Anne was jumping up and down impatiently as the plane unboarded. She was finally home. Her longing for Ireland was overshadowed by the fact that she was home and she'd see her friends and her adoptive family in the half-hour or so it took to drive home. Finally, she unboarded and made her way to the luggage carousel. The one for her flight had yet to start moving, so she pulled out her phone, turning off airplane mode and checked to see if she had any messages.
"Anne!" Someone called out, making the named look up from her phone. "Anne! I'm over here!"
Anne spun around to see her best friend holding a giant sign with her name on it in block letters and covered in glitter, "Diana!"
Grabbing her carry on bag, Anne ran as fast as she could to Diana. Seven years without her, a perfect kindred spirit, was almost unbearable.
"Oh Anne," Diana hugged her fiercely. "Seven years is far too long."
"Oh don't I know it. I've missed you so much."
"I swear, I've missed you more. You made other exciting friends while you were away and all I've had for company are the kids and my dear husband. I love Anne, Jack and Fred, but being a housewife gets awful boring when everyone around has left on some great adventure."
"Aww, Di. I'm almost jealous. I kinda wish that I chose to stay home. I loved Dublin so much. If I'd stayed home, I'd never had to have left Ireland."
"But then you'd never have seen it at all."
Anne smiled at her best friend sadly. "That's true."
"I think I see your bag, Anne. Go grab it and we'll talk in the car."
Diana had indeed spotted Anne's bag. She was lucky enough to have hers on the carousel first. She grabbed it and rolled it over to Diana. Diana took one of her bags and led her to the car, the two of them chatting all the way there. On the way home to Avonlea, they never stopped talking. Diana was excited to hear all about Dublin and her job. Most of it she had heard already in Anne's letters, but it was different with Anne there. Anne wanted to hear all about Anne and Jake, Diana's kids. She had missed both their births sadly and was more than willing to make time to meet her niece and nephew.
"They miss you," Diana said on the subject. "They don't even know you but Fred and II have been calling you Auntie Anne and they can't wait to see you. You better have brought them souvenirs."
Anne laughed, "you think I would forget?"
The drive felt like it happened in just seconds, rather than 30 minutes. When the two of them got to Green Gables, Marilla and Matthew were standing on the porch, waiting for them. They both came running down to meet the car.
"Oh Anne," Marilla said, taking Anne into her arms the second she left the car. "We've missed you something awful."
Anne melted into the hug. "I've missed you too Marilla. Seven years is a long time."
Marilla let go of her adoptive daughter and gazed at the young woman she'd become.
"We're very proud of you, Anne," Matthew said, as quiet as ever, pulling Anne into a hug.
"Aww. You're making me cry." Anne laughed.
"I'll take your bags to your room." Matthew smiled at Anne, taking the bags from Diana.
"Come inside. I'll make us some tea and you can tell us everything." Marilla said, grabbing Anne's hand and squeezing it. "Of course, you're welcome to join us, Diana."
"Oh, thank you Miss Cuthbert, but I must get back home. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Anne?"
"Of course." Anne dropped Marilla's hand and hugged Diana again. "I'll come over after lunch. Maybe you can help me find a job."
"Of course." Diana hugged her friend tightly, then dropped her arms and made her way to the car, waving goodbye as she left.
Anne watched her leave, waving back. This wasn't like the last time she left. She'd see her friend again tomorrow and maybe the day after. The loneliness that had followed her during her last days in Ireland had all but disappeared, leaving Anne contented to be home with her family and friends.
"Come in Anne," Marilla put her arm on Anne's shoulder. " Tell me everything."
And Anne did. After Matthew had come down from putting her bags in her room, Anne, Marilla and he sat in the parlour, drinking tea, eating biscuits Marilla had made and sharing stories. Anne, of her time and Ireland and Marilla and Matthew, of the going ons in Avonlea. Altogether, it was pleasant. Afterwards, Anne had a quick dinner before going to bed. She was exhausted due to all the travelling. The second she got into her room, she sighed contentedly. It was just as she remembered it. The colours of the setting sun filtered through the snow queen's gorgeous flowers, giving the east gable room a soft orange glow. Her bags and some boxes she had sent home much earlier sat, unpacked, but she was too exhausted to start unpacking so instead she changed into pyjamas and flopped onto her comfortable bed. She rolled over and fell asleep within seconds.
