A/N Okay, so I feel like I have to explain a few things. Firstly, thank you for all those who are reading this, enjoying it, etc. This is my first published fic so it means a lot. Second, sorry for my extended hiatus, this website likes to mess with my documents so I don't always know when I'll get a chapter out or when the website will decide to delete my whole chapter for the fun of it. Thirdly, this chapter is partly written the same night as the last chapter, so it's happening simultaneously to Anne. I imagine it could get confusing. Anyway, enjoy!

Gilbert's experiences with Anne Shirley-Cuthbert have been mixed. Even since they first met, their rivalry was challenging but entertaining. When they weren't fighting (which barely happened until they got to Queen's) was a brief respite where he could hope they might someday be friends. He admired her. Her charm and intelligence, her kindness and strong moral code, all these traits and more were endearing. She was so strong and self-assured, and he loved her for it. But like, in a friendly way. Maybe in high school, when he still wasn't sure who he was as a person yet, he might have had a crush on her, but not since then. He knew what Bash kept saying to him, but Bash was going crazy. All that time around his teenage daughter was really not doing him any favours.

Now is very different from high school, however. Even the first few years of Queen's was very different. After they graduated, Gilbert had gotten a girlfriend. Even then it had been an on and off thing, neither of them being particularly invested but enjoying each other's company from time to time. He was an aspiring doctor, she was planning on being a paramedic and they were very invested in their studies, with not much time to spare, so what could be more perfect? Part of the reason Gilbert didn't fully commit, according to Bash and some of his friends, was because he was waiting for Anne. He had to agree, but only partly. He wasn't waiting for Anne specifically, but someone maybe a little like her. His girlfriend at the time was great, she really was, but she never challenged him, never argued, never disagreed straight out. A little passive-aggressive and willing to switch opinions at a drop of a hat, their relationship was never really meant to last. Then Mary was born.

Neither of them particularly wanted to, but their families insisted that Mary couldn't be raised with parents who were apart, despite the fact that it really wasn't that uncommon anymore, so they got married, early in Gilbert's second year of Queen's. It was hard for both of them, juggling a baby, a part-time job and full-time classes, so Gilbert's wife gave up her dream of being a paramedic after much debate and looked after Mary full time.

After both of them had fully come to the grips with being married and the fact that they weren't likely to ever be married again, (they both had very conservative families who would never have accepted a divorce) they decided to have another kid. The same year Anne left for Ireland, Delilah was born. Mary, who was just starting to talk in full sentences at the time, was endlessly fascinated with her little sister, and Delilah was the same way when, 3 years later, Joy was born. Despite how hard it was paying for 3 girls and med school on 2 part-time jobs, Gilbert wouldn't have changed it for anything.

When his wife died, he was terrified. He had only just gotten his medical license and now he had to raise three kids all on his own. Even now, a year later, he would wake up, filled with dread about what he was potentially doing wrong. He had relied heavily on Bash and Delphine, who were usually both for taking care of the girls, but they were leaving town to visit Sebastian's hometown and wouldn't be back for a while, so when Diana sent him a text saying Anne was looking for work and could he possibly need a sitter or a nanny of some sort? he was so relieved, he almost cried.

It didn't occur to him that Anne was supposed to be in Ireland until he got a text from her after work, the evening after Diana asked if he'd consider her.

Anne

Hey gilbert I just got back from ireland. Want to catch up maybe?

He ignored the little flutter in his chest and chalked it up to surprise and Bash's influence. It took him a little while to compose the actual text; nothing he wrote seemed to be right. This should not be this hard, Anne was his friend and always had been. She had never judged him for his choices, had been in his wedding and talked him into going through with it when he wanted to back out. She had been at the hospital when Mary and Delilah were born, had offered help with them whenever needed, had sent postcards and letters to the girls because they found it endlessly fascinating. She was the first person he came to for advice. How had they grown apart so much that he couldn't answer a simple request to catch up? By the time he had changed out of his scrubs, he gave up and sent the first thing that he wrote.

For the rest of the evening, from picking his girls up to making and eating dinner and even to tucking the two younger girls into bed, he was hopelessly distracted. Several times, his daughters caught him daydreaming and he asked them to repeat themselves so many times he had lost count.

After tucking Delilah and Joy into bed and saying goodnight, Gilbert started helping Mary with her math homework. It was fairly easy stuff, especially considering it was the end of the year, but Mary was at the end of her rope for the day and Gilbert knew he was not helping her.

"Dad!" Mary startled Gilbert from his reverie for the third time in 10 minutes. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Are you even paying attention to me?"

"Yes," Gilbert shook himself for what must have been at least the hundredth time that evening. "Of course I am. I just have something on my mind. What were you saying."

Mary stayed leaning away from the paper, arms steadfastly crossed. "What is so important that you are getting distracted from your own daughter's m0ath work?"

Gilbert chuckled but then grew serious. "Do you remember Anne? I have some photos of her at the hospital holding you; I might've shown them to you."

Mary nodded slowly, "she's the red-head girl who's in your wedding photos. She sent us stuff from Ireland."

"She did. She's back now and looking for work."

Narrowing her eyes, Mary sat up a little. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well," Gilbert sighed and pushed one of his hands through his hair. He then took Mary's hand with a little resistance and said, "I think I'm going to hire her to take care of you guys. She's very good at it. She looked after you when you were younger if you can remember that."

"I can look after us," Mary insisted.

"I know you can. But summer is starting soon and you shouldn't have to spend all the time I'm gone looking after your sisters. This way you can do what you want and so can the others,' Mary started to protest again but Gilbert continued, "you're very capable and I trust you, but almost all day, every day is a lot. You've been doing very well when you girls don't have after school activities, but some days I'm gone for several hours."

"Then we can go to Bash and Delphie's place. They love us."

Gilbert dropped his head chuckling, "they do, but we've relied on them so much this past year and they're going to Trinidad for a few weeks this summer as well."

"Grandma and Grandpa's?"

"Not for the whole summer, Mary. They would love you but two months is a long time."

Mary slumped back into her seat, having straitened more with each protest. "You're going to hire her no matter what I say, aren't you?"

Gilbert let Mary's hands drop and smiled at her, "I am. This will be good for you, I promise."

"Fine," Mary said, crossing her arms again. "But you can't make me like her."

Gilbert laughed, "I wouldn't dare. Now, my little owl, neither of us are getting anywhere with this, so I think it's time for us to get to bed."

Mary nodded and started cleaning her stuff back into her backpack. She shuffled up the stairs and Gilbert followed. After helping her with her bedtime rituals, Gilbert tucked Mary into bed and kissed her goodnight.

He got up from her bed, turning off the light and moving to close the door but just before he did, Mary's voice stopped him, "dad? She's not going to replace momma, is she?"

Gilbert smiled sadly, but warmly. Mary tried to act tough to be a role model for her sisters, but sometimes, when it was just the two of them, Gilbert got to see her vulnerability. "No, owl. She won't replace mom."

With that, Gilbert closed the door and tiptoed down the stairs so as not to disturb the younger girls.