A Blythe Family treasury chapter 2: an introduction most of the family

Jem leaned back in his seat and glanced lovingly down at his family he leaned over and kissed his wife of 17 years. Faith with the same passion as he'd had on the first day, Faith giggled and blushed ever so slightly at her husband; age and child birth had seemed to have had minute affect on her, she was still the beauteous Faith of days of yore, with the same angelic features and smile. She then turned her smile to her large family; she and Jem had had eight children.

16-year-old Jimmy was the firstborn of Jem and Faith; his name was really James Matthew Blythe Jr, but he was called Jimmy so as not to be confused with his Father whom he looked much like, with the same auburn curls; but his eyes were the emerald of his mother Faith's he was again like his dad in personality and aspiration for he had been studying at medical school since last spring and wanted to become a doctor like his father, this had become a bit of a tradition for the Blythe family as the first sons of each generation would follow the same career path; medicine. He was currently on a break but was not playing but was totally engrossed in one of his dad's medical journals he was always so diligent and had been the favorite of his professors at Redmond.

14-year-old Walt was next, and he looked almost exactly like his namesake, with the same straight black hair but had his uncle Carl's deep blue eyes, He was as quiet as his namesake was and had a gift for having the premonitions of his namesake and dream of being a world-famous poet. These traits made him a favorite with his aunt Rilla as well as his Grandmother Blythe.

The Eleven-year-old twins were next, Ellie was an exact replica of her mother Faith, with the same caramel colored curls and emerald eyes, and was interested in boys; in particular her cousin Drew, who her parents knew had his heart set on her and she too was aware of this and was her Father's pride and joy and was exactly like her mother Jem smiling lovingly at her he couldn't help as he thought 'Like mother, like daughter, she was beautiful, smart and talented already able to play the piano at an advanced level and already a graduate of the Glen St Mary musical academy of which she was a straight A student and a favorite student of her teacher Mr. Stevens.

Merry was three minutes younger than Ellie, she was not nearly as pretty or smart, she was petite and quite chubby with fiery red waves and chocolate brown eyes. She had her head buried in a book, as usual and was lost to a world of daring knights, grand castles and damsels in distress. She was used to living in Ellie's shadow and that was that. She was the favorite grandchild of her Grandfather Blythe

9-year-old Danny was next and was a favorite of Susan Baker's along with his cousins Charlie and Matty; Charlie obviously was much like his father Shirley whilst Matty was basically a miniature Shirley in appearance and temperament, whereas Danny had the dreamy personality of his Grandfather Meredith; he had a crop of light brown curls atop his head and his father's hazel eyes, he also was dreaming of being a soldier but knew the war if there were to be one would be out before he had the chance to join up, but would be the top cadet in the area He was the pride and joy of his Mother much in the same way Ellie was that of her father.

6-year-old Angel was next and just about as beautiful as her sister Ellie, but was a black haired, cobalt blue eyed deity; she was as shy as her aunt Una before her and already had a suitor in the form of her cousin Rhylann whose interest in her was something his mother or her aunt Nan approved of wholeheartedly.

The 4- year-old twins were the last children of Jem and Faith; they were one boy and one girl. The boy was Joey who was a miniature John Meredith with his black hair and dreamy personality, but instead of having black eyes his were grey-green, only two minutes younger than him was Lily, who was a miniature version of her mother and sister Ellie; with her caramel curls but she had her father's hazel eyes and had the sweet personality of her long-dead Grandma Cecilia Meredith for whom she was named.

