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The young redhead had just left the house. Hazel concluded it must have been the Anne girl Mr. Gilbert had gone on and on about. As much of an idiot her son could be, a blind man could see he was right about one thing, those two were dead gone over each other and were oblivious to the other’s feelings. The girl had just welcomed herself into the house and left a note for Gilbert. As she watched Anne ride away, Mary came out of the back garden and asked “Has Anne just left?”
“You know her too?” Hazel exclaimed.
“Like family” she waved to the girl and giggled quietly, thinking about how envious Gilbert would be that Anne was here when he was not. As the 3 Lacroix girls watched Anne ride away Hazel turned back into the house. She picked up the pot to fill it with water and Mary inspected the note lying underneath. “Anne wrote this?” she asked, recognizing Anne’s loopy scrawl. “Mhm, seemed urgent but private, she probably put it under the pot to keep it from blowing away” Mary tsked and said “Better go put it in Gilbert’s room, he’ll want to read it alone and away from the eyes of my husband if it’s from Anne” the woman shared a knowing look, not knowing well how merciless Bash could be in his teasing, especially if it was about the redhead. Mary walked to the the boy’s room as Hazel rested the baby.
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Gilbert returned home as the sunlight dwindled on the horizon, casting his humble home in the most welcoming orange glow. He tied his horse in the barn and smiled at the abode. Mr. Barry and he had situated the business deal Gilbert had been negotiating on, his apprenticeship under Dr. Ward was going wonderfully and his friend Winifred Rose had finally agreed to meet Anne before her family left for Paris in the coming months. Winnie often teased him about Anne and how the boy obviously had the biggest crush known to man on her. While Gilbert could no longer deny his own feelings, whenever Winnie brought up the fact it was also eminent Anne felt the same, the debutante was quickly shut down by him. He stated that he was sure she did not, (“reasonably so” were his words) Winnie just rolled her eyes at his oblivion and sipped her tea.
Gilbert entered the Blythe-Lacroix home and was greeted by Hazel and the smell of Mary’s amazing cooking. He ambled into the kitchen and was delighted to see his baby niece in the arms of his brother. He cooed at the baby and greeted Bash before promptly scooping the young girl up and blowing a raspberry to her tummy and sitting at the kitchen table. Food was served, an excellent dish of curry duck served with bread. Gilbert delighted in seeing his family gathered round the table like this, eating wonderful food, and gently rocking Delphine in his lap as the babe drifted to sleep, Gilbert Blythe was sure he was happy as could be.
Little did he know.
Bash had gone to put Dellie in her crib for the night as rain began to patter down on the house. Gilbert was pulled away by the woman of the house herself “Gilbert, I thought you should know, Anne was here today wishing to talk to you. She wrote a note, Hazel said she seemed urgent. The letter is in your room if you want to go read it.” Gilbert’s eyebrows knit together before his face became one of gloominess, no doubt thinking about how he had missed Anne coming to his house. However he looked back to his sister-in-law and peeped “she left a note? ..In my room!?” Mary laughed out loud at his bewildered expression “I left it in your room, but yes she left a note” he nodded and half ran to his room, Mary and Hazel snorting behind him.
——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— The curly haired boy opened and shut his door, eyes traveling across the room. As expected, his eyes landed on a small piece of paper, folded in 3rds, with his name looped on the front. Right on his pillow. Gilbert headed to his bed and picked up the paper. He opened the note and read. ‘I love you.’ Gilbert nearly dropped the letter, rereading the note in case this was some joke. ‘P.S I want my pen back.’ And that’s how it ended, blunt and beautiful. He laughed breathily, before pushing open all the drawers of his desk, finding her pen next to his Gray’s Anatomy book. He grabbed it, Bash had come into the room to see the ruckus was. Mary and Hazel followed closely behind. “Moke, what are ya looking for now?” Gilbert laughed again grabbing Anne’s beautiful fountain pen and shoving Anne’s letter into Bash’s hands. He ran past the 3 adults and shouted behind, “I’ll be back!” He didn’t grab his coat on the way out, unable to hear Hazel over the rain and adrenaline rush. (He couldn’t hear the Lacroix couple’s gasps as they finished the note either.)