Author's Note: Once again, the words are mine and the idea belongs to krazyk25. And, as much as I may wish otherwise, the characters belong to L.M. Montgomery.


Chapter 3 – The Confrontation

The opportunity to confront Aunt Mary Maria arose the next afternoon. Anne, Susan and the children were out in the garden. The children were playing in the yard and Anne was watching them and talking with Susan about one thing or another. Gilbert was too preoccupied with his task to pay much attention to what was going on outside.

Aunt Mary Maria had gone to her room, claiming the children's playing was giving her a headache and she had to lie down. Gilbert had been in his office when he heard her say this to Anne. That was the last straw. The children weren't even being noisy; he'd heard hardly a peep drift in from the yard.

"Right," Gilbert thought. "That's it. It's time for me to be a man and stand up for my family. It's now or never."

Gilbert pushed himself up from his desk with a sigh, walked down the hall and knocked on the door.

"Come in," his aunt said, not sounding as if she had a headache at all; in fact, she sounded quite peppy.

Gilbert walked into the room, closed the door behind him and sat on a chair beside the bed on which Aunt Mary Maria was now resting.

"Aunt Mary Maria," Gilbert began. "There is something that I must discuss with you. It will not be easy, but it is very important."

"Alright, Gilbert dear, what is it. Speak up boy!"

"Well, it's about Anne and the children, Aunt Mary Maria. It has recently come to my attention that they haven't been very happy of late. I learned yesterday what the reason behind their depression is."

"And," Aunt Mary Maria replied. "What did you discover? They all have the flu, I suppose, or that Susan gave them some tainted food. I don't trust that woman at all!"

"Enough, Aunt Mary Maria," Gilbert stormed, his voice rising. "I will not have you insult my family or make alarmist claims. The problem is you, Aunt Mary Maria! You are the one causing their grief!"

"Me?" Aunt Mary Maria shrieked incredulously. "What do you mean by that, boy?"


Anne had come in from the garden. She and Susan were planning dinner and she wanted to ask Gilbert whether he would be home for dinner or not. She had entered the living room when she heard raised voices coming from Aunt Mary Maria's room. Alarmed, she quietly walked to the door and pressed her ear to it. Inside, she heard Gilbert's voice, stern and forceful, as he confronted Aunt Mary Maria.

"Yes, Aunt Mary Maria...you. Anne and the children can't be themselves when you're here. The children are dejected. They can't play. Everything that they say is met with a negative comment from you. And Anne. My dear, sweet Anne. She's been so depressed. She's a shadow of her former self. Because of my sense of clannishness and familial ties to you, they haven't said anything to you. But now, I'm saying what they couldn't. You need to start treating my family with the respect that they deserve."

"Oh, Gilbert, you really do know how to exaggerate. Annie and the children love having me here," Aunt Mary Maria replied, flippantly.

"I know my family better than you, I think, and since you've been her, they haven't been themselves. Now, you need to start treating them with respect, or you're going to have to leave. I will not have my family suffer a moment longer."

Anne heard Aunt Mary Maria splutter in response, not able to fully comprehend what she had heard. Anne couldn't believe that Gilbert had stood up for her like that. She knew how much he cared about family ties and he was actually telling his aunt to leave for her sake. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she heard Gilbert rise from his chair and walk towards the door.


A/N: And there's Chapter 3. Hope you all enjoyed it and we look forward to reading your reviews.