Chapter Text
I look around the room and take in the bright faces that greet me, their wide smiles as they watch the television countdown.
It was New Year's Eve at the Lacroix farmstead, the old Blythe cottage restored and alive once more with new souls eager to take on everything that life had to offer.
Life had changed for the better in the past year, transforming into something I'd been convinced would never be possible. After that fateful Christmas dinner, the Lacroix's had looked at the terms Gilbert offered and made up their minds by January, uprooting their lives in Halifax and relocating to the Island by the end of February. They hadn't realized then that another change was coming, baby Delphine's arrival happening eight months later just as the first harvest was being reaped.
Marilla had helped as best she could, offering babysitting as they worked the farm and managed the hired hands for the property. Gilbert and I attempted to help too, though his first year of medical school found him stuck on the mainland more often than he liked. I somehow managed to keep things afloat and the bridge between the two families connected, even when the challenges seemed to multiply tenfold.
But we'd weathered it all together and had come out stronger for it, our lives now so intertwined that when Mary asked if I would be the Godmother to little Delly I nearly crumbled in front of her. Gilbert had outright cried at the offer of being her Godfather and Bash refused to stop razzing him about it so long as he lived.
Standing in the corner I watch as Bash bounces a restless Delly on his hip, Mary brushing back her mess of baby curls affectionately. I could see from the exhausted bags under their eyes that they would barely make it to midnight, their determination outweighing their need for sleep but only just.
"As soon as that ball drops we should take the kids and Marilla back home, give them a chance to get some sleep," Gilbert whispers as he comes up beside me, his fingers grazing up the back of my spine playfully.
"I was thinking the same thing. Only another minute now," I reply and lean into his side. The twins begin their countdown loudly, the sugar still running through their veins as they jump at Marilla's side. Gilbert tugs at my hand and pulls me through the doorway quickly, leaning me against the wall as his lips find mine in a kiss to ring in the new year.
The ball drops, the music plays and I don't get to see the celebrations around me because my attention is focused on Gilbert's lips at my ear.
"You're a published author. You're finishing your BA ahead of schedule to start your Masters early because you hold honours distinctions from a place that once almost lost the privilege of having you. I'm so proud of you for the adversity you've overcome, for the way you've built something so remarkable from so little. You're accomplished, and so loving, the sole keeper of my heart and the fond object of my affections and my desires. Anne, let me be the friend of your heart, the proponent of your happiness," Gilbert whispers, his eyes meeting mine in the low light of the hallway.
"Don't you dare get on one knee, Gilbert Blythe," I scold, breathless as he smiles down at me. Was this really happening? Was he saying what I think he was saying?
"Be my life mate Anne. Be my Anne with an E," he requests and I feel his fingers pull at my own, a cool band of gold slipping over a knuckle on my left hand.
“Gil,” I breathe, my hand opening wider so he can slip the ring further onto my finger.
“Say yes,” he urges and there’s a thrill in his voice, his smile widening as I nod and clasp my hands around his.
“ Yes ,” I answer and he crowds in closer, his hands cupping my chin as his lips meet mine to seal in the New Year with a kiss and the promise of building our family together .