▪︎▪︎▪︎

Gilbert Blythe watched silently as the waves hit the bottom of the ship. It was a beautiful day and the skies were clear, hopefully, an omen for good things to come.

In his hand was the latest letter Victoria sent him, crumpled by the numerous times he folded and unfolded it to reread it again and again.

Each letter she sent were filled with her hopes of him coming back. He died a little inside whenever he had to tell her that he wasn't ready. Yet, now here he was, heading towards Canada and feeling more nervous than he ever did.

He unfolded the letter again and started reading the words that he had unconsciously memorised.

To my Gilbert,

I know that it hasn't been long since my last letter, but so much has changed in so little time.

Traces of gold have been found in Avonlea. Everyone is beyond excited and many have already invested their money in the cause. Truth be told, I am quite weary of the situation, there is something a bit dodgy about the geologist. But it is probably just my paranoia kicking in. Hamilton said that I often look a gift horse in the mouth.

I hope that this news excites you and maybe it might compel you to return in ways in which I could not. I'm sorry if I am being pushy again, I simply want to be honest with you.

Whatever you decide, I will be happy with it. However, you must know that I'm counting the hours in which we are apart and I long for the day that we will meet again.

Most faithfully yours,

Victoria T. Edwards

Gilbert sighed absentmindedly as he traced her name with his finger.

"Look at you, smilin' to yourself like an idiot again."

Gilbert turned around at the sound of Bash's voice as the latter joined him by the railing. He nodded towards the letter with a teasing smile. "Was about time you returned, you can't keep your lady waiting any longer."

Gilbert shook his head. "Like I said before. She's not my lady."

"So she's just a friend?" Bash continued as his gaze never left the boy, despite Gilbert trying to avoid looking at him. Gilbert hesitated for a while before answering. "I... Never said that."

Bash grinned knowingly at his response but before he could bug him even more, Gilbert changed the subject.

"You're daring, coming to this level of the deck. Fireman hears about you coming up here, you can expect trouble." Gilbert warned and Bash quickly waved him off.

"I can live down trouble. I want to see where I'm headed for once. Feel the wind on my face. Avonlea ahead of me. Ten years on this ship humpin' coal. I earned this. Besides, what they going to do? Sack me? Toss me overboard? Worst-case scenario, I get the latrine." Bash joked as he nudged Gilbert slightly.

Gilbert grimaced at the mention of the latrine, not even wanting to think about it. "If my choices were that or latrine duty, I might take my chances with the Atlantic."

Bash looked out at the horizon, the scene in front of him being both calming and beautiful. "Choices. I like that word. Things are going to change startin' right now."

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"Why are we even doing this? This seems like a bad idea." Victoria stated as Josie forced her to sit between Cole and Moody in a circle. Cole shrugged. "You say that as if we had a choice," Cole said as he motioned towards Josie who was moving everyone around.

"Jane, go sit next to your dumb brother. Tillie, you're over there. And, Anne, switch places with Charlie." Josie commanded as she placed an empty glass bottle in the middle of the circle.

"Josie, come on, are you so desperate for someone to kiss you that you have to organise a game to ensure it?" Victoria called out causing Josie to scowl at her.

Cole snickered beside her and nudged her gently to quiet down. Josie didn't reply and sat on the other side of Cole instead.

"Who would like to spin first?" Josie called out as she inched closer to Cole. Cole was irritated by her actions and was practically hugging Victoria to get away from Josie.

Diana ended up having to go first and Victoria could tell how anxious the girl was feeling. The bottle spun round and round until it landed on Moody, much to the boy's enjoyment.

Diana's face relaxed slightly. There were worse options, at least Moody was tolerable compared to the others.

"Now you have to kiss. On the mouth." Josie added. Victoria had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. Diana stood up from her spot and Moody followed suit as they both stood in the middle of the circle for everyone to see.

"Ahem. Good afternoon, Moody." Diana started awkwardly as her weight shifted from foot to foot. "Good afternoon, Diana. I'm going to kiss you now." Moody added.

Warily, they both leaned into each other and Victoria had to look away to avoid cringing.

They finally did kiss, however, it was very short. But apparently, it was more than enough to appease Queen Josie.

"Your turn, Anne," Josie said with a wicked smile. Anne didn't say anything and slowly reached out for the bottle only for Billy's words to stop her short.

"I'm out. No way. Ugly orphan."

It was an understatement by saying that Victoria had the urge to smash the bottle against his head. "Sod off, wanker." Victoria added almost instantly. She turned back to look at Anne who seemed frozen in her tracks.

"What are you afraid of, Anne? I seem to recall you knowing a lot about intimate relations. You're from unfortunate circumstances. This can't be your first kiss." Josie said and some people even sniggered as Anne left the schoolhouse in a haste.

Victoria stood up and gave Josie a harsh glare. "For future purposes, please do refrain from talking. I can feel my intelligence deteriorate with every syllable you breathe out."

Victoria didn't wait for Josie to reply and quickly grabbed her things to chase after Anne.

"Wait! You can't leave now, you haven't had your turn." Billy stated desperately to stop her from leaving. Victoria almost groaned out loud.

"And risk the chance of kissing you? I'd rather swallow a steak knife."

"Anne, wait for me!" Victoria called out to grab Anne's attention. Anne stopped and waited for Victoria to catch up with her before immediately starting her rant.

"That Josie Pye! For someone with such a lack of imagination, she certainly knows how to invent cruel and unusual forms of torture! Why should I be forced to give an expression of tenderness to indifferent or, in some cases, repulsive persons?" Anne breathed out all at once.

Victoria placed an arm over her shoulder as the two walked side by side, Anne unconsciously leaning into Victoria. "That's just it, Anne. You don't have to. It's a ridiculous game. If you are going to kiss someone it should be of your accords and only when you are ready."

Anne sighed, her friend's words calming her down greatly. "The whole thing hurts everyone's feelings. It's not conducive." Victoria nodded. "And I agree with you wholeheartedly. Do not ever listen to the likes of Billy and Josie. They are all bark and no bite."

"It is easier said than done, Victoria." Anne let out. "No one ever dares to say anything malicious towards you." Victoria smiled widely. "That's because they would regret it if they did."

Anne laughed at her statement, knowing full well how true it was. "Anne, seriously, do not feel bad. Besides, I can reassure you that neither Josie nor Billy have kissed anyone before. That's why they were so keen on playing."

"What about you? Victoria, you are breathtakingly beautiful, surely someone has offered their affections towards you." Anne asked curiously and Victoria sighed gently at the compliment, knowing full well how exaggerated it was. "I'm still waiting for my prince," Victoria replied jokingly.

"And is your prince Gilbert by happenchance?" Anne teased, watching amusingly as Victoria's face turn red.

"I will not comment further. Did you notice how beautiful the snow is? Very romantical!" Victoria said as she pointed the scene out.

"Don't you dare change the subject!"

▪︎▪︎▪︎

"Great fires of London! It has arrived! It's here!"

The sounds of Hamilton yelling grabbed everyone's attention. After returning from school, the Edwards family, and Gideon, retreated to the parlour.

Victoria tried her best to teach Edward a Christmas song on the piano but it was a disaster. Still, Caroline and Benedict encouraged him along as they tried to hide their gritted teeth.

Gideon was reading by the fireplace, so immersed in his book that the yells caught him off-guard.

The doors of the parlour burst open, revealing Hamilton who was anxiously holding an envelope. Everyone turned to look at him.

"My results! It's here! My future depends wholly on the contents of this envelope." Hamilton explained as he gestured widely to the letter. They all dropped what they were doing and focused entirely on Hamilton.

"Are you going to open it?" Benedict asked as he stood up from his seat. He walked towards Hamilton and squeezed his shoulder in comfort. "I hope you know that it doesn't matter what that envelope contains. We will still be proud of you."

Hamilton hesitated for a second and wondered to himself to what extent that statement referred to. He pushed the thought out of his head, focusing on the more impending matter in hand.

He caught Gideon's eye and immediately smiled. The smile made Hamilton feel comforted as well as created a warmth in the pit of his stomach.

With shaky hands, he tore the envelope open gently. The parlour was silent, filled with trepidation. Hamilton's eyes darted back and forth as he read through it silently.

"Well, what's the verdict?" Edward asked, having enough of the silence. "I-I-I got my license, I can't believe it."

Everyone let out cheers of joy and rushed to hug and congratulate Hamilton. "That's my boy, handsome and intelligent!" Caroline stated as she kissed his cheeks.

"We can finally get rid of you!" Victoria joked causing Hamilton to playfully roll his eyes.

"I can play a song on the piano to celebrate!" Edward offered excitedly.

"NO!" The Edwards' practically shouted. Gideon snickered at their reaction and crossed the room to hug Hamilton as the others argued about the piano.

"Congratulations, handsome, knew you could do it. Now we just have to crack open the champagne and celebrate." Gideon said, making sure not to let his hug linger to avoid suspicion.

Hamilton grinned and shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers. "We can celebrate later. Just the two of us, if you want." Hamilton whispered gently much to Gideon's surprise.

Gideon was speechless. Hamilton was getting more and more confident when it came to expressing his feelings, something that Gideon was thankful for at that moment.

"I think I can give you your present now!" Benedict shouted grabbing the two men's attention. He and Caroline convinced Edward to play later, managing to spare the boy's feelings.

Hamilton was confused. "Present? What present?" Benedict and Caroline shared a cheeky look and even Victoria was curious as to what the gift was.

Crossing the room, Benedict opened a drawer from the cabinet and grabbed an envelope. He handed it to Hamilton with a smile while Caroline was practically jumping in excitement.

Hamilton eyed the new envelope suspiciously before opening the second envelope of the day. "Wait, is this what I think it is?" Hamilton asked, his mouth dropping open.

"What is it?" Victoria called out as she tried to look over his shoulders.

"That is the contract to your land and building. You said that you'd like to open a small doctor's office here for the people of the town. It's to the vacant building not so far from here. There are two floors so you can live on top of the office if you wanted to." Benedict explained.

"If you don't like it, we can always resell it. It's no big deal, darling." Caroline said as she misread his speechless look. Hamilton shook his head frantically.

"Of course not! I love it, thank you two so much!" Hamilton went to hug both his parents and turned to face the others.

"Everyone, watch out, there's a Doctor Edwards now in Avonlea."

▪︎▪︎▪︎