"Fall didn't bother me so much this year," Anne said happily, hoisting Walter up on her hip so he could see the very first snowflakes of winter outside.
Marilla smiled. "I'm relieved to hear it."
"Snow!" Walter said, banging on the glass.
Anne pushed his hands away from the window. "Don't do that, you'll break it," she told him. She set him down on the floor. "Two years and four months old," she said, looking down at him. "I can't believe it. You ought to still be a baby. ...Well, you are still a baby."
"I no baby," Walter demanded. "I a big boy."
"All right, all right, big boy. Go give grandma a hug and then off to bed."
"No bed," Walter argued.
"Yes, bed! It's nighttime now. See how dark it is? I let you stay up because it looked like snow, but now you've seen the snow, so it's off to bed with you."
"No bed!"
"Walter, Gilbert is coming tomorrow. If you won't go to bed tonight, then tomorrow can't come, and Gilbert will never get here," Anne threatened. It did not make sense, but it made sense to a two year old and he conceded.
---
"Gil-ber," Walter said as Anne put him in his bed.
"Yes, Gil-ber," Anne repeated. "He'll come tomorrow. Go to sleep now."
"Story," Walter demanded. "Mama tell a story."
"What story?" Anne asked, already tired and wanting him to go to sleep so that she could, too.
"A Gil-ber story," Walter reminded, because every night had to be a 'gil-ber' story.
"Yes, I know Gilbert has to be in the story," Anne agreed, "But what else should it be about?"
"'Bout chickens," he said happily.
"A story about chickens?" Anne thought. "Hmm..."
"No, 'bout bears," Walter changed his mind.
"Bears-"
"Ducks," he said.
"Walter, stop changing your mind! All right. Once upon a time there were five little yellow baby ducklings. They lived at the pond near Gilbert's house. One day Gilbert went out to the pond and he brought bread with him. He threw the bread to the ducks and they ate it. They liked the bread and wondered what else there was to eat in Gilbert's house. They decided they wanted to come visit, so they followed Gilbert home. He invited them to tea and they all sat around his parlor, their wings daintily holding teacups and saucers. They all remembered their manners and were perfect guests. After they finished their tea, they played croquet on the lawn..."
Walter was soon asleep and Anne could go to bed, too.
---
Gilbert couldn't believe his year at Queens was half over. He'd worked hard, and hoped that when the semester exam results came back he would be rewarded for all those hours of study. He did not need to worry- he came out first in every subject.
It was time for the Christmas holiday, and he was not the least bit mopey about leaving his roommates behind for a while. Their immaturity was infuriating, and even as he left they were kidding him about "what he'd be doing during winter break".
Before catching the train that would take him home, he stopped by a shop in town. A few weeks ago, he'd put a bracelet on layaway, and today he made the final payment. The lady at the shop smiled and asked him if it was for a special girl as she wrapped it in a maroon colored velvet box.
He'd been home to Avonlea nearly every weekend, but no weekend seemed long enough, and today he was over-the-moon because he had two whole weeks to spend with Anne before the spring term began at Queens.
---
It was so cold that Matthew and Marilla did not want Anne and Walter to go to the train station- the buggy ride with the snow and the cold wind in their faces would be too much. Marilla did not like the idea of any of them being out in that cold- and Matthew wasn't getting any younger- but someone had to go and so Matthew it was.
"Gilbert's almost here!" Anne told Walter, again lifting him up the window to see.
Gilbert could not breathe when he walked in, being smacked so hard he nearly fell over- the two bodies that hit him the second he was through the door knocked the wind out of him.
Anne was kissing him before he could get his breath back.
Walter did not like being ignored, and pulled Gilbert's hand and jumped up and down until at last Gilbert and Anne broke apart and Gilbert reached down to pick up the impatient little boy.
"I wanna go to your house," Walter said. "And meet the duckies."
"Duckies?" Gilbert asked, looking at Anne.
Anne smiled. "Walter, I made up that story, it was only pretend."
To Gilbert she explained, "Every night I have to tell him a 'gil-ber' story. Last night it was you inviting a bunch of ducklings over to play croquet."
Gilbert laughed, squeezing Walter to him. "There are duckies in a pond near my house," he told him. "But it's winter now, so they aren't there anymore. It's too cold. But you and I could go sledding. Would you like that?"
This had to be immediate; Gilbert wasn't there more than an hour before the three of them were off, tobogganing down the hill with Walter shouting in delight.
They were gone so quickly that Marilla did not have time to stop them from being foolish enough to go out in these temperatures.
---
"Have they given you any homework to do during the break?" Marilla asked as she set the steaming pot of stew on the table.
"Surprisingly not," Gilbert said with a relieved smile. "I expected it."
Marilla nodded with satisfaction. "I'm glad for that," she said. "You need a good break after all that- coming in first in your class! Your father would be proud. And so are we."
Anne squeezed Gilbert's hand under the table.
"Are you still doing all right with the one-year program?" Marilla went on. "Because if it's too much, you ought to do it in two years. It won't matter, will it, Anne?" She raised her eyebrows.
"No, it doesn't matter a bit to me if you need the extra year," Anne told him.
And she meant this now. She was anxious to start their lives together, but she realized that Gilbert had a lot on his plate and she was willing to be more patient.
"School a bad place," Walter said, suddenly a part of the conversation. He shook his head emphatically.
"School isn't bad," Gilbert said, reaching out and touching his blonde waves. "School is good- you learn things and it helps you have a good job."
Walter shook his head again. "School bad 'cuz it make Gil-ber go 'way."
"But I always come back," Gilbert said, again reaching out to him.
Walter got out of his seat and climbed into Gilbert's lap.
"And someday I won't go away to school at all, and then we can be together all the time."