when tragedy strikes ☾ shirbert

chapter 14: like mother, like daughter

a/n:

hi! vote!! thank you!

enjoy the chapter, it's short (due to my incredibly low attention span right now) and sweet (ish, sweet-ish). ♡ ♡

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"There 'ya are," Matthew said, scratching behind the heifer's ear, stroking her brown hair while leaning over the fence post. "You relax, now."

With a grunt, he draws himself back over the cow's stall, huffing. The lantern he lit some while ago is hung steadily on the hook beside him, tapering, but still aglow on the heifer and her newborn calf. Matthew was positive they welcomed a girl, the daughter snug against her mother's side, snorting every once in a while. He thought to save naming her for Anne, partially because he couldn't think of anything himself.

Evenings were still cold in Avonlea, as Matthew was adorned with a brown cap, striped shirt, tan work pants, and vest. All wore strikes of dirt or smut, small holes gaping at the cuffs of his sleeves. He sat on the bench along the wall that faced the stall, swirling his tin mug of watered-down rum.

Anne made her way over to Green Gables that night, arriving as Matthew was taking a swig of his drink. He saw her just past the rim of his cup, finishing his sip and setting it down. The girl in front of him was only in her nightgown, long, yet the ivory cloth Marilla chose to sew it with was thin. It couldn't have been keeping her very warm, but Matthew suspected her cascading hair posed as an extra layer.

He motioned her to where the cattle laid, since this would be her first time seeing the newborn. Keeping his seat, Matthew watched his girl slowly approach their pen, his lips prickling with a grin.

"Oh, Matthew," Anne let out, setting her lantern down without taking her eyes off the calf, in awe at the rare sight of life so innocent and young.

"She's beautiful."

"Ain't she," He agreed, noticing the little one's ears twitch at the sound of Anne's soft voice.

"Why hello there, girl," She murmured, eyes at a slower blink, "Aren't you the cutest thing?"

The calf tucked her front legs further under her body, laying her head on a spread of hay. Matthew described everything to Anne after the birth; of course her sex, coloring, mannerisms- like the big stretches he'd catch her in after feeding. The happiest of news was that the baby learned how to stand just three hours after being born.

"You look an awful lot like your mother," Anne smiles.

And she did, nearly remarkably; a white patch of hair clouded around her left eye, speckling jumping from her back legs to her ears, all akin to her mom's.

As done many times before, Anne used one of the bottom fence boards as a step and swung one leg over the pen, securing a sit on top of the fence. She leaned against the barn wall, with a loose hold on the top plank, though she wasn't at all afraid of falling off. This used to be more comfortable years ago when she first arrived at Green Gables, a frail vision of what she comes to be now.

"Name 'er," Matthew suggests, still wearing a grin, "I'm sure you have a nice one in mind."

"You didn't name her yet?" Anne asked, timidly, but Matthew knew her well enough to see that she was excited.