Part 2 of "The Three of Us"

210. Seeking Closure

Very very short but I will have more time to write this afternoon so there should be a new chapter by evening! (I realize we are all on different time zones so that's not helpful lol but my point is it will be super soon.)

"Chicken alamode?" Gilbert smiled, folding Ruby's letter up and returning it to its envelope. "I think Ruby got her wires crossed. Alamode means it has icecream."

"Chicken on ice cream?" Walter asked.

"More like ice cream on chicken," Anne explained with a smile.

"Is that what we're eating at the wedding?" Walter asked. He couldn't decide what he thought of this idea.

"No, Aunt Ruby got mixed up, or maybe she was just distracted while writing and meant to say something else," Anne explained, scooping her son up onto her lap. She smoothed his hair out of her way and squeeezed him. "Sometimes Aunt Ruby can be very distracted, especially when she has a beau. Which it seems she has, judging by the last...seven pages of her letter."

"It was a long one, wasn't it?" Gilbert commented. "I've never heard someone's eyelashes described so thoroughly."

They both laughed.

"I'm worried about how she said her cough has lingered," Anne murmured. "She shouldn't still be feeling that way. It's been too long. I hope coming to the wedding won't tire her out."

Gilbert handed Walter his Wallalumpooley, which had been enjoying a picnic on his parlor floor with the toy food Jane had made long ago. A now ratty looking Gilbear was there as well, along with an old stuffed animal of Gilbert's.

They were having a cozy evening, just the three of them. Wedding preparations were completed, and Gilbert had finished all his school planning for the next few weeks so he wouldn't have to bring home any work but could just enjoy his newfound family.

Anne was happy- almost. As she looked at the letters from her friends that had been sent since they had received their wedding invitations, she felt a stab of something unsettling.

She was about to open a new chapter of her life, and she realized she felt a need to write an ending to the previous chapter. Whether that would settle her spirit and allow her to move forward unfettered, or whether it would only complicate her life, she did not know. But for better or for worse, she had a letter she felt a need to write.

That night, after Anne had gotten Walter to sleep, she changed into her soft white nightgown, combed out her hair and washed her face. And then, instead of going to bed, she sat down at her desk to write the letter.

It took a long time, with many stops and starts, but finally she felt she had said all she needed to say.

She tucked it into an envelope and on the front she wrote:

William Andrews

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia