Chapter III

On the sunny morning in the middle of August, Di was woken up by her glowing Mother who whispered into her ear some tender words full of excitement and pride. Even if Anne wouldn't whisper into her daughter's ear, Di would know why her Mother had this special look in her grey eyes.

Di jumped out of her bed, put on the very first thing her hands found in the wardrobe, took the toast in her hand and flew out of Ingleside with Anne and Susan by her side. They reached the house of Nan and Jerry in less than fifteen minutes and almost as soon as they reached it, tired but ecstatic Jerry opened the door in front of them. Anne put her arms around her son-in-law and kissed him on the cheek. "How is she, Jerry?" she asked him half-worriedly, half-happily "And the baby?"

Before Jerry could open his mouth, Gilbert put his arm around Anne's shoulder and kissed her forehead "Well, Anne-girl, we have a second granddaughter." he told her with a smile on his lips and Anne gasped with happiness and kissed her husband's cheek.

Di squaked in joy and threw her arms around Jerry's neck as well "Oh, Jerry!" she exclaimed "Can we go and see her?" she asked him excitedly.

Jerry chuckled at her reaction "Yes, I insist you on telling me your opinion on our daughter." he answered and Di, Anne and Susan almost ran upstairs. In the bedroom, there wasn't just Nan inside, there were also her parents-in-law, Rosemary and John Meredith, and her own son, Jake, looking at the bundle in her arms with interest.

"Well, I must say that I've seen you in a better form, dear sister." Di told her twin when she stepped near her, with a smile crossing her lips and tears coming up to her eyes.

Nan was all pale, and she had dark circles undearneath her eyes from the sleepless night, her brown locks were all over her pillow and she seemed almost as fragile as the baby she was holding. But her eyes spoke by themselves, they were almost as alive as she was, and just as joyful and just as content. "Oh, Di!" Nan took off her eyes from the bundle she was holding and took her twin's hand in a tight grasp "I am simply paralysed with happiness!" she breathed out with a small gasp.

Anne sat down by her daughter's side and kissed the forehead of the little girl her daughter was holding "Nan, darling, you did wonderful." she told her with pride and warm tears strolling down her cheeks.

Nan put her hand on her mother's hand and squeezed it gently "Mother, just look at her." she said and looked back at the bundle of joy she held in her loving, motherly arms. The baby was certainly one of the sweetest babies Di had ever seen. She had Nan's brown curls and red lips, but she had black eyes of Jerry's. She was a true beauty and Di knew that she would grow up to be one of the prettiest girls in Glen St Mary. "Isn't she beautiful?" Nan asked the people around her.

"She certainly does have pretty ears, Nan dear." Susan added her bit, and although she tried hard not to let out a small cry of her own, her voice trembled a little and Nan looked at her with watery eyes.

"She is all pretty, Susan." she replied and kissed the baby's wee hand and everyone agreed with her.

"But Nan and Jerry still haven't decided on a name." Rosemary said as she took a step nearer and put her hand on Anne's shoulder, and the two women looked at each other knowingly.

"Why ever not, Nan?" Di asked her twin with surprise as she also sat down on the nearest chair with Jake sitting on her lap.

"I think that we do have a name." Jerry, who just came into the room with Gilbert, announced and smiled at his wife and his daughter lovingly.

Nan smiled back at him "Yes, we just wanted to wait for all of you to arrive." she told her family and sighed with delight "This beautiful baby-girl is called Anna Rosemary Meredith." she declared and the two grandmothers looked at each other with with pride and kissed both the new mother and the little baby in her arms.

"And may God bless her." John said and patted his son on the shoulder, and to everyone's surprise his own eyes filled up with fresh tears.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Carl asked Di, while they walked together down the Rainbow Valley, on the very last day of August. It was a gloomy day, the sun was trying its best to get through the grey clouds filling up the sky, but somehow it was too weak to do it. It seemed as if God himself was wistful about the summer slowly turning into autumn again.

But Rainbow Valley had the charm of its own and neither Di nor Carl could feel the gloominess of the world while they walked near the green trees and even greener grass. "I prepared the clothes I will wear, and the books I will take and what introduction I will make for my class." Di replied, counting each thing she said as if to reassure herself that she really was ready for tomorrow.

Carl looked at Di with a raised brow "You're not regretting taking up the role of a teacher, are you?" he asked her.

Di shook her head quickly "No, of course not." she said "But it just hit me that it is tomorrow." she sighed helpelssly and Carl nudged her on the side.

"Come on Di," he told her "-you know you'll be fine."

"I shall try to think so." she replied and then when she looked at him again, she chuckled "Don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?" Carl chuckled too.

"Like I am a person you should feel sorry for." she said eventually.

"If this will make you feel any better, I will not feel sorry for you, whatever happens tomorrow." he said decidedly.

"Thank you, I'd like that." she answered and they both laughed again "I imagine that you're prepared?" she asked him.

"Sure." he answered with a shrug.

"You prepared everything just today, didn't you?" she asked him with a funny look crossing her face.

Carl chuckled again "Yes." he replied and Di laughed as well "But it didn't take me very long, I rushed it all a little bit as I was invited by Jerry for a dinner today, and so I had to prepare everything before that." he said.

"Carl, don't you think that baby Rose is beautiful?" Di asked him excitedly and put her arm in Carl's "She is a real lady, and I couldn't agree more with Nan to start calling her 'Rose' instead of 'Anna'."

