AMYBELLA WENT OVER TO GILBERT'S house to visit Mary and Bash while the boy was at work

"Hey Mary could you-.." She walked in the door and spotted a young man sitting at the table, now looking up towards the girl. Mary poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Oh Amybella uh.. This is.. my son." She walked over to the chair where the young man was sitting and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Elijah." she introduced him and Amybella looked at her for a moment in amazement. Mary was just over 30, she must have had him at a very young age.
Amybella smiled kindly and walked up to Elijah.

"Amybella! Nice to meet you." She introduced herself and shook his hand. He seemed surprised for a moment, but Bella decided to ignore it and turned back to Mary.

"I have a hole in my dress and I-I don't know.. I thought maybe you could show me-.. you know I didn't wanna go to Rachel with it, she's always so harsh about ruining clothes." Amybella looked a little embarrassed and showed her the fabric. Her mother had never taught her how to sew or embroider and the last time she went to Rachel with this kind of problem, the woman would just turn it into an hour of lecturing the girl about clothes.

"Oh of course sweetie-" Mary answered, when Delphine's cries could be heard at the end of the corridor, interrupting Mary's sentence.

"Oh should I-.." Bella started to ask and pointed to the corridor behind her. She looked at Mary, who was looking at her son and seemed to be searching for a reaction on his face. The air around them seemed to get thinner.

Mary walked past Bella down the hall, as the girl looked at Elijah who looked after his mother in shock.
The girl didn't know what to say to him when she heard Mary's footsteps behind her again. She saw Bash come in through the same door she had come through, before she turned to Mary, who now held her daughter in her arms.

"We wanted to tell you, but a letter is unlikely to reach you," said Bash, who had now grasped the situation.

"Delphine. Come say hello to your brother. This is the one I told you about. Every day since you were born." Amybella quickly moved aside as Mary walked past her towards the young man. Elijah backed away from her and Mary's look became confused.

"Don't you want to hold her?" she asked, holding the child out to him.

"Eh- no! No, no." He took another step back and raised his hands.

"Ehm.. I'm dirty from the journey, I don't want the little sunshine to get dirty." his undertone was hard to ignore. Mary laughed nervously and nodded, then turned to Bash and gave Delphine into his arms.

"Your-..." she pointed at Bella and walked past her in a rush again. Amybella took one last look at Elijah, who was staring at Bash and Delphine, then hurriedly followed Mary.

"I-it can wait.. Mary. I came at the wrong time." Bella said as she saw how stressed the woman was. Mary rummaged around in her sewing clothes, ignoring the girl.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She looked at her behavior critically.

"Mary." The girl said, but the woman wasn't listening.

"I just need to-.." she mumbled and Bella took her by the shoulder. The woman straightened up.

"Mary." Bella's arms were on hers. She took a deep breath and then exhaled.

"Talk to me." The girl said and looked at her intently. She was silent for a while.

"We lived in a small apartment. Him and I." She began to talk and sat down on a chair.

"I was working for these people and could just about feed him. We lived in bad circumstances. Him seeing me like this now. So.. happy, in this big, bright house, a daughter who will have it better than him.." she began to sob and cry. Amybella sat down next to her.

"You were just a child yourself," she said when Mary's sobs stopped and she looked at her.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-.." Bella immediately regretted her words.

"No.. No, you're right." she nodded.

"I was.. a child, but I was also a mother." she ran her slender hands over her face. Amybella thought for a moment.
Knowing the woman, it had never been her fault or her intention that she had this son.

"But being a child and a mother at the same time doesn't work.. Mary. Knowing you, you did your best. You gave him everything you could if that's not enough for him-.." Bella didn't need to finnish her sentence as she ran her hand over the woman's back.

"I.. I should go. You rest and take your time.  I'll come back later, okay? Or if you want, I can take Delphine with me and look after her?" Bella stood up.

"No, it's all right. I think I'm really going to lie down." Mary said and stood up too. Bella took the woman's hands in her own.

"I'm here for you. Mary." She assured her and then felt Mary's hand on her cheek.

"You're an angel." The woman whispered. She pulled the girl close to her chest as she put her arms around her. Mary had taken on something of a mother role for Bella. The girl felt comfortable and safe whenever they talked or cooked together and she showed Bella her tricks and recipes. She taught the blonde a lot and did almost everything Amybella's mother had failed to do.

"You have your whole life ahead of you, you can't let anyone hold you back."

•

Bella came back at a later time and probably burst into the middle of an argument.

"I'm very glad you're here Elijah. But I don't want you drinking and getting too close to the baby, do you understand?" She heard Mary's stern tone. Bella saw Bash, who had probably come in before her, in the middle of the corridor. The girl walked past him, down the hall to the kitchen, where she saw Elijah.

"So that's how it goes. The new beginning." Elijah hadn't noticed Bella yet. She felt Bash's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't want your new baby to be as messed up as your old one," he said, knocking over a vase. Mary gasped and held her hand in pain.

"Mary!" Bash had walked past Bella and was heading towards his wife.

"It's okay, It's just a small cut," she said. Bella came walking into the room too and gave Elijah a dirty look. After all, she had seen what he had done.

"You're playing the hero! Always helpfully stepping in what.. Dad? Can I call you that?" Elijah laughed, but Bash didn't.

"Oh.. I know that look." he took the ladle in his hand and came towards Bella. He grinned at the girl, seeming to have fun with everyone being so serious.

"Daddy wants to put me over his knee." he said and put his arm around Bella. The girl tensed as she caught his scent. He had been drinking.

