1890
The night was waning but Anne still couldn't sleep, despite being warm in her bed, upstairs in the little grey house of dreams. Her heart fluttered along with the flutters deep within her stomach, keeping her awake since her trip to the water closet an hour earlier.
She watched the steady breaths of her husband, his brow unwrinkled, and he looked more like the boy she had grown up with, rather than the man she married she learned soon after they began their married life together.
"I'll never stop loving you," She whispers into the moonlight. There is no reply, of course, he is sound asleep. "Even when colours fade from our world, when everything is grey and barren. Even when the storms threaten us because I know the colour will bloom whenever you kiss me."
She found it endearing that he always questioned her with a look when she was beneath him. Seeking permission to entwine their bodies as she wrapped her arms around him. How could a single look make everything fade away?
Wasn't it just a few days ago he had found her sulking in her kitchen, refusing to look at him until she took the photo she had found in one of his many books from university? The dark shining hair, coy smile that mocked her she looked at it.
They laughed about it later of course. How could she ever think she wasn't anything other than his first choice? Didn't she know how much he worshipped her body, mind, and most importantly her soul?
These things happen when women are in delicate ways.
She moves herself closer to him, embracing his warmth, and he grumbles something in his sleep but wraps his arm around her in his slumber. She can't help but smile, close her eyes and wonder what the years will bring them.
Children, sons and daughters that filled their hearts and the houses they lived in.
1905
"Then the last petal fell to the ground," Anne reads out loud to her daughters who were all in bed as she recalled the story of Beauty and the Beast.
"What happenth when the last fellth?" Little Rilla asks with her lisp.
"Beauty saves him," Nan exclaims in her little know-it-all-all voice.
"Like Mummy kissth Daddy?" Little Rilla asks dreamily.
"Beauty's love for the beast broke the spell, and the magic decided that even though the last petal had fallen it would take into account that she had come back for him," Anne says.
"Like when Daddy was sick and you visited him before you were married?" Di asks from her spot on the bed. "Mummy saved him from his fever."
"Your Mummy definitely made me not let typhoid beat me," Gilbert says from the doorway. "She didn't kiss me, though, until I was better, and she agreed to be my wife as it was proper, so don't go getting ideas, " He adds with a grin.
"Just so you know, it did keep me from giving up having you visit me that day when I was ill," Gilbert says, coming up behind her once all the children were in bed. He was still making up for the past weeks when she thought he had fallen out of love with her.
"You are just saying that," Anne gives him a look over her shoulder. "To ensure that I stay madly in love with you after these years?"
"And have you turned into Mrs. Lynde—the village gossip to fill the void?" Gilbert teases her. "Never"
"Mrs. Lynde loved her husband dearly," Anne reminds him.
"I would hope so if they had ten children," Gilbert chuckles like a schoolboy. "Though we could approach that number if we tried."
"I thought we both agreed that six was well enough, also if we are to wander around Europe this spring, I would rather not be indisposed or unable to buy clothing easily." Anne reminded him, turning to face him.
"You do enjoy spending my money, should I buy extra traveller's cheques and advance you next year's pocket money as well?" Gilbert teases her before looking down at her with his kind hazel eyes.
"I do love you Anne-girl, and I'll never stop."
1921
Thirty years Anne thinks as she wakes up on her wedding anniversary. Gilbert's side of the bed is already cold and she frowns, but she can hear his footsteps on the stairs. She sits up in bed.
No more children were about, Ingleside was quieter than it ever had been in the twenty-seven years they had resided in it. Of course, grandchild came and ran on the old wood floor, little giggles and cries as they crawled and scooted about. In time they would run about it as their parents had.
"You're awake," Gilbert says holding a try as he comes through the door. "I brought us breakfast."
"Breakfast in bed," Anne says with a smile. "Who are you and what have you done with my husband," she teases him.
"I will have you know, that while I generally disagree with eating in bed unless someone is invalid because it is not good for digestion and often frivolous. I do believe that the occasional special occasion warrants such frivolities especially if there is plenty of exercise after such an event."
Anne raises an eyebrow, and then laughter tumbles out of her throat. "Oh, Gil dear," her voice wobbles in its happiness. "However did we get so lucky to find one another?"
"I suppose divine faith and, most importantly, stubbornness. You were too stubborn to admit you loved him, and I was too stubborn to give up hope that you would wake up one day and see me as a potential lover and not just a friend." He responds as he places the tray on her lap.
"Lovers," Anne hums with a sly smile. "Even after all these years you still refer to us as lovers in private."
"How can I not?" Gilbert grins. "Seven children we brought into this world, and while only six are still here with us they are a testament to our love, to be in love is to have a lover, to have a lover is to be in love, to which I am undoubtedly even to this day."