in which there's always time for family
___

«I am strangely glad to get back again to you: and wherever you are is my home—my only home.»
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Two weeks after the spring ball

(Set after OCEANS Chapter XV — This is before the epilogue, they haven't kissed yet)

Anne Shirley-Cuthbert had always been a heavy sleeper. Sleeping allowed her to drift into a world of different dreams to explore — different and endless possibilities. Princesses, castles, dragon-slayers with hazel eyes... Yes, you could say that the fiery redhead from Green Gables couldn't be easily awoken by any kind of noise.

Unless that noise was the tapping of Gilbert Blythe at her window.

It had happened before. After their dance, which had been two weeks ago, Gilbert had taken the unspoken invitation to knock at her window at night — if Marilla had known about this!

Some of said nights were reserved for a late-night rendezvous in the woods; some others just for talking or revising. That night, however, was different. It was around midnight when Anne felt the rather unusual quick and a bit desperate tapping of his knuckles against the window.

A smile crept up her face instantly. She was lying on her side, her back facing the window. When she turned to the other side, that's when she saw him.

He was wearing his beige jacket and his pajamas underneath. Anne thought he looked adorable, but she would never point that out. She simply got out of bed and walked to the window, leaving the sheets and blankets on the floor. She opened the window, closing the dishance between them, somehow. Wind was brushing Gilbert's dark curls away, and although it was spring, it was a cold night — his nose was a bit red because of the chilly breeze.

"Hi" she said timidly. Although they had been involved in scenarios like this one before, she still blushed at the fact of him seeing her in her night gown.

"Anne" his voice was almost a whisper, barely audible with the roaring wind of the night. "Anne" he said again. He seemed... worried, agitated.

"What's wrong?" She scanned his face, looking for any sign of concern or trouble.

"Mary just broke waters" Gilbert announced, which caused a surprised smile in Anne's face. "You need to come"

"Me?" She pointed to herself, wondering how on earth she could be helpful in a situation like this.

"Don't look at me like that! I know for sure that you'd kill me if I didn't tell you!" And it was true. Had it been the case that Gilbert Blythe had not told her about this, she would've stayed mad at him for weeks — or at least she would have pretended to, there was no way that she could stay mad at him for much longer.

"That's true" she admitted, already lacing her boots and taking her coat.

"Let's go" he offered his hand to her and helped her out of the window once she was ready.

Clumsiness made her Anne on her feet, almost falling off the cherry blossom tree. Gilbert held her tightly, avoiding the fall.

"Thank you" she whispered, trying not to make too obvious the fact that she was freaking out at his hands wrapped around her. Both of them were sitting astride on one of the tree's thickest branches — only difference is that his hands were wrapped around her tiny figure, her back against his chest.

"It's alright" his lips were close, too close to her ear, and Anne could feel the race of his heartbeat, yet his hands had still not moved. The wind made her hair brush against Gilbert's face.

"We should... go..." she tilted her head to look at him, realizing how close they actually were. Her eyes met Gilbert's lip, and she could swear they just quivered.

The boy didn't say a word during the process of helping her out of the tree and onto the ground. Once they'd reached the floor, he guided her towards his horse.

"Sorry, huh, Mary's son took the carriage" he stretched his neck — classic Gilbert Blythe's habit of nervousness, mostly visible when Anne was around. "He went to fetch the doctor and Bash stayed there with Mary". The girl simply nodded before hopping on the horse with him, both of them consequently disappearing into the darkness of the night.

___

The pair of teenagers walked into the Blythe-Lacroix's residence to find a very tired-looking Sebastian in the depths of dispair.

"Blythe, oh, Blythe! Thank God you're here, boy!" The man ran to boy, completely ignoring Anne's presence. He placed both his hands on Gilbert's shoulders, shaking him lightly yet nervously. "There's no time. The baby's coming" he said.

"B-But where's the doctor?" the boy asked as he could hear Mary's groans from the parlour.

"I don't know! Nobody came!" Bash screamed, wiping a few tears away. "Blythe, I need you" he begged.

"No, no-no, please, it's Mary's life we're talking about here"

"I know! Come on, come on!" Bash screamed as he rushed into the parlour again, hoping Gilbert would follow him.

But the boy simply stood paralyzed in the middle of the hall, shaking hands and sweaty forehead. Anne, who had stood behind him the whole time, studied the scene and considered different approaches to the boy.

"Gilbert" she said, placing a delicate hand on his shoulder and making him turn around.

"Anne" he whispered. She had seen him cry, she had seen him get angry at so many things... but this? This was completely new.

Gilbert Blythe was terrified.

"Blythe!" Bash's voice called from the other room, imploring him to come to Mary's rescue.

Anne took both of his hands, trying to stop them from shaking. "Look at me" she demanded.

"Anne, I can't, she's Mary, I-"

"Gilbert, look at me" she repeated, moving her hands now to cup his face.

He didn't say a single word, but he did look at her. "I know you're scared" she said — her hands were still cupping his face and her thumbs were caressing his cheeks, trying to make him relax somehow. "But I need you to be Doctor Blythe right now, do you understand?"

He closed his eyes, still silent. All he could hear was Anne's voice. "Bash and Mary — they need you" she said. "I need you" she emphasized the "I". The boy nodded, eyes opened. "Now go in there" she said, directing her gaze towards the parlour. "And bring a new life to this beautiful world, okay?"

"Okay" he nodded, wiping sweat away from his forehead. "Okay" he said again, more self-assured.

"I'll go get some towels" Anne said, running up the stairs and watching Doctor Blythe rush into the parlour.

___

Just a few minutes later, Mary was lying on her back in one of the sofas, which was covered with blankets. Bash was holding her hand tightly as an attempt of comforting her, although it wasn't working. The woman was wincing from the pain.

