back into her usual clothes.
Bash gave Gilbert a look, and the young man waved him off. Taking Bessie back to the barn. "How am I going to tell Winifred? As much as I like her company, Anne owns my heart, ever since she smack me across the head with her slate," Gilbert laughed silently, rubbing Bessie's nose, as he started to feed her an apple. "Her parents are most likely going to kill me, but..." Gilbert trails off, before saying three words out loud for the first time. "I love Anne,"
A breeze surrounds Gilbert, as he looked out of the cut-out window of the barn to the sky. He smiled, taking it as silent approval from his father. 'You took your time, son,'
Gilbert walked into his home, seeing Anne dressed in her usual brown dress and pinafore - even now, with her braids and usual clothes, she looks beautiful.
Delphine started crying again, and Bash followed one of the recipes that Anne had written out for Delphine. Gilbert started to walk over to his niece when Anne got there first. Reaching into the basket, and brought the baby to rest against her shoulder. Gently shushing her, rocking back and forth to soothe her.
Bash looked up from the vegetables he was cutting, smiling at the girl who would attend to Dellie's every cry. That is when he looked over at Gilbert and saw the look in his eyes. He'd heard his mother say once, 'When a boy is in love, you can see it in his eyes,'
He then looked over at Anne (after Gilbert picked up some of the garlic and started peeling it), and remember the other half of the saying he'd heard. 'When a girl is in love, you can see it in her smile,'.