Faith had just opened a letter from Rilla and turned to Jem and relayed the contents of the letter, it said the Ford family would be visiting for a week before the annual Blythe/ Ford/ Meredith/ Wright family reunion which was a great occasion, they hadn't seen each other in just three years, due to the complications in the birth of their youngest daughter. Their children were Gilly, who was almost the same age as Jimmy, being almost 16, he looked like a miniature Kenneth Ford, with his dark brown curls, and grey eyes, he also was almost ken's height and had inherited his father's velvety baritone voice. 13-year-old Mikey had his Grandma Leslie's spun-gold curls and his Grandmother Anne's grey-green eyes but was as quiet as his uncle Walter and aimed to be a bird watcher and world traveller. The 11-year-old twins followed just over two years later, Lessy was named after her two grandmothers and her 'Great aunt' Marilla she had golden brown locks and sea blue eyes and was almost as beautiful as her cousins Ellie and Ella but was not nearly as smart as Ellie or as adorable as Ella was, Matty was only 2 and a half minutes after his sister and had tanned skin, dark brown curls and hazel eyes as well as bearing a striking physical resemblance to his uncle Shirley he had the same quiet personality and these things often made his parents joke between each other that he had been meant for his uncle but Shirley had told them the boy was unmistakably their own, 10 year old Jamie was next with his honey brown hair and his mother's hazel eyes, like his Grandfather Owen whose name he bore, wanted to be a published author but had the bravery and steadiness of his Uncle Jem who was his second namesake, the almost 8 year old twins were next Livi was 1 and a half minutes older then Wade and had her mother's ruddy brown tresses, guiltless complexion and her Aunt Persis's sea-blue eyes while Wade looked just like his uncle before him and was his cousin Walt Blythe's little shadow and the only one other than his amazingly beautiful and extremely talented sister, Ellie that he read whatever poetic verses he wrote, and last was little Cassie who Rilla almost died giving birth to and the reason the family had missed those last reunions because Ken had insisted that his wife rested to regain her strength, this child was naughty, with her red-gold curls and sparkling blue eyes, now nearly 3 the girl was the favorite of neither of her parents, her Father's favorite being Livi and her mother's strangely enough being Wade.

Faith also had a second letter from the Rectory and from Nan saying they too would visit before and during the reunion. This excited Faith because they rarely got the chance to visit before the annual reunion because of Jerry being the minister and all. They too had eight children of whom the eldest were the thirteen year old twins Jay-Jay was just a little over a minute older than Alex and was already as passionate as his dad was about their religion he aspired to take over his dad's position as minister at the Glen St Mary Presbyterian church when he grew up, his hair was ruddy brown and curly whilst his eyes were grey green, Alex was handsome and quite the jock, he loved athletics and aimed to be a world renowned athlete and was as different from his elder twin in aspirations as the sea was from the stars apart from this; he was quite the heartbreaker, his curls were a chestnut brown color and his eyes were green like his aunt Faith's. Mae was the first Meredith girl, at almost eleven years she had black curls and grey-green eyes, she was much like her grandmother Blythe and was always with her cousins Merry and Shelley but she had her grandpa and Aunt Di's common sense and aimed to be a musician but had not been blessed with the same talent nor the beauty and not to mention the willing spirit as her cousin Ellie instead she was rather naughty, always doing as she pleased when she pleased which led her parents to discipline her more than any of her siblings. The 9-year-old triplets were next; Johnny was the eldest of them and very quiet much like his uncle Walter Blythe , his hair was dark brown and his eyes were blue, Ella was the middle child, the only female triplet and the self-proclaimed leader among them she looked a lot like Ellie and was easily able to manipulate her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins into giving her what she desired who could resist her, her cousin Walt Blythe sure could not it was easy for every member of the family to know she was the subject of all his romantic verses, she had shoulder-length, dark blonde hair and the nut-brown eyes of her mother, she was quiet and almost unbearably sweet and polite. Rhylann was the youngest triplet and had a crop of fuzzy black ringlets and roguish black eyes and was as naughty as his elder sister Mae. 6-year-old Annie had inherited her grandmother's red curls and grey green eyes and wild imagination, she let her fancies take a firm hold of her. Almost 4-year-old Megan was the littlest Meredith child, being just over five months younger than Joey and Lily; she had black curls and hazel eyes.

The third letter was addressed from Montreal Jem told his wife "This one must be from Shirley and Elle, although Elle probably wrote it; there is not a single blot or spelling error, it flows so well and is way too neat to possibly be Shirley's…"

"Why could not the writing be that of your brother's hand?" Faith asked of her husband.