"I think you'd better go back." Bash came up to him.

"Get your hand off her." he said menacingly.

"Bash. It's all right." Mary stood in front of him.

"Yes Bash. It's okay." Elijah murmured.

"The baby is more than fine. At least you were wanted." His grip on Bella's arm tightened.

"Make sure you don't end up like that. BELLA." he whispered in her ear, but the others could hear.

"She was just dumped with me. Don't be too stupid to keep your legs together, too." Bella shoved him away from her and shortly afterwards a piercing sound rang through the air. Elijah held his burning cheek. His shocked gaze was on Bella, who had raised her hand against him.
Her eyes were furious and her body was shaking with rage. Bash also wanted to run towards the boy, but had paused at her actions.

"Don't you dare, ever speaking like that again about the woman who gave birth to you!" she hissed. Mary pulled the girl aside by the shoulders and stepped in front of her.

"Go and lie down. Sleep it off!" she hissed. Elijah went to his room.

A few hours later, Elijah had disappeared, taking Gilbert's father's valuables with him. Mary was devastated. Days passed, and then Mary fell ill because of the cut in her hand that she had inflicted in a fight.

•

"He's in Charlottetown to see the doctor. Bash's wife is not well," Bella heard Anne say as she entered the classroom.

"Oh my goodness you don't even know the colored woman!" Josie said and Amybella wanted to hit her right then and there.

"Your irrelevant opinion in the morning is giving me a headache Josie. Maybe if you exchange more than two words with Mary, your intelligence might increase," Bella said, stepping between her classmates.

"Gilbert's a hero." She heard Ruby's voice, her face dirty. Bella rolled her eyes.

"Here Ruby. For your poor eyes." Moody handed her a handkerchief. Bella ran to the sheets she had hung up and she looked through them. Ruby had apparently accidentally inserted Gilbert into the printer particles.
That girl drove Amybella crazy.

After school, Amybella went straight to Gilbert's house, where the doctor was already there.

"So?" She asked Gilbert, who looked shocked.

"I can't keep up. You must be able to do something!" Bella looked back and forth between bash and the doctor in confusion.

"I understand your disappointment." Dr. Walt approached Bash, but he blocked him.

"I'll accompany you out." Gilbert said and they ran to the door.

"Bash?" Bella asked cautiously and a queasy feeling came over her. Sebastian got up and ran after them. Bella did the same.
Gilbert and the doctor stood in front of the door.

"A week! Maybe two.." Bella looked out in shock.

What?

She looked at Bash.

"Bash.." Bella walked towards him as the man knocked the dishes off the table and she recoiled.

"Bash?" She heard Mary call out.

"What's going on here?" Bella asked.

"Sebastian!" They heard Mary from the bedroom again.

"I'm going." Gilbert said, but bella stopped him.

"Gilbert tell me what's wrong." he tensed his jaw.

"Sepsis." He said and Amybella let go of him as if she had burned herself. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears as Gilbert went into the bedroom. The blonde sat down opposite Bash and put her head in her hands.

Sepsis. She thought. The very thing that had killed her mother.
Bella got up and went to Mary's room.

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do," Gilbert said, tears running down his eyes. Bash walked past Bella, his hands pushing her to the side gently ash he went into the room.

"Bash. I want to see Delphine now!" Mary said, her voice breaking. She sobbed and Bash turned towards Bella.

"Amy. Will you please take our baby home?" The man asked and Bella nodded. She hurried out, trying to hold back her tears but couldn't manage it.
Gilbert and Bella arrived at Green Gables and the Cuthberts immediately made their way to Mary.

"I can't be a doctor. Doctors have to.. I thought..
I had to tell Mary but I couldn't!" he reproached himself.

"Gilbert." Bella tried to put a hand on his shoulder, but he brushed it off.

"No! I'm not the one who loses everything. I'm just.." Bella stopped.

"Gilbert you had the worst news for someone you love. The one we all love." She ran after him.

"I should have been strong. For Mary.. I should have been. I made everything worse. I sat there and cried like I was a child!" He said and Bella caught up with him.

"Because you're showing emotion Gilbert. Do you think it would have been nicer if you had said it to her as hard as a punch in the face?" She grabbed his hand so that he would finally stop.

"Gilbert a doctor who cares for children like their parents do is a gift for a whole nation. You'll be a good doctor." He looked at Amybella for a long time before they continued walking in silence.

They arrived and saw Matthew and Marilla getting into the carriage. They drove off and Gilbert stopped. Bella looked at him and saw him sobbing. She took him into her arms and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Let's enjoy the time we have left." She pulled him inside with her.

•

"Ka'kwet!" Bella called out, waving when she saw the mi'kmaq girl. She ran towards her and Anne and literally threw her arms around her neck.

"Thank you for letting me come with you." Bella smiled over at Anne.

"Anne's friends are my friends too.
Ni'kquita ulamun!" she grinned and hugged Anne too.

"Nikita what?" Bella asked, confused.

"Ni'kquita ulamun. That's what I'd be called if she gave me a name." Anne explained.

"I would call you.. Nakoma. It means great warrior, strong spirit. Well, you made the boy fall over!" Amybella smiled at the memory of Billy falling down into the ice.

"You saw that?" She asked and ka'kwet nodded with a grin. The rest of the day Amybella was shown around and became more and more fascinated by the culture and way of life of the Mikmaq.
She felt sorry for how other people were taking more and more away from them. They were less and less able to hunt, trade and manage territories.
The society, where Bella came from was far too greedy.

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