Part One
Izzy couldn’t believe that they’d come through the last two months without anything going wrong. Everyday as they went about with plans for their wedding, she expected something to go wrong. But nothing did. Everything was planned. Everything was perfect. Now, with only one week left, Izzy found herself with nothing last minute to do. She had diligently taken care of everything. It was time to relax. But she couldn’t relax. She found herself unable to sleep; she shook all the time. Being purposeless left her more stressed than she had been when she had had a million things on her mind. Felix on the other hand was walking on air. Didn’t everyone realize that in only seven days he would be married to the most wonderful girl in the entire world? He felt as though the sky should open up and God should join the angels in song! In a week, Izzy would become Mrs. Felix King, his wife – his wife, how sweet that sounded – and they would belong to each other forever. Clive Pettibone had become a basket-case. Still in Halifax with the now very pregnant Muriel, he couldn’t believe that his Izzy, his baby girl, was getting married. What was more, he couldn’t believe how happy he was for her. It had taken him a very long time to realize it, but Felix King was the right man for his daughter. He loved her with all of his heart and he would take care of her as he promised. But when it came right down to it, Clive wasn’t sure that he would be able to give her away. Muriel was in her ninth month of pregnancy and feared deeply that she would go into labor at or before the wedding. She didn’t want to ruin Izzy’s day. But babies had not been known to wait! She prayed that the child within her would rest until the festivities were over. Alec King walked around in a state of quiet contentedness. His son had finally become the man Alec had worked so hard to shape him into. He couldn’t have been prouder of his boy. And Izzy was the sweetest, most wonderful young woman they could have hoped would find Felix. She would be a loving wife and a tender mother. Janet King was also very proud of their son. She knew that he would do right by his new wife and that they would live a fairy-tale life in rural Prince Edward Island. But another part of her screamed inside. She wasn’t ready to give up her son. She had believed him dead for so long, and it felt as though he was barely home at all before the wedding preparations began. And she loved Izzy, she really did. But she just wasn’t ready – simple as that. Cecily was beside herself with excitement. To have her brother marry her very best friend was the most fabulous thing she could have thought of! Izzy was about to become her sister – a bond that would bring them even closer than they were. Cecily was to be the maid of honor and was truly touched to be standing beside Felix and Izzy on their day of days.Felicity was ecstatic. She couldn’t wait to start the deaf school and take in little Alice! After the Dean children moved away, Felicity had found things to be difficult. There had been a few, shifty foundlings in and out of the Home, but the town had decided (again!) to do away with the Foundling Home indefinitely. Feeling slightly without purpose, Felicity had been glad to give birth to her little girl and start a family of their own. But the town wanted her and Gus out of the Foundling Home and they’d been facing the difficulty of finding somewhere to live. The prospect of living in Green Gables (once called the ‘loveliest old spot on the North Shore’) and to work with young Rilla Ford, who seemed like a very pleasant young woman, excited her. And the marriage of her little brother only furthered her intense feelings of joy.Gus couldn’t help but smile. He had known that Felix and Izzy would get to this point the instant they started to show interest in one another. He knew how much they loved each other – Felix in particular having expressed his deep feelings towards the girl of his dreams to his brother-in-law. Izzy was a sweetheart and Felix, he knew, would make an excellent husband. They would care for each other well. Gus couldn’t have been happier for either of them.Daniel watched in silent wonder at all the preparations. He was getting to be quite the lad, and looked up to Felix a lot. He adored Izzy whom he had come to know as another sister. But he wondered strangely at their attraction to one another. He couldn’t help but be ‘grossed out’ when he caught even the quickest of kisses between Felix and Izzy and couldn’t imagine why they would want to get married. At the age of twelve, love still seemed a very odd and unlikable practice.The Pettibone house had undergone a good swift cleaning and rearranging in preparation for becoming the new King home. They had all spent hours working together; with only a week left to go, Clive and Muriel had come to Avonlea and were helping with getting everything ready. Felix had been putting away the money to pay for it and was extremely proud to be able to present Clive with the lump sum. But Clive turned it away. "The house would just have sat there," Clive told them. "Better that it have someone in it. Consider it our wedding gift to you." When Felix had insisted, Clive simply shook his head. "No Felix. Please, take the house. We want you and Izzy to have a good start. Take that money and put it away." And so the house passed from Muriel and Clive Pettibone’s hands into those of the soon-to-be Izzy and Felix King’s. Izzy woke up the morning of the day before their wedding with a lurch. She felt extremely ill. She got up and ran outside, feeling very much like she was going to be sick. Muriel, who had been in the kitchen at that time, ran out after her. "Izzy! Izzy dear, are you all right?" Izzy picked her head up out of a bush. "Yes…I, I think so! Oh Muriel, I feel awful!" "Are you ill? Should I get the doctor?" asked Muriel starting for the telephone. "No. No, I think I’ll be fine in a few moments. I just suddenly felt so SICK! Yes, there, it’s subsiding now. That was very strange!" Muriel looked at the young woman knowingly. "Could it have to do with the fact that you’re getting married tomorrow?" she asked, looking out of the corner of her eye as she wiped down the table. "Muriel, I’ve never been nervous about it! Not until this very morning! What’s gotten into me?" "Cold feet. It’s perfectly natural dear. Don’t fret about it…it will pass. In fact, I’m surprised you’ve held out this well up ‘till now! Why, before I married your father, I threw up for a week!" "Really?" Izzy asked. "I hope Felix isn’t getting these cold feet! Knowing him, he’s liable