A/N: Guest I'm not making any promises :), but most likely Anne will be an only child

"Em em," Caleb waved his arms around as Marilla carried him into the kitchen.

"Aren't you a happy lad?" Marilla bounced him her on her hip.

He saw his toy animals in a basket and put his arms out as Marilla set him down in the floor. She took out her knitting and watched him play, careful not to drop a stitch.

After a time, Caleb got bored and he pulled on Marilla's skirt.

She looked down at the toddler, amused.

"What else would you like to do?"

She looked at the clock, it had only been a half hour, most likely Thomas wouldn't be back for at least another hour.

"How about a snack?"

She buttered a piece of bread and broke it into tiny pieces, handing them to his outstretched slobbery hand.

Once fed he began to miss his mama and cried his heart out, screaming "Ma! Ma!"

"Shh, shhh, i got you. Aunt Marilla has you," Marilla tried to pacify him as she rocked him in her arms.

He cried himself to sleep on her shoulder, and soon was snoring softly, sucking his thumb.

Marilla's heart clench painfully for one of her own as she watched him sleep.

After a while like that her arms began to go numb and she had to start making dinner. She didn't want to put him in her bed, in case he fell out, and he was too big to put in a basket.

"Hmm," she thought hard about where to put him.

She decided to lay him on the kitchen floor, on a blanket and out of the way of any danger. He slept on while she supervised him and cooked at the same time, smiling when he grunted; when he giggled in his sleep she felt her heart burst.

Matthew walked in and Marilla quickly shushed him, nodding over to the toddler on the floor.

Matthew whispered, "he's a real heavy sleeper, eh?"

"Mmhmm, he's been asleep for about, oh, maybe fifteen minutes now. I want one of my own so badly, Matthew."

"It's not like we haven't tried," Matthew pointed out as he poured himself some tea.

"I know. I suppose it's just my impatience," Marilla admitted.

Caleb woke up just then and giggled as Matthew picked him up and jiggled him on his knee.

Marilla looked on with approval, "you'd make a wonderful father."

Matthew just smiled at her as he played peek a boo with Caleb.

Caleb stayed with them through supper, babbling away on Marilla's lap. She knew Rachel fed him porridge around this time and made him a bowl.

Once he was being fed he stopped babbling, to entranced by the spoon coming towards his mouth.

Over his stew Matthew watched his wife with the child. She truly was amazing; it looked entirely natural to her. He figured it would, she had cared for many people after all: Michael, after his fall, her mother, and her father during their illnesses, and now baby Caleb. He supposed that this kind of care was different to caring for a sickly person.

While they sat by the fire, late in the night and long after Caleb fell asleep in Marilla's arms, a sharp rap at the door interrupted the calm aura in the house.

"Ah, Rachel, how lovely to see you, Caleb fell asleep a bit ago," Matthew informed her as he ushered her to the fire.

Caleb woke up to the sound of his mother's voice and pushed away from Marilla.

"How's my boy," Rachel crooned to him as he slapped his tiny hands against her chest.

Marilla smiled, watching the exchange, she hoped that soon she'd get to experience what Rachel had every day.

"How is the cow?" Marilla asked, trying to take her mind off of the baby.

"Thomas isn't sure what her problem is. She might not make it through the night. It's a shame too, she was one of our finest milkers."

Marilla and Matthew nodded in empathy, the life of a farmer was hard work and not guaranteed to be successful, but it was very rewarding at the same time.

Marilla kissed Caleb goodbye and then went and sat down by the fire with Matthew.

"Matthew?"

"Hm?"

"I love you"

"I love you, too, Em"

Months later Thomas Lynde pounded on Green Gables's door, late at night.

"Marilla!"

A slightly disheveled Marilla appeared in her dressing gown.

"Thomas? Is everything alright?"

"It's Rachel. The baby's coming!"

"Let me get my coat."

"Marilla, wait, is Matthew up?"

"Yes he is," Marilla looked at him questioningly.

"Rachel doesn't want me there and Caleb and I have no where else to go."

"I see. Of course you're welcome here! Matthew is just getting dressed."

"Thank you," Thomas said gratefully, walking in with Caleb bundled up in his arms. Matthew came down and gave a jittery Thomas some wine, Marilla had made to calm his nerves, while Marilla jumped on Thomas's horse and rode over to Lynde Hollow.

She put the horse in the barn and ran inside the house, the stable hand would untack the horse for her.

"Rachel?!"

"We're up here," a foreign woman's voice called.

Marilla raced up the stairs to see her friend pacing back and forth. The midwife was getting ready by the nightstand. She was a pretty woman, with a kind face; Marilla felt quite comfortable with her.

Rachel leaned on the bed and let out a pained moan.

"Breath, dear, it'll be over soon," Marilla tried to encourage her friend but she knew that her words were meaningless.

"I need you to push for me now, Mrs. Lynde," the midwife urged from the foot of the bed.

"Ahhh!" Rachel screamed, as she bore down and pushed, while Marilla wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.

A few more pushes later and a cry could be heard.

"It's a girl! And she's beautiful," the midwife smiled as she rubbed the baby down with a towel and then handed her over to her mother.

Rachel's tear stained face glowed with happiness as she held her daughter in her arms. Marilla smiled and laughed when the baby opened her eyes.

"What are you going to name her?" She asked her friend.

"Thomas and I decided on Sarah for a first name, and Grace for her middle name," Rachel said breathlessly as she looked at her baby girl.

The midwife checked Rachel, the afterbirth, and the baby over before leaving. As Rachel had already given birth her body was more equipped than it had been with Caleb.

"I'll get Mr Lynde on my way out," the midwife said as she left.

"Rachel? Why didn't you want Thomas around for this?"

"That's just how it is, Marilla. The man stays out of the birthing room."

Marilla thought about this and wondered if she would have Matthew in the room with her when her time came. She stayed over with Rachel only leaving the room for a few minutes to give Thomas and Caleb some time alone with the new baby.

The next day Marilla left in the afternoon and that's when sadness replaced the happiness she had been feeling for Rachel.

Matthew held his wife's hand as she described the baby's every feature, her perfect nose, and small fingers, her soft head and greenish-brown eyes.

"I'm going to go lay down," Marilla sighed as she finished her tale and left the table to go catch up on sleep.

Matthew began to seriously wonder why she hadn't gotten pregnant yet. Most couples got pregnant within their first few moths of marriage and he and Marilla had been married for a while now, so how come it never happened? He fought back the idea that maybe it wasn't possible for them but for the next few months it lingered in the back of his mind.

A/N: Merry Christmas all!