The Three of Us

164. Unfinished Dream

Her hands, that could only be described as electric, ran down his chest, igniting a fire within him. But when he felt her fingers sliding underneath his shirt, reaching for the button on his pants, his breath stopped short.

He did not pull away from her this time.

On the contrary he pulled her closer, tasting the raspberry punch on her tongue, his hands traveling down her back, not stopping at the small of her back but continuing on, feeling the curve of her behind.

She was still grappling with that button on his pants, but in another moment she had it loose.

He began fumbling around her clothing, too, so that he could slip his hands into her dress, and when he finally did, his hands shook from the novelty of her naked skin. He paused a moment at her waist, but continued downward, his chilled hand warmed on her hip and then her thigh.

They had not yet touched each other between the legs, but now they were going to, he knew. But before he could even move his hand in to touch her there, he was nearly knocked senseless by the feeling of her hands on his most intimate area-

Gilbert was startled awake by a toddler jumping on his bed.

"Gil-ber awake!" Walter said happily.

"Y-yes, I'm awake," he said sleepily, his face still pushed into his pillow.

"Now we make pancakes," Walter demanded. "Pancake surprise."

Gilbert sat up, groaning, his head falling into his hands.

Walter pulled on his arm.

"Walter, stop," he said. He stretched, trying to move the thoughts out of his head.

"Pancake," Walter insisted.

"Is mama even up yet?" Gilbert asked him. His voice was not as kind as it could have been.

"No, mama sleeping," Walter said. "Gil-ber pancake."

Gilbert was not ready to go downstairs and see anyone, or even to get up out of bed. He just sat there, under his heavy quilt, hoping the dream would fade away and that his body would return to normal, because otherwise he would go out of his mind.

"Gil-ber, Gil-ber, Gil-ber," Walter shouted, so joyful to be able to see his favorite person first thing in the morning.

Gilbert- tuning the baby out- finally, slowly, rolled out of the bed, feeling miserable. He splashed some water on his face.

He looked over at Walter, who was still bouncing on his bed. "Walter, when you wake up in the morning you can't leave your room without mama. Unless grandpa or grandma came in there to get you."

"Why?"

"Because you aren't supposed to be by yourself with no grown up to watch you."

"Why?"

Gilbert's unfinished dream left him with little patience. "Because when mama wakes up, she's going to look over at your bed and she'll see that it's empty and she'll be scared- she'll worry you wandered off and got hurt."

"I a big boy," Walter insisted.

Gilbert sighed. "Well, big boy, your diaper's soiled."

Gilbert stepped behind the screen in the room to change out of his nightshirt and into fresh clothes.

When he finished dressing, he washed his face and combed his hair.

"Now pancake," Walter announced.

"Yes, yes, we can have pancakes..." Gilbert did not know what to do about the diaper. He did not know where Anne had clean diapers, and he'd never been told by Anne that he could change him, anyway.

But he didn't have long to wonder. As they made their way downstairs, he saw that Marilla and Matthew were both in the kitchen. Marilla looked up, seeing them coming down the stairs, Gilbert holding onto Walter's little hand all the way down the staircase.

"Good morning, Gilbert," Marilla said pleasantly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, ma'am," Gilbert answered. But not well enough, he thought.

"Gil-ber pancake," Walter said, pulling on Gilbert's hand.

"He wants me to make pancakes," Gilbert explained.

"Now, Walter, Gilbert is our guest. We won't put him to work," Marilla told the little boy.

"I don't mind, really," Gilbert said. "He likes them, and so does Anne- have you eaten yet? I don't want to intrude if you're already cooking something else."

Marilla shook her head. "I haven't started anything yet. Oh, Walter, let's get you changed."

She led Walter into her bedroom to get his nappy changed; she had some fresh diapers in her room as well in Anne's, so that they could change him either place.

Gilbert greeted Matthew, too, who was reading the newspaper, and the two began a bit of a conversation over the week's news as Gilbert set to work making pancakes.

Gilbert loved his newfound family, but as much as he was looking forward to Walter being his own, he found it a tad frustrating- he would have all the responsibilities of a baby...without having had the enjoyment of actually making the baby.

But then he reminded himself that Anne had all the responsibilities of a baby without getting any enjoyment out of the process of making it, either.