Both of them had realised just how unprepared they had been for Joyce. Not a single baby rearing book had been purchased, not a single piece of research had been done. Now in the fourth month, Gilbert was in town and had been looking for his own research purposes a book published. The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Designed for the Use of Practitioners and Students of Medicine. When he had stumbled upon "Practical Child Training" and several other child rearing and pregnancy books the most useful of which he had purchased. He had struggled to carry them all, perhaps he was a little over excited as he saw his wife's mouth drop at the sheer volumes of books he had
"Gilbert Blythe!" She exclaimed "what did you do?"
He picked out a pregnancy one he had picked out.
"I want you to tell me if there is a single variation from this." He told her sternly. "Anything... anything at all."
"Gil..." She trailed.
"Please Anne, I want you safe, I want our baby safe, I'm not taking any risks this time. I let you do too much last time, I let you get away with far too much... well we have Susan this time and we can read all these books... study and KNOW what we need to do this time."
"But you are a doctor, everything you don't know isn't with knowing on the subject." She said.
"My specialty is surgery, I'm not an obstetrician, I know enough for giving birth and I plan on lots of practice... but..."
"You can't protect me forever." Anne said as he took her in his arms.
"I can try." He whispered gently. He kissed her romantically swept her of her feet taking her in bridal carry to the bedroom.
Anne was sitting up in bed reading "Gilbert dear listen to this 'How can a mother reasonably expect her child to learn correct speech, when she continually accustoms its impressionable gray matter to such absurd expressions and distortions of our noble tongue as thoughtless mothers inflict every day on the helpless creatures committed to their care? Can a child who is constantly called `tweet itty wee singie' ever attain to any proper conception of his own being and possibilities and destiny?'" She raised her nose in respect to the words she had poured over.
Gilbert's eyebrow raised and bottom lip proceeded slightly in thought as nodded his head once in agreement. "It makes logical sense. The English language is clear enough in itself. We don't need additional vocabulary for the baby to sort to in order to find their voice." He sat up next to Anne in the bed.
"Well I suppose that does it." Anne said. "I shall never be flexible in it Gilbert, Never, never shall I speak 'baby talk' to our children. They may master the English language better than you and I put together." She smiled.
"Very well my dear. Then I concur." he went to her stomach and held it in his hand. "Did you hear that Baby Blythe, no baby talk." He kissed her stomach. "Mind you I can't imagine Sir Oracle agreeing with talking with you through the stomach either."
"Oh but we know that makes a difference, he loves hearing his papa." Anne smiled. "no this makes sense though doesn't is?"
"Isn't him ze darlingest itty sing," crooned Anne, hanging over the arm of her chair adoringly. "Dem itty wee pads are ze very tweetest handies in ze whole big world, isn't dey, you darling itty man."
Gilbert laughed. "Anne Blythe!" He scorned. "Sir Oracle would be ashamed of such language. What did you say 'I shall never be flexible' and you've scandalously broken it since the day he was born!"
"He never had any children of his own, Gilbert-I am positive he hadn't or he would never have written such rubbish. You just can't help talking baby talk to a baby. It comes natural-and it's right. It would be inhuman to talk to those tiny, soft, velvety little creatures as we do to great big boys and girls. Babies want love and cuddling and all the sweet baby talk they can get, and Little Jem is going to have it, bless his dear itty heartums."
"But you're the worst I ever heard, Anne," protested Gilbert, ... "I never heard anything like the way you talk to that child."
"Very likely you never did. Go away-go away. Didn't I bring up three pairs of Hammond twins before I was eleven? You and Sir Oracle are nothing but cold-blooded theorists. Gilbert, just look at him! He's smiling at me-he knows what we're talking about. And oo dest agwees wif evy word muzzer says, don't oo, angel-lover?"
Gilbert smiled widly put his arm about them. "Oh you mothers!" he said. "You mothers! God knew what He was about when He made you."
Needless to say Gilbert started baby talk from that point onwards, not as much as Anne, he also fed that book to the fire.
