The Three of Us

10. One Thing at a Time

After a big evening of eating, Anne was brought back to Green Gables stuffed to the brim with potatoes, carrots, gravy, and beef. Marilla had sent the whole pie over with Anne- to make up for the rudeness of showing up for dinner without having asked Mrs. Kincannon first- but Anne had eaten more than her fair share of pie, too.

"Aah," Anne sighed happily, leaning back in the buggy. "That was the best dinner I've ever had. It was a work of art. A marvelous, mouth-watering, delectable work of art."

Gilbert smiled. "I'll let Mrs. Kincannon know. Not that she'll be wondering."

"Did I eat too much?" Anne asked, suddenly sitting up straight. "I hope I didn't make a bad impression."

"No, she seemed happy you were so enthusiastic about her cooking."

They pulled up to the house, and Gilbert got down to help Anne out of the buggy.

He said, "So now that I know beef is the way to your heart, I'll have to try to get Mrs. Kincannon to make it more often."

Anne hugged him goodbye.

"You want me to come walk with you in the morning?" he asked.

Anne paused.

"Yes," she said with a smile.

She was going to attend school in the morning. She was sure she wouldn't get sick anymore, because how could anyone feel nauseous and have such a good appetite?

---

In the morning, she was sick only once, and got ready for school intending to meet Gilbert. Marilla at first told her "afternoons only", but Anne convinced her by saying, "Marilla, I don't feel sick right now- I'm telling the truth this time!- and the thing of it is, I can tell now when I'm going to be sick. It isn't so sudden anymore. So I'll have enough time to raise my hand and ask to go to the privy."

"Well..." she looked out the window at Gilbert coming up the porch steps. "All right. If you think you really have enough time to ask. ...I just don't want you to have any accidents, is all. It would embarrass you to be sick in the classroom."

When Anne was walking home from school, she and Gilbert walked by Mrs. Lynde, just coming from Green Gables, with her nose in the air. They both greeted her, but Mrs. Lynde's face was tight and offended.

When the two got into the house and shut the door, Anne put her things away while saying, "Mrs. Lynde seemed especially prickly when we passed her coming home, Marilla."

Marilla was putting books back into a brown package.

Anne came over to her quickly. "Ooh, Marilla, did you order books?!" She bounced excitedly around her, trying to see them.

Marilla shut the lid firmly. "I did. But they're for grown-ups."

Anne was not going to be dissuaded from seeing new books. "Couldn't I read them anyway? If there are words I don't know yet, I'm sure I can figure them out. I'd love to collect some new words-please?"

Marilla looked at her, then at Gilbert. "We'll look at them later, Anne."

"Why was Mrs. Lynde so upset?" Anne wanted to know, giving up on the books.

"She felt that I was not relying on her expert wisdom," Marilla said with a sigh. "Anyway, you and Gilbert go sit in the parlor now."

When Gilbert had gone, Anne asked again about the books. Marilla sat down at the kitchen table. She drew Anne close. "I'll show you the books in a moment. First, we must talk."

Anne felt a pit in her stomach.

"I think at this point, we must go under the assumption that you are expecting," Marilla began.

"But I might not-" Anne protested.

Marilla cut her off. "If you are not, it will be a happy surprise. But I think we have seen enough to assume that you likely are, and so we must accept that."

Anne did not want to accept that.

"I ordered a few books on the subject. To make sure I'm doing the right things to take good care of you."

Marilla took out the first book. The cover said, Ladies' Guide in Health and Disease by Dr. John Kellogg. "This one isn't just about pregnancy, but the excerpts I read in the catalog seemed to have a lot of information about it, so I thought it was a good place to start. I'm glad you like to read, because I think you ought to read them, too."

Anne shook her head, backing up from Marilla. "No. No, I don't want to read those," she said.

Marilla looked at her a moment, then sighed and set the book back on the table. "Perhaps you'll feel differently later. Anyway, as I said, we must assume. How were you today- were you able to go to the privy?"

"Yes," Anne said reluctantly. "Mr. Phillips let me go every time I raised my hand. He didn't say anything to me. And I had plenty of time to go out there before it came."

"That's a relief," Marilla breathed.

Anne didn't want to think about any of that, so she asked, "What did you mean about Mrs. Lynde? That you weren't taking her advice?"

"She's had ten children and was offended that I sought the advice of medical doctors I've never heard of, when she's so close by to tell me all I need to know!"

Anne couldn't help smiling at this. But then she felt unhappy. She's had ten children...Anne was now used to hearing expecting being discussed. But to her, expecting only meant things about herself- getting sick in the mornings, and knowing her stomach would eventually begin to expand. The idea of children at the end of all that had been pushed out of her mind. Now she was reminded that 'expecting' also meant eventually there was going to be a baby.

She felt she might cry, and as tears sprang to her eyes, Marilla softened. "Oh, Anne, I'm sure Rachel won't stay angry at me for long. It isn't a disagreement you caused, darling."

Anne shook her head. She hastily wiped her eyes. "Marilla, this isn't fair. What am I going to do?"

Marilla's eyes softened. "You don't have to do anything. Just take care of yourself, is all. And listen to what Matthew and I tell you."

"But what will I do about school?" she asked.

"Don't tell anyone at school," Marilla told her. "There's no reason for anyone to know, not at this point. Rachel says it'll likely be a while before anything shows, so you may as well continue with your schooling as planned."

"Eventually I'll have to stop, because- oh, no, everyone will see me! I'll just keep getting bigger and bigger, and everyone will know!" Anne's imagination went wild with disapproving looks from passersby and gossip whispered when her back was turned.

"But you'll stop going before it becomes plain to see," Marilla told her.

"And then what?" Anne asked, sounding very small and very lost.

Marilla held her close again. "Let's just take one thing at a time."