Jem smiled widely "I grew up with Shirley as my Brother and although he was quiet, his writing was not nearly so neat, it therefore must be in Elle's handwriting, I wonder how Charlie, Maddie, Eli, Ben, Ray, Marty and Jazzi are I guess I'll find out soon" he began to read the letter:

Dearest James and Faith, it may please you to know that Shirley and I have decided to visit, Charles is the most keen, you know how he idolizes Jimmy and Walt, he is studying music and wishes to join Ellie at the Christmas carols this year.

Maddie is too interested by her story writing to pay much attention to what we do as a family, Eli, Ben and Ray are all doing well at school especially Ben already he has all the girls after him they are all around either him or Ray, they view Eli as strange because he has a strange way of looking at things and never seems to excel at anything except arithmetic, but none of them seem that impressed and as for Marty and Jazzi the two started school themselves two weeks ago and are already performing above our expectations. We all love you and hope to see you really soon and catch up, Shirley wants to get Jem's perspective on a design for my brother, Ronny's house.

Yours truly Elle Blythe, Montreal.

"Wow, I cannot for myself believe that the children of my youngest brother are so popular at school, I mean the young one's I knew Charlie was handsome and Maddie pretty, but the triplets that popular well two of them any way, I can't blame the girls at the school for thinking Eli is strange, though he is a complete copy of Shirley except with Mother's imagination" Jem said.

Of The Montreal Blythe children, the eldest was 12 year-old Charles Lindbergh Blythe or Charlie, he was already a heartbreaker, but then no girl in their right mind would be able to resist him, he was tall and lean but muscular with tanned skin, a crop of always neat chestnut curls and clear, honest brook-brown eyes, he also had a low caressing tone to his voice, and had his elder cousin Drew Wright as a valiant competitor in the race to gain the affections of their angelically beautiful and talented cousin, Ellie.

His ten year old sister, Maddie, had her mother's looks and temperament but her eyes could turn from clear blue to ice hard in a matter of seconds she was mean to her younger brother's boys were attracted to her only physically, the eyes were blue and the hair was golden brown. She too was studying music but was not in the same realm of talent as Ellie was.

The eight-year-old triplets were next, Eli was the eldest of the three boys, his eyes were grey green, his skin of a cream tint and his curls as red as fire, he was as quiet as his father and viewed by all the girls in his class at school as boring, they would much rather Ben, the middle triplet who was much like his cousin Ella the self-proclaimed leader among them. He was as much a heartbreaker as his elder brother Charlie, but instead his skin was tanned, his eyes were dark-green with golden flecks in them and chestnut curls which were just half a shade darker then Charlie's were. The youngest of the triplets was Ray, his hair was inky black with hints of brown through it, he had his father's hazel eyes and was quiet but shared his gifts with his lovely cousin Ellie Blythe and was as akin to the world of music as she was, but his entrance was through his guitar, he and Ellie seldom spoke but played and sang in complete harmony with each other.

The last two of the Montreal Blythe children were twins; the boy was named Marty and had dark blond almost brown curls and his father's hazel eyes and was as wild as his uncle Jem but also had his granddad's plain bent and common sense, the girl was seven and a half minutes younger and she had fiery red curls like her older brother Eli, but instead of having grey-green eyes her eyes were sea-green and she had her Grandma Blythe's imagination though she chose to control it in a way that seemed beyond her years she and her brother were only five years old, she wasn't as likely to give into her fancies as her older cousin Mae.