The next morning she awoke slowly. She could hear the rooster crowing, which meant Matthew had to get up and work, but it was a long time after that when she opened her eyes. For a while longer, she laid there, soaking in the warm sun and admiring her gabled room. She didn't get up until she heard a soft knock at her bedroom door. She slipped out of bed and opened the door to see Marilla behind it.
"Anne. You're awake. I was just checking because breakfast is ready."
"Oh! I didn't expect you to make anything. Thank you. I'll be down as soon as I get dressed."
After breakfast, Anne spent at least an hour unpacking. She barely had any clean clothes left so she threw a load of laundry in the washer and put on the only clean pair of jeans and t-shirt she had, and grabbed a quick lunch.
After texting Diana to make sure she could come over, Anne hugged Marilla, promising to be home for dinner, and started on her way to Diana's. The Cuthberts didn't have a car because everything they needed was in town, so Anne walked to the nearest bus stop.
It only took her twenty minutes by bus to get to the Wright household. The second Anne knocked on their door, the door was thrown wide. "Auntie Anne!" A young, black-haired child shouted, attaching herself to Anne's leg.
"Oh," Anne gasped, " Hi there. You must be Anne."
"I am!" Anne Wright smiled up at her namesake.
"Annie!" A voice called from inside the house, "what did we tell you about opening the door to strangers?"
"Oh, but daddy," the younger Anne pleaded with a middle-aged, dark-haired man came up behind her.
"No buts," the man centered on the older Anne as the younger detached herself from her leg and made her way inside. "Anne, it's good to see you again."
"Oh, Fred. It's lovely to see you as well."
"Diana has been waiting for you. She's in the kitchen."
Anne followed Fred into the house, closing the door behind her and toeing off her runners. She remembered being there when Diana and Fred were looking at the house, though she missed the buying. She still remembered the way to the kitchen and made her way to it. The house was relatively clean, with the occasional toy laying around. The kitchen, on the other hand, was completely different. There were pots and pans and dirty dishes strewn all over the place. In the middle of the mess was Diana Write, looking a little stressed.
"Diana," Anne called out to her friend.
Diana spun around and a smile broke out onto her face. "Anne. I'm sorry about the state of this place. I need to make dinner and lunch in advance. We're heading out for the day. The kids need a break from school. It's not out here for another week."
"Don't worry about it, Di. How can I help?"
"Umm…" Diana spun around a few times, Can you… start washing dishes?"
"Of course," Anne plugged her phone in on the counter and started running the water in the sink. "What are you making."
"Soup. But of course, everyone has their own choices as to what can and can't go in the soup. Annie won't eat onions, Jack is allergic to beans, Fred won't eat spinach or kale. It's a nightmare having to make four different soups."
Anne laughed. "Suddenly I'm not sorry I worked instead of starting a family."
Diana laughed as well. "It's not so bad. I love my family. If I didn't, I would make one soup and tell them all to suck it up."
The girls fell into peels of laughter.
"Speaking of working," Diana started after their laughter had subsided, "do you have a job lined up? I don't know if the Avonlea school would accept you unless you took a French immersion position, but I know there are positions available in Charlottetown. I started asking around once I heard you were coming back."
"Oh Di, you know my french is abysmal. And I can't get to Charlottetown. It'll probably take me ages just on the bus."
"I could ask around a little more. Maybe you could find a spot at the Avonlea school. It is the end of the semester. You could always try and edge your way in. Someone as well travelled as you would probably be highly requested."
"I might be able to. I don't know Diana." Anne stopped doing dishes and turned to her friend. "I think I want to try something new. Still with children if I can manage it. I've taught for seven years and I always wanted to try all sorts of things as a kid."
Diana looked up from the vegetables she was cutting. " Well some rumours were going around," she trailed off.
"About what?"
"Gilbert Blythe is recently widowed." Diana started slowly, "it's been about a year now."
Anne nodded slowly, "I heard. Didn't he just finish his doctorate?"
"He did," Diana went back to chopping vegetables, "He has three daughters, and according to rumours, he's looking for a nanny. He can't handle the three of them and his full-time job."
"I imagine it was easier when they were in school."
"I imagine so. Maybe you should pay him a visit. I see him around the kids' school so I can put in a good word for you."
Anne hummed and went back to cleaning dishes. "Give me his number and I'll call him up."