Two hours later, Dr. Gilbert Blythe was pacing back and forth in his office at Ingleside. Satisfied with the physical progress Faith was making, his thoughts were focused on the future of his son and daughter-in-law. The tearful conversation he had overheard coupled with Jem's comment about possibly not returning to Redmond had left Gilbert unsettled.

The events of the past few days had stirred feelings in Gilbert that had long been dormant: the helplessness and grief he'd experienced as he watched his wife struggle with the loss of their daughter twenty-eight years earlier. Joyce's birth had left Anne physically weak, much like the complications following the miscarriage had left Faith. Anne's physical and emotional vulnerability had made him want to be with her around the clock to comfort and protect her. Moreover, being with Anne in the days following Joyce's death had provided him with emotional support because she was the only person who could understand the depth of his loss. Sadly, even well-meaning loved ones fail to think of a father's grief at such a time, Gilbert had learned after the birth and death of his eldest child.

Remembering how difficult it had been for him to leave Anne four days later to check on a patient half a mile down the road, Gilbert knew that had he been in Jem's place, he might not have returned to Kingsport. He almost wished that he shared the belief held by many of his colleagues that suffering a miscarriage in the third month of pregnancy did not equate to the loss of a child. However, as a loving father seven times over, Gilbert long ago realized that babies were real to their parents long before they were born, just as Faith and Jem had said that morning.

"Gil, has something happened? If Faith alright?" Anne asked with a note of alarm in her voice. She had heard him enter the house ten minutes earlier and wondered why he hadn't stopped by the kitchen on his way to bed. Even if he'd managed to sleep for a few hours at the hospital, he must be exhausted.

"She's stable," Gilbert replied. "I wouldn't have come home if she were still in danger."

"That's a relief," Anne said. "But something is bothering you. What is it?"

"You know me so well, Anne-girl," he said, sighing.

Anne smiled. Yes, after all these years she knew him very well indeed. "That's not an answer," she said patiently.

Gilbert took his wife by the hand and led her over to the sofa in front of the window, where they both sat down. Not wanting to discuss painful memories, he decided to focus on the issue at hand.

"Despite my best efforts to be patient and understanding, I don't think I'm succeeding," he told her.

"I don't understand."

Gilbert took a deep breath. "I wish Jem and Faith had waited to get married. I'm afraid Jem has jeopardized his medical career by taking on the responsibility of a wife before completing his degree."

"Gilbert Blythe!" exclaimed Anne.

"Hear me out, Anne. Jem told me he's thinking of not returning to Redmond when the new term begins."

"Oh, dear. That would be a mistake. But between his grief and lack of sleep, he's not thinking clearly. What did you say?" Anne hoped Gil had kept his thoughts to himself.

"It took a great deal of self-restraint, but I told him he was in no condition to make that decision right now."

"That was a wise response," Anne said approvingly. "Surely he's not serious. He's wanted to be a doctor ever since he was a little boy."

"I know. I hate to see him give that up, and not just for his sake. I know this is going to sound selfish, but I've been looking forward to the day he could join my practice and we could work together."

"That's not selfish. Jem has been looking forward to that, too. When he sees that Faith's condition is improving, he'll return to Redmond. I imagine that she will go with him."

"No," Gil said. "At least not right away. Her recovery will take a while, and as her doctor, I cannot in good conscience release her from my care to make that long journey to Kingsport for at least six weeks. Maybe longer. She's going to need rest and care."

"The kind she'd get from Rosemary and Una at the Manse?" Anne asked.

"Exactly. And even if she were to join Jem at Redmond in February, what will she do all day? Sit around the boarding house while he goes to class?"

"And while he studies all night," Anne said.

Gil raised his eyebrow. "I think having Faith there might interfere with his studying. I know that if you and I had been married while I was in medical school, I'd have done a lot less studying."

"Gilbert Blythe! What a thing to say," Anne said, blushing slightly.

"It's true," he said, shrugging.

"Even if Jem is serious about not going back, Faith won't allow it. She knows how much being a doctor means to him."

"I hope you're right. I just wish the two of them had thought this through before they eloped," he said in a harsher tone than he intended.

"I'm beginning to understand why they didn't want to tell us about this marriage," said Anne in a voice that always made her husband defensive.

"I'm not the one who called wartime marriages 'irresponsible' at dinner that night," Gil shot back, before thinking.

Anne's eyes flashed with anger as she bit her tongue. As she stood up and walked towards the door, she said icily, "I'll go fix you some breakfast. You must be starving."

After she walked out of the room, Gilbert remembered that it was Christmas Eve.