Anne with an e- a new version of the story

Chapter 91- The hope that bind us

ANNE
It was a sunny Friday morning that was anything but ordinary, because it was the day Diana Barry would try on her wedding dress for the first time. The wedding would be in a month, and the girl was a bundle of nerves because she wanted everything to be perfect as she had been dreaming since Jerry proposed to her, and until that moment, she didn't quite know how everything would unfold, even though all the preparations were already done and the wedding details had been reviewed thousands of times by her and her fiancé, and yet she feared that some last-minute disaster would put everything at risk. That's why Anne was in the bride's room at that moment, to prevent the girl from going crazy and, in turn, making the groom more nervous than she was.

Anne was happy to be able to help, as in addition to loving these types of preparations, it also helped her distract her thoughts that still plunged her into a deep sadness, leading her down dark paths and into a depressive state of mind. She was trying to deal better with her mood swings, and the guilt she felt day and night had also diminished, although she couldn't say she was completely free of it. She no longer cried as much as before, and she was learning from Gilbert to be more optimistic and to think about their future with more lightness. But there were moments that caught her off guard and she succumbed again to the traps of her heart. She knew that Gilbert also suffered, but his sorrow was lesser, because she had felt firsthand the agony of the first days of her miscarriage, and he had only experienced it through her words, and even then Anne had not told him exactly how it had happened, because she didn't want him to go through the same despair she had endured.

But despite everything, she couldn't say that she would be there at that moment helping her best friend with the final preparations for what would be the most important day of her life if it weren't for Gilbert. Her fiancé gave her unconditional support, and in the worst moments, he was the one she thought of to prevent that pain from ruining the rest of her life. Gilbert's love, affection, and care were the remedy for the erratic emotions that insisted on taking control of her body. Anne knew she had to fight against them, and most of the time she succeeded, but at certain moments some fact or word would trigger the memories she tried to forget daily.
The other weekend, Gilbert had invited her to spend the afternoon at his farm, as Mary really wanted to see her again. Since Gilbert had regained his memory, they hadn't seen each other, and Mary missed her young friend. That absence had been intentional; Anne had not wanted to meet Sebastian's wife before because she remembered the girl's face giving her the news of her baby's loss, and Anne was afraid that if she saw her, all the bad memories of that day would come back, and she wouldn't be able to forget them anymore. However, this time there was no way to avoid that visit; otherwise, Mary might get offended, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt her because of her neurosis.

She had arrived with Gilbert at the farm for dinner feeling a little apprehensive, but it only took one look at Mary's kind and sympathetic face for her to feel welcomed and the fear in her heart to disappear. She had spent a great evening, chatting animatedly with Sebastian and Mary about various subjects. But then Shirley, who was in her crib, woke up and Sebastian went to get her, bringing her into the kitchen so that she could be fed by her mother. So, when he appeared with the baby in his arms, Shirley, in her purest innocence, stretched out her arms to Anne. The little redhead felt paralyzed instantly, and looked at Gilbert without knowing what to do. But he was talking to Mary and didn't notice her distress. Anne then decided to take the little girl in her arms and cradled her in her arms, while her treacherous mind told her that it was supposed to be her baby there and not Shirley. Her eyes filled with tears, and she let out a strangled sob, making Gilbert finally realize what was happening. He carefully took the baby out of Anne's arms, even though she didn't want to let go of her, handed her to Mary, who was watching the scene in awe, and hugged Anne tightly, trying to make her calm down.