to not show up at the alter!" Izzy laughed, though only half-joking. "He loves you too much to do that!" Muriel assured her. But despite all the faith she had in him, she couldn’t help but wonder… Felix woke up that same morning and bounced down the stairs, a broad smile parting his lips. "What’s with you?" asked Daniel "Nothing," he said, fairly dreamily. "Felix are you all right?" Cecily asked him, looking at her brother curiously. "I’m FINE, Cecily. In fact, I’ve never once, in my entire life, been better! Don’t you all know what tomorrow is?" he asked. "Tomorrow? Yes of course! Actually Felix, I’m surprised at you! I had thought that you’d be suffering from a major case of nerves this close to the wedding!""NERVES!" he cried out. "What possible cause could there be for me to have nerves? I am about to marry the most wonderful, beautiful, amazing woman on the face of this earth! I’m too happy to leave room for nerves!" he cried out. His father came into the kitchen then and laughed. "So, I guess I don’t need to ask you how you’re feeling do I, my boy?" "Nope!" "I’m glad. I was a little bit worried you’d back out of this whole marriage business…" "Back out? Are you kidding me? I can’t even believe how excited I am. It’s nice to be so sure of something, isn’t it?" "I wonder how Izzy’s doing?" Cecily wondered aloud. "She’s probably freaking out," Felix said calmly. ‘What a change of pattern this is! I am calm and assured and IZZY is panicking! It’s very strange." "What makes you think she’s panicking?" Cecily asked. "I know her! She’ll be all nervous this morning and then she’ll get over it! And we’ll get married tomorrow and everything will be perfect!" Felix knocked his knuckles against the wood of the table, just to be safe. Rilla Ford (nee Rilla Blythe) sat on the Green Gables porch alone, letter from her husband in hand, the tell-tale trail of tears still left on her cheeks. She opened the letter again and re-read it, trying to extract every morsel of it."My darling Rilla," it read. "I hope that my letter find you well. You can’t know how much I miss you; you are always in my thoughts. This war is just as frightening as before, if not more so. But I am being careful and I will come home to you just as soon as I can. I can not wait to have you in my arms, my love. But we must all be brave, darling, from the soldiers at the front, to mothers and fathers and brides back home. We must all be brave. I love you with all my heart, Rilla-my-Rilla. Take care of yourself, darling.Love,Ken" Rilla wiped the tears off her face. This was the first she had received from Kenneth since he had left for the war and it made her miss him more than she already had. But she had work to do. She was preparing lunch for the Pikes, who had gone to get little Alice and a few other children who would be living and studying at the new deaf school. She would respond to Kenneth’s letter before she went to bed.Felicity and Gus Pike stood at the Avonlea station waiting her Alec to pick them up. Felicity held her own child in one arm while little Alice clung to her other hand. Gus had two other children by the hand, one little girl named Isabel, around eight-years-old, and a little boy, Jeremy, not more that five. Felicity called out to her father as he drove up, for she could not wave. "Father!" "Felicity! How are you my girl?’ he asked, getting out of the buggy. "I’m fine Father. Could you take the baby for me?" she asked, handing him her little girl. "Of course! Hello my darling," he said to his beloved grandchild. "All right. Well, Gus, why don’t you get in the buggy with Jeremy and Isabel. I’ll take Alice and Lucy in the back here. She picked Alice up and placed her in the back of the wagon. Then she got up herself. "Father, could you hand Lucy to me, please?" "Yes! Up you go," she said as he lifted the baby into Felicity’s waiting arms. ‘To Green Gables!" shouted Alec as they drove away from the station. When they arrived at Green Gables, Rilla had lunch all ready for them. "Hello!" she greeted them as they came in the door. She smiled at the children. For now, as she knew no sign language, she would just be in charge of the house and the kitchen. But Felicity would soon be teaching her how to sign and then she would be able to help with the children. For now though, all she could do was smile at them. "Hello Rilla!" Gus greeted her. "Hi Rilla!" called Felicity. "Oh! Wonderful! Those sandwiches look lovely! I’m starved after our little journey, and I’m sure the children are too." "Well, good, because I made lots of them!" Rilla, Felicity and Gus got the children seated around the table and gave them so sandwiches. They took a few themselves and stepped back, watching the children at the table. "So, none of them know how to sign? Not even the older one?" she asked. "Isabel knows a little…but not much. The other two I’m afraid know nothing. It’s going to be a little bit of a task, and I’ll be glad after I’ve taught you!" "So will I! I really want to help you here Felicity!" "I know you do dear. So, any word from Kenneth yet?" she asked. When she and Gus had left the day before, Rilla had been desperately worried about him. Now she sighed. "Yes. I’m glad to know he’s all right." "That’s good. I’m sure he’ll be fine," Felicity told her, trying to give the young girl some encouraging words. "I hope so," Rilla whispered. "So," she said, changing the subject, "when are you going to start teaching?" "Tomorrow. First thing in the morning. We’ll let them to a little playing after lunch and then I’m putting them all to bed – they’ve been through so much today, what with leaving their families and all. They need to get some sleep." "All right." The children ate their lunch and were send out into the yard to play. All three adults were amazed at the way they interacted with each other. Deaf or not, they were just regular children. After a couple of hours, Felicity ushered them up the stairs and into the bedroom that was waiting for them. Once they were in their nightclothes and tucked in, Felicity turned out the lights. She returned downstairs, though she felt like going right to bed as well – it had been a long day! Gus and Rilla were in the sitting room, Gus reading the Chronicle, Rilla hunched over some needle work. "I think I’m just going to go to bed," Felicity announced. "I’m exhausted. Gus, you should come too. We’ve both had quite the day!" Gus folded his paper. "Yer right, F’licity. Good night Rilla. Sorry we’re not better comp’ny!" "That’s all right! I’ve got a few things to do anyways," she told them with a smile. "Goodnight!" "Goodnight, Rilla."