Long Distance Love Letters

Dr. Blythe

Over the next few months, Gilbert and Anne busied themselves with moving into their new home as well as keeping up with their studies.

Despite her assurances, Gilbert was worried about how Marilla would fare on her own without Matthew. Jerry still remained her full time farm hand and has since taken over Anne's room since her and Gilbert moved out.

As for Bash and Ms. Stacey, they had recently gotten married and their due date was steadily approaching. During one of their many visits to the Blythe home, they had a whole conversation about their plan. They would travel to the doctor in Carmody. Neither of them had actually met him before but they have heard very good things about him.

Gilbert and Anne, though reluctant to leave Marilla, were excited to finally have some privacy as a married couple. Anne was gone most of the day at school, but the two spent every evening together.

If this was the new normal for the Blythes, Gilbert was perfectly happy with it.

•••

Gilbert was startled awake one night as insistent knocking sounded from the door. He rubbed his eyes in a tired haze, wondering who in the world was here at this crazy hour.

He got out of bed, careful to not wake up Anne, and went to answer the door.

He opened the door to find Bash and Miss Stacey (whom he now called Muriel). His former teacher was clearly in distress. The front of her dress was soaked and she was almost doubled over with Bash holding her up.

"Bash?" Gilbert asked in shock. "Muriel?"

"She's in labor," Bash explained, alarm filling his voice. "We don't know what to do."

"I thought you were going to the doctor in Carmody," Gilbert responded urgently.

"He wouldn't help us as soon as he saw me."

Rage slowly filled Gilbert's veins. "You have got to be kidding me." He paused and took a deep breath. "You have no other options?"

Bash shook his head. "We need you."

Gilbert stared at them for a moment before nodding. "Okay, come on in."

As they walked in Gilbert started doing a mental checklist of everything he was going to need as Muriel had a contraction.

"How long ago did your water break?" he asked Muriel.

She took a deep breath and looked at him. "Uh, maybe two hours ago?"

He sighed. "Okay, then we need to get this baby out. Follow me."

As he guided them to the spare bedroom, he called over his shoulder, "Anne, I'm going to need your help!"

He got Muriel settled in the bed and Bash sat next to her as Anne walked in, blinking sleep from her eyes as she wrapped a robe around her.

"What's going on?" she asked tiredly.

"This baby is coming now," Gilbert explained.

Immediately snapping to attention, she nodded. "O-Okay, what can I do?"

With Muriel's consent, he checked to see how dilated she was.

Returning his attention to Anne, he said, "Can you get all the towels we have and the babash?"

She nodded and rushed out. As Gilbert checked to see the baby's position, he forced himself not to panic. He wasn't incredibly experienced in childbirth, but he knew that if he could do it once with limited resources, he could do it again.