Faith was shocked when Jem handed her a letter sent from Vancouver of all places, they had not expected to receive a letter from Carl and Jane saying they too would visit before the reunion Jimmy had decided to put the book down and seemed strangely eager to her the news of his Vancouver cousins Especially the shy, pretty, Black-haired, blue eyed Cece Meredith, who had recently celebrated her 15th birthday, she was as sweet as Ella and always was well behaved, but unlike her Aunt Una she was talkative and was a student of the local school of arts, her thirteen year old brother Tom had their father's dark brown curls with their golden glints and his aunt Faith's emerald green eyes, he was the object of all the girls in his class's affections, the twins who were nearly 11 were next, Cammie was naughty and not well behaved she had her mother's red curls and her dad's blue eyes her twin sister was Janie, she was always sweet, polite and well behaved her hair was of an extremely dark blond coloring so it looked almost brown and green-blue eyes, 9-year-old Josh had lightly tanned skin, his father's tight chestnut brown curls with their golden glints and chocolate brown eyes, he was the favorite cousin of Danny Blythe, and like his cousin wanted to be a soldier like his dad had been, almost eight year old Petey was a year and a half younger then Josh and had light auburn curls and black eyes, in character he took after his father, he had scared his mother terribly when he'd brought in a white mouse he'd caught. The youngest of the Vancouver Meredith brood were the six-year-old twins Jojo was five minutes older than Matt, Jojo was quiet and resembled his aunt Una he had glossy black hair and cobalt blue eyes, he was painfully shy, very unlike his Twin Matthew Jason Meredith who went only by Matt, he was as outgoing as Jem Blythe but instead of having auburn curls his were so dark a brown they appeared to be black but his eyes were a shining hazel in character he was much more Blythe-like then Meredith or Fletcher. They'd also extended the invitation to the Douglas Family who did not as such live that far away. Miller and Mary had a whole load of children twelve to be exact. The eldest Douglas child was almost seventeen-year-old Leon and he was a quiet boy but he was also smart and cunning his hair was straight and honey brown and his eyes were dark blue, 15-year-old Stevie was next, and he had a vivid imagination to accompany his milky skin, strawberry blond curls and grey-green eyes, 14-year-old Nellie was next and she was as shy as her namesake Una Meredith but had sandy brown curls and dark blue eyes, just over a year later the 13-year-old twins Lance and Vic came into the world, Lance was quiet but quite the heartbreaker with his straight chestnut brown hair and glimmering hazel eyes, he enjoyed playing with Walt, Alex and Mikey, His twin brother however was wild and naughty and was the only known Douglas child to have inherited purely their mother's looks; he had spiky tow-colored hair and light blue or white eyes. Almost 11-year-old Connie had black curls and amber eyes and was sweet and polite, after her came the 9-year-old triplets; Brook was the eldest of them, his hair was raven black and slightly curly and his eyes were a glittering emerald, the middle triplet was Chris, and he was naughty his hair was dark blond and rather curly and his eyes were as blue as violets, he was wild like his mother but not quite as wild as his elder brother Vic. The youngest of them was Tanner who was quiet much like Walter Blythe but was shy and reserved he disliked the way people treated him because of the behaviours of his brothers Vic and Chris, his hair was straight and as black as a raven's wing whilst his eyes were a bright green very reminiscent of newly sprouted leaves in the springtime, barely over a year after their birth, 8-year-old Harley came into the world his hair was sandy brown much like his sister Nellie's whilst his eyes were green, almost 7-year-old Freddy had straight black hair and dark brown eyes and last was almost 5-year-old Cathy who had strawberry blond waves and dark blue eyes. To the surprise of both Jem and Faith, a letter arrived from Lone Willow Farm in Avonlea, this was a rare happening since the Wrights were travelling about due to Jack being a commercial Lawyer, He and Di had eleven children the oldest of whom was 15-year-old Joe who had his mother's grey-green eyes and sandy blond hair, next were the 13-year-old triplets, the eldest of them was Drew and he had the character of his Uncle Jem and had always neat dark blond almost brown curls and the emerald eyes of Faith Meredith, he had his cousin Charlie as a valiant competitor in the suiting of their extremely beautiful and talented cousin, Ellie Blythe, he was the leader among them, Bella was the middle and only female triplet and the object of the affections of all the