"That's true, Rose is just the name for the baby girl of my brother." he said proudly "And she is beautiful. But I must admit that Faith's and Jem's Julia is so different from Rose in looks, but she still is just as pretty."

""Rose is a real 'rose' and Julia is a 'lavender', both of them are beauties although for different reasons". That's what Mother said about her granddaughters." Di said and then sighed "I can't believe that my parents are grandparents."

Carl sighed too "Yes, I can't believe that mine are grandparents too." he agreed "It is such a weird thought, to think that all of my siblings are married and are parents, or like dear Una, a mother-to-be." he said and grinned at the thought of his baby-sister being a sweet little mother.

Di smiled too, as she was thinking about the exct same thing as Carl "It is a weird thought, but a delightful one at the same time." she said "But we, Carl, are starting our careers. That is what we are going to do and it counts for the most, for now at least." she said decidedly and she smiled at him warmly.

Carl grinned at her "Is that what you want to do always? Teaching I mean?" he asked her.

Di humphed and crossed her arms "Well, I don't know." she replied earnestly "I do like the idea of me teaching children who can become someone important one day, but I don't know if that's what I always want to do. And you, Carl? I bet you would prefer to be a biologist, or a zoologist." she winked at him knowingly and Carl chuckled.

"I suppose you're right." he agreed with her "But I don't mind being a teacher for now, one has to start somewhere, and besides it's good to be near family."

Di smiled at him again and patted his arm gently "That's true, dear friend." and she suddenly gasped "Oh, no! I forgot!" she smoothed the sleeve of her jacket and touched her hat in hurry as if to check whether it was still on her head "I was supposed to go to Nan's for tea! Carl Meredith you are a true distraction to my plans!" she said to him and kissed him lightly on the cheek while he laughed merrily.

"I hope that I will continue on being your distraction." he answered mysteriously and squeezed her hand "Shall I meet you here at seven thirty tomorrow then?" he asked her.

"Yes, please, and don't you dare not to come! On the first day of work!" she laughed and then squeezed his arm "I have to run now, Carl, I'll see you tomorrow!" and she indeed started running towards the house of her twin.

Carl watched her run and chuckled to himself while seeing her red locks flying in the air behind her "I wouldn't even try to disobey you." he murmured to himself and then laughed again, turned around and started whistling while slowly walking back to the Manse.

Dearest Diary,

I haven't written in here for two weeks now and it is almost October here. But I have an excuse: I started my career as a teacher!

My first day at school was very stressful, I couldn't even sleep the night before. When I met Carl who was waiting for me in Rainbow Valley, I felt relieved but still, even though he really tried his best, he couldn't cheer me up so much. I could hardly smile at my students when I entered the classroom.

My "Queen's class" isn't actually that big, it's just about fifteen students and me in the classroom each day. All of the children are nice and eager to work and that's why I felt that a heavy stone from my heart was lifted up, but not entirely yet. Later, I was still nervous about not being able to remember my students' names. I was never good in remembering names but I made it somehow and by the end of the frst week I knew who was Jane and who was Tom.

It is all going well so far, I have all my lessons planned a week ahead and all of my pupils are ambitious and hardworking. I started giving out private lessons on Saturdays and Sundays so I am quite tired. But I came to a conclusion that teaching is something made for me, and I enjoy it enormously and so does Carl. He wasn't nervous at all, and he's enjoying teaching just as much as I do. He simply adores his students, especially the youngest ones who always stay after school to talk with him about snakes or crocodiles (as if Carl was a real zoologist).

But I do have some time for myself, of course I do. Privte lessons don't take me the whole weekend, just a third of it really. In my free time, I visit Nan and little Rose who is a "dear darling" for her father. Una and Rilla, like I suspected, spend most of their time together and I am always invited for their "knitting meetings" which remind me so much of my work for Red Cross during the War.

This reminds me, it will be the sixth anniversary of Walter's death next week, and I plan on spending this day as I always used to spend it, under the Tree Lovers in Rainbow Valley, reading the poems he wrote so long ago. I wonder if Walter would be a famous poet if he had lived. He probably would, I think, and who knows maybe he too would be happily married with a bunch of children around him? The very thought brings tears into my eyes. It's been six years but it feels as if my dear brother died just yesterday. But, I know that even if he's not here physically, he is here spiritually. I could feel his presence when I was entering the school on my first day and I could almost hear him whispering in his kind tone: "It's alright, Di, you will be just fine". He shows himself up everyhwere and I think that for each of us. But the past is in the past, and all I can do for him is to keep the promise that I made to Walter the day Father called me to tell me that my brother is dead; I will never forget him.

The happy news is that Mary Vance (it seems that I can never picture her as just "Mary"), delivered a healthy baby girl whom she called, of course, Cornelia. Mary Vance is so over the moon that this time she had a little girl, that she simply carries the baby everywhere with her and shows her daughter whenever she can. The truth is that Cornelia is very pretty with her blonde curls and blue eyes. Miss Cornelia beams with pride that "Mary, dearie" named her first daughter after her.

That's when my time for writing in this journal is up, as now I must head to the "knitting meeting" at the House of Dreams; Rilla invited me this evening, probably to show off the new baby-hat she was trying to make over this week.

Hopefully I'll be able to master the craft of knitting too, but I will not promise any miracles!

Yours,

Di Blythe