The Three of Us

178. Walter is Awful

As you can see by the title, this chapter is not exactly shirberty, but this chapter is a part of moving the story forward and getting to the good stuff and I cannot wait to get there.

....I'm going to be worse than Amybeth with her pen emoji. Lol.

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Anne thought that once summer came, and Gilbert was home, life would be a dream. But Walter for some reason chose this time to become- as Anne put it- awful.

He was demanding and bossy and threw a fit every time something did not go his way. He seemed to think nothing of hitting Anne and even Marilla and Matthew.

Anne did not want to spank him, thinking that if they hit Walter, he would only learn that hitting was perfectly acceptable if you were bigger and stronger than the other person. But she often wanted to.

Marilla and Anne both scolded Walter and tried to make him feel bad for what he'd done, but Matthew said nothing when Walter hit him, remaining gentle and patient, and something about his quiet acceptance made Anne feel even worse.

"I'm sorry," Anne cried to Marilla one evening after Walter had had another tantrum.

Walter had thrown his cup of milk on the floor, breaking it. When Anne scolded him, he smacked her in the face, and when Marilla tried to take over, he smacked Marilla too.

"It isn't your fault," Marilla said, surprised.

"But he's here. And he's here because of me. If I wasn't here, you wouldn't have to...deal with him."

"He isn't here because of you," Marilla pointed out.

Anne wiped her eyes.

Marilla went on, "And let's not be sorry he's here! Matthew and I love him. We never think about him not being here."

"I know," Anne agreed, feeling even worse.

Marilla patted her shoulder. "We'll get through this."

---

When Rachel was there, she could commiserate with Anne. Anne spent a long time telling her tale of woe, how she was trying to get Walter to stop being so 'awful'.

"It's the terrible twos," Rachel said wisely.

Anne was despondent. "But he's nearly four!"

"He really was a very pleasant two year old," Rachel said about it. "I'm not surprised it's caught up with him sooner or later! Those terrible twos always do, you know. I would warn you though- don't be so worried about it that you become overly harsh with him- that could backfire."

---

Jane and Ruby were leaving for their teaching assignments.

Anne came to Ruby's to help her pack and spend one last afternoon with her. When it came time for Jane to go, Anne took a big breath and went right over to Jane's house, intending to do the same.

While there, Anne reluctantly let Jane in on her worries over Walter.

After all, Jane might be the only one who could quell her secret fear:

"Ever since before he was born I've worried he would end up being..."

"I don't know how much is just the temperament that a person is born with, but I've come to think that it matters more how a person is brought up than any inborn nature they have," was Jane's sensible reply.

Anne felt hopeful. "You really think so?"

Jane thought about this. "The reason my brother acts the way he does is that Mother and Father never taught him to treat people better. When he did anything bad, they'd say 'oh, he'll grow out of it' or 'boys will be boys' or they'd just laugh it off- they made excuses for him. And they never minded if he put someone down as long as it meant he was putting himself or the family ahead."

Anne felt better. She wasn't going to do any of those things in raising Walter.

---

At least, she felt better until she got home and found Walter throwing a screaming, stomping fit on the parlor floor because Marilla would not let him push his rocking horse down the staircase.

Anne scooped him up, dodging his little fists swinging at her.

"I shouldn't have left him home! It isn't fair to you when I do that. I took him to Ruby's because I could, but I'm sorry, Marilla, I just couldn't take him with me to Jane's house!"

"I quite understand," Marilla told her, rubbing her temple. "Of course you didn't want to take him to Jane's. But now that you're back I'm going to have a little lie down. I feel a headache coming on."

Marilla could not come down for dinner. Anne checked in on her later and found her shades drawn to keep out the light.

---

Anne stopped going to church because she did not want anyone else to see how badly Walter was behaving.

She found herself crying frequently. She just did not know what to do with her son.

And Gilbert knew exactly what she was worrying about.

"Anne, darling, you can't think this way every time he has a tantrum," Gilbert coaxed. "All young children have them. I used to throw fits, I'm sure. I don't remember but if my father were here he could have told us."

Anne could not imagine Gilbert throwing fits.

"And I'm sure you had your share of tantrums. You still do," he said, stroking her cheek, a teasing smile on his face.

"It doesn't count as a tantrum if the person called you carrots first," she explained with a sniff.

Then her face grew serious.

Before she could even say anything, Gilbert pulled her close to him, wrapping her in a hug. "This has nothing to do with Billy," he whispered to her. "Walter is three. He doesn't know any better. He-"

"Don't say 'he'll grow out if it'" Anne choked, pulling away from him angrily. "That's what Jane told me her parents always said! He'll grow out if it! ...Well he didn't, did he?"

Gilbert shook his head, drawing her close again, and telling her in a soft voice, "I wasn't going to say he'll grow out of it."

"You weren't?"

"No. I was going to say he has to be taught. We need to teach him. And we'll do a good job teaching him. He's not going to be like Billy, Anne."

Anne lay her head against Gilbert's chest. She let out a shaky breath, and relaxed in his arms.