Let Me In ( Anne with an E fanfic)

Chapter 53

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6CqLxMfpi7Skm9efnyIMjE?si=5yM-lX5nT9W4L-M00YuZqA&dl_branch=1

They met with Ella and Fred, who had decided to tag along with Bear, at Tim Horton's to grab a coffee before going to the house. Anne was as excited as a kid meeting Santa and looked way too endearing in his old jacket. Gilbert had chuckled when she had raided his closet and decided the red plaid was hers to wear. He had not argued: he also believed that statement wholeheartedly and realized he had been keeping it stashed for many years out of sheer hope of just this happening. It hadn't fit him in years.

"Cordelia! How are you feeling today?" Fred asked her. Gilbert was with Ella and they were bickering in good humor as they went inside the coffee shop to get drinks for all of them, Anne preferring to stay outside with Fred.

"Tired. Excited. Hopeful. I'm actually counting on Ella to turn Gilbert around on the fixer-upper topic, because I don't want a boring house, Fred."

"You won't get a boring house, in the end he will go with whatever makes you truly happy and is within his budget."

"And has zero chance of having knob and tube wiring or black mold. I swear he's paranoid," Anne huffed. "How long was this... pucking stage for Ella?"

"About the first trimester. Eventually it went down around the tenth week or something like that. Is it giving you a hard time?" Fred looked at her, a bit concerned. Anne sighed. She didn't want to appear whiny, but she was feeling miserable and couldn't shake off the feeling of something not being completely right with the nausea she had. Or maybe all the books and movies were just too kind and didn't portray reality. It was just horrible.

"I'm sure it's normal, just... Not what I expected," she confessed. Fred squeezed her arm lightly in a way that was so reminiscent of how Matthew used to do that her eyes welled up with tears. Fred opened with eyes in concern. "It's nothing. Damn hormones. Just... Somehow, you reminded me of Matthew?"

"Your... dad, right?" he asked, a bit confused.

"It's weird, I know. I'm sorry. I honestly don't understand what's up with me, I'm so annoyed with this whole thing," she said, taking the tears off her eyes furiously. Fred passed her a tissue.

"Don't worry about it. You're lucky, somehow I just went through all this with Ella. And I don't mind at the very least to be a figure of someone you trust implicitly. It relieves me, to be honest, and doesn't freak me out that much. So relax. How's your brother doing?" Fred asked. Anne laughed, taking out her phone and passing it to Fred.

**Jerry (10:23): Sis, are you taking your vitamins? I remember Di had some that were special for the nausea... Please call me?

**Jerry (10:32): Please take care at that house? If it's under renovations it might have something dangerous...

**Jerry (10:33): Don't go over wood beams, please. I know you.

**Jerry (10:40): Sis???

**Bosom Friend (10:56): Please answer my husband. He's getting on my nerves.

"So in over protective mode?"

"After he was... apparently very happy he's had a few days of worrying about everything. I don't remember seeing him like that with Diana. Probably because she's less prone to accidents? I have no idea, but as much as I love him, I can't deal with him and protective Gilbert at the same time," she said, half exasperated and half fond, rolling her eyes as she petted Bear on the head, scratching behind the ears.

"Oh dear. I can see that might be a tad too much. I can deal with Blythe if he gets unbearable," Fred said, winking at her just as Gilbert and Ella went out, cups on each hand, laughing heartily. "I just love seeing those two together," Fred added, and Anne smiled. She could relate to that and really felt comfortable with Fred and Ella. It was the perfect family for Gilbert, and now for her, away from Avonlea. Gilbert gave her the chamomile tea she had asked for.