boys in the Avonlea school, she was in appearance like her cousin Ella Meredith with her luscious dark blonde waves that hung 4 inches below her shoulders, she had her Aunt Rilla's guiltless complexion and had her father's sapphire blue eyes and was blessed with the voice of an angel and was Ellie's favorite female cousin apart from Ella, the youngest of the three was Bertie, he was as quiet as his uncle Walter Blythe and resembled him with his sleek, raven black curls but had hazel eyes like most of the Blythe children, 12-year-old Maya was next and was wild like Vic Douglas and had her mother's red-gold curls and sky blue eyes, 10-year-old Becca was extremely beautiful and had golden blonde waves which hung a good 2 and a half inches below her shoulders and shining emerald eyes, she was the inheritor of her mother and granddad's plain bent and common sense and aimed to be an actress. 7-year-old Dee was the third Diana of the Wright clan and was a favorite with her granddad because she looked just like her mother with her red-gold curls and wonderful grey-green eyes which always shone with a peculiar luster in the moonlight, 6-year-old Mac had the dark auburn curls of his uncle Jem Blythe but had the nut-brown eyes of his aunt Nan but wanted to become a lawyer like his dad and was the favorite Grandson of Dr. Gilbert Blythe, 5-year-old Eddy had light brown curls and dark grey eyes and was as quiet as his Uncle Shirley and aimed to be a poet like his big cousin, Walt Blythe. The youngest Wright children were the 3-year-old twins Nic and Lizzie, they were as different in personality as they were in looks, Nic was the male twin and had straight dark blond hair from his dad's family and hazel eyes from his mother's, he had the steadfastness of his uncle Jem and was talkative very unlike his 7-minutes-younger twin sister Lizzie, who had stick straight strawberry blonde locks and chocolate brown eyes her shyness and quietness came from her Aunt by marriage Una Meredith. Rilla and Ken had news of their own once they arrived two days later and it was that Persis and John Porter would be making the trip from Green Gables, Avonlea, this excited Gilly, Mikey, Lessy, Jamie, Livi and Wade greatly because they had not seen these cousins in four years. The family was always travelling through Europe due to Joshua being a famous painter. Of the 7 Porter children the eldest was Bert, who at fourteen was wild and often made it not easy for hismother, his hair was straight and orange and his eyes were brown, the twins were Richie and Lena, Richie had inherited his father's calm demeanor, spiky wood brown hair but had his mother's sea blue eyes, his sister Lena had strawberry blonde curls and grey eyes, they were both 13, almost 2 years after them came Perry, a quiet, calm steadfast boy he was, and also practical and possessed maturity that eclipsed that of a normal 11 year old's, he had clear, honest brook brown eyes a meditative smile and his mother's blond curls, their almost 8-year-old sister Vera was blonde-headed too, but hers was stick straight and her eyes were grey green and she was naughty, 6-year-old Robby was the only child to have inherited his father's walnut colored curls and his mother's sea blue eyes and funny, slightly naïve character. Last of all was Dave at just three years he was handsome with his thick dark blonde curls and crystal green eyes. And about four days later when Shirley and Elle arrived following them were the Montreal branch of the Wright family; Virj and Rebecca along with their children of which the eldest was Jim, a friendly, boundlessly energetic, but somewhat reserved boy of 14 years with cedar-colored curls and royal blue eyes who's twin brother was much more wild and loud, this was Bobby. Bobby had unkempt black curls and sharp, sky-blue eyes, Phil was just as if not a little more wild, he had straight nutmeg hair and soot black eyes, Jim and Bobby were both fourteen, whilst Phil himself was 13, their 12-year-old brother Tully was quiet and loyal to all his siblings, his hair was wood brown and stuck up in spikes and his eyes were sea-green, 10-year-old Becky was quiet and sweet, like her mother and had ash brown curls and hazel eyes, she was followed by two consecutive sets of twins , the first being two now 8-year-old boys , Teddy and Benny, both boys were quiet shy but also intelligent, both had the same straight chestnut hair and dark brown eyes, the younger pair were girls, and the two youngest Montreal Wright children, Alli and Anna, whilst being twins were not in the least bit alike, Alli was three and three quarter minutes older than Anna and had thick dark brown, blond hinted curls and steel-blue eyes, was a quiet, calm, rather shy girl, her sister Anna in character was often mistaken for one of the Blythes as she had a vivid imagination and had strawberry blonde locks and the same steel blue eyes as her sister.