"Anne, I need you to distract her!" Gilbert screamed, rolling up his shirt's sleeves

"I- um, Mary! Do you have a name in mind? For the baby?" she blurted out the first thing that popped into her mind. Mary shaked her head, sweat running down her temple.

"Well, I was thinking Cordelia Lacroix sounds rather royal, don't you think?" Anne said as she gave Gilbert the different medical supplies he told her to.

For half an hour, she watched the boy's concentrated expression as he assisted the delivery. He'd told Mary to push as Anne kept giving him towels or any other supplies he needed, although there wasn't any fancy medical stuff.

"It's a girl" Gilbert said after almost an hour, wrapping a tiny little thing in the coziest blanket they could find. Mary let out an exhausted breath and Bash held her hand tighter than he'd ever had.

"It's... a girl" Gilbert said again, now whispering. There were pools of tears forming in his eyes, which he tried to wipe away with the sleeves of his shirt. This was effortless, for as soon as he placed the baby in Mary's arms, he felt Anne's arms wrapping around his body, making him cry again.

"I'm so proud of you" she said, hugging him from behind. "So, so proud"

The boy's response was a chuckle. "I couldn't have done this without you" he turned around to face her. She'd cried too, her face was filled of emotion, but there was a smile curving up her face that showed him the truth — she was truly proud of him. He smiled down at her, both of them locking eyes.

"Look, Cordelia!" Bash interrupted the moment, of course. "That's your uncle Gilbert being a fool around our Anne of Green Gables! You better get used to th-"

"U-uncle?" Gilbert turn around to look at Bash, perplexed. Mary, although still recovering, laughed quietly from the sofa.

"Cordelia?! You named her Cordelia?" Anne asked in awe. She covered her mouth with her hands, and a tear rolled down her cheek again.

Bash stood up from the floor, caressing Mary's cheek before doing so. "Of course you're her uncle, Blythe — you're my... brother" the man said. It felt good to see that cheeky and toothy grin back in his face. "And Cordelia is a pretty royal name, don't you think, Anne?" the man winked at her, making her laugh.

"Indeed!" The girl exclaimed as she kneeled down near the sofa, studying the newborn baby. "Hello, my dearest Cordelia" she said with the usual dreamy tone in her voice. "I bet you and I are going to be the best of kindred spirits, you'll see"

Although Bash was hugging him and patting his back, Gilbert's eyes could not leave her. He watched Anne from where he was standing, realizing again how he could not have done this without her. He listened attentively as she rambled about kindred spirits, baby clothes and how wonderful life was.

And as he watched her stand up from where she was and look back at him with a smile, he agreed.

Life was truly wonderful.

___

"Thanks for walking me back home"

About an hour later, Gilbert had walked her back home. They could have taken the carriage or a horse again, but they enjoyed walking together and the sun was starting to rise. "We cannot miss such a romantic scenario!" Anne had said, and Gilbert agreed. He couldn't miss the opportunity of walking her home under the light of the rising sun during the early hours of the morning. It had been a hectic and difficult night, and he was exhausted — well, everybody was, but an early walk through the woods with Anne Shirley-Cuthbert gave him more peace than any other thing.

"Human existence is truly a marvelous phenomenon, don't you think?" she asked, once they'd reached Green Gables. She was leaning her back against the white fence and he was standing right in front of her. Almost deja-vú like, she could've sworn she'd live this before. It was so common for them, so routinary, to walk together and stop for a bit of a chat in that exact fence

"Truly. Why do you say so?" he said, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes looking into hers, at per usual.

"Its majestic!" she exclaimed with excitement. She took his eyes away from his and looked up into the sky, as if she could find the answers to the extraordinary phenomenon of life in the clouds. "Sebastian and Mary created life — they made a tiny little human being"

"Oh-oh" he mumbled with an awkward tone in his voice that made Anne draw her eyes back to his. "Yeah, like, yes, they made a child"

"Do you think about it very often?" she asked with curious blue eyes.

She wondered what she said to make Gilbert Blythe choke at her words. "MAKING CHILDREN? WITH WHOM?" he screamed with wide eyes.

"Keep quiet, it's too early!" Anne hushed him, covering his mouth with left hand. "Well, "making children" is surely a strange choice of words. I meant the future, and yes, children too, I suppose" she explained, taking her hand off his mouth.

"Yes, I do think about the future. Quite a lot, actually" he said after clearing his throat and trying to get his confidence around her back.

"It's understandable" she nodded. "You're about to start your first year of college" It was May then, and Gilbert was meant to start medical school in September, although anyone could agree on the fact that he'd had plenty of practice by now.

"College is not what occupies my mind most of the time" he said.

"Then what is it?"

"Family" he admitted, not knowing if she'd understand that by "family" he meant her. Truth is there was Bash, Mary, and little Cordelia now. But her? Anne Shirley-Cuthbert occupied his mind each hour of the day.

"You'll find the family you deserve — I'm sure" she said, giving him a sincere smile.

"I already have" he whispered, tucking her air behind her ear. Anne held her breath and shivered at his touch, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Anyway" he said. He wanted to scream how helpful she was, how she'd encouraged him or how he hadn't had the strength to think of even move until she touched his face. But he kept it simple. "Thank you for leaving bed and coming with me, Anne"

"There's always time for family" she said, giving him a last smile before walking up the path to Green Gables.

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A/N

WOW, I know, it's been sooooo long! I do have lots of ideas for this story, but I've been busy with my other shirbert story, STARING (check it out if you haven't!)

But anyway, I loved going back to OCEANS's Anne and Gilbert (:

Hope you liked this, ily