The Three of Us

3. Back to Normal

Hey guys, if you're new to my stories, you might read this chapter and think "Wait- why is Anne pregnant?! Why is she being driven to school and why is she avoiding Gilbert?" Just read a couple chapters, I promise it quickly unfolds so you know what happened!

When the buggy reached the school, Anne climbed down with far less hesitation than she had the previous day. But Matthew still said, "We'll wait a few minutes, Anne, to be sure he doesn't come." Then he added, "If you go inside and he's in there, you come right back out and we'll take you home."

But Billy was nowhere to be seen, and Jane and Prissy were talking by themselves at Prissy's desk. That's good, Anne thought, feeling better about the day.

Anne breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Gilbert wasn't there yet. She sat down with Diana and talked as fast as she possibly could, to get all her thoughts in before the bell rang.

Gilbert slipped in only seconds later, but Anne tried not to notice him. When he finally managed to catch her eye, Anne gave him only a polite nod.

Gilbert's heart sank. What could he do? The only thing to do, he thought sadly, was to give her space. He opened his notebook and reviewed his notes from the previous day, feeling very lonely.

As Mr. Phillips called the class to attention, Anne reluctantly stopped talking to Diana and got out her work.

While Anne was in school, the Cuthbert's made their way over to the Andrews'.

Mrs. Andrews let them in, but there was a moment of awkward silence until Marilla asked, "Have you made arrangements for your son's schooling?"

Marilla really just wanted to know if Billy would be sent away to a boarding school, or if he was staying here in Avonlea.

"We have someone coming next week, we're considering engaging- excellent references, a stellar academic history..." she trailed off, already emotional. "If they work out, then it'll all be settled."

Marilla nodded. "That's good."

There was another silence.

"Is Anne..." Mrs. Andrews trailed off, shaking her head.

"What?" Marilla asked a bit more sharply than she meant to.

"Perhaps I haven't any right to ask, but I wondered how she was doing. If...if she was able to go back to school, and how her health has been..."

Marilla softened a bit. She had a very low opinion of Mrs. Andrews, simply because she was the one who had raised Billy. But she could also tell that- unlike Mr. Andrews- Mrs. Andrews seemed to be feeling a tad more contrition.

"She returned, yes, and as far as we can tell she's doing well."

There was another silence.

Marilla wanted to rub in the seriousness of what Billy had done, and said then: "She has frequent nightmares. It's been difficult to get her to sleep."

Mrs. Andrews couldn't even look up at them.

Marilla moved to the door. "We'll be going, now."

Mrs. Andrews opened the door for them.

But after Marilla stepped out, she turned back. "I am curious, Mrs. Andrews, about the sum of money your husband put in the bank. How did you arrive on such an amount?"

There was a long silence. Finally Mrs. Andrews said, "I found out what lady teachers ordinarily make in a year. And I thought about how there'd be several years she would have been teaching..."

"And you were replacing it." Marilla finished.

She didn't know what to say.

"Mrs. Andrews," Marilla said- uncomfortable now because she wanted to be angry with her but it was much harder to be angry with someone who was beginning to give in to you- "I appreciate how you're seeing our side of things. I know it can't be easy."

Mrs. Andrews only nodded.

After a few minutes she said, "If my husband knows you don't want it, he'll think we should take it back, but I have no intention of touching that money."