Title is from Dr. Suess.


"Marilla? Will you marry me?" Matthew Cuthbert knelt down on one knee and held out his grandmother's engagement ring to Marilla Hughes.

"I-I-yes of course I will!" She jumped in his arms and kissed him.


Marilla ironed another one of Matthew's shirts, sighing in satisfaction.

She supposed that married life wasn't so bad. There were more responsibilities she then when she was single, but her mother had dutifully prepared her for the responsibilities of keeping house before she died. Ah yes, her mother, she had fought bravely but tuberculosis had overtaken her, and she succumbed to death's open door, joining her father and older brother. Marilla wondered if that reunion was happy, up there in heaven, she suspected it must have been.

Marilla wished her mother had been alive to see her as a bride, that would always haunt her just a bit. But she was so busy now that the thought was tucked away, and thoughts of cooking, cleaning, and learning how to navigate married life flooded her mind.

Had it only been a month since she had been married? It felt like her and Matthew had been together always; in some respects they had been. They used to play in the woods and eventually went to school together. Neither had been very popular in school, both preferring to study then to have a social life.

At lunch and recess, while the other boys and girls were playing games, the two would sit with each other and study in silence enjoying the mutual quiet.

Eventually Matthew and Marilla graduated and they spent more time with each other than ever before. Matthew was forced not to go to college when his father died and stayed to work his father's farm and manage Green Gables; for Marilla, she didn't get to choose.

They got married when Matthew was twenty and Marilla was nineteen. The lovely May wedding consisted of the Avonlea community, with Rachel Lynde, who had gotten married the February prior, as Marilla's Matron of Honor and Thomas Lynde as Matthew's best man.

The door opening brought Marilla out of her day dream.

"Hello, Matthew," Marilla greeted him, "would you like a plum puff?"

"Mm yes please. I came in for some tea," Matthew grinned, giving Marilla a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Here you go. What time will you be home tonight?"

"Might be a little late. Gotta go get the gelding some shoes, I think it will be nice once we have some children, then I might have some help."

Marilla raised an eyebrow and smiled, "what are you implying."

"You know..." he said cheekily, giving her a kiss on the lips before heading out the door.

She shook her head and smiled as he left.

Adjusting her hat and coat she walked down the lane to Lynde Hollow, where Rachel was sitting on the porch, her six month old baby happily sucking on his fingers in her arms.

"Good day, Rachel," Marilla said as she walked up and sat down in the wicker chair next to Rachel.

"Hello Marilla, here do you wanna hold him?"

Marilla held her arms out for the happy baby and cradled him on her lap. She quietly spoke to him while Rachel looked on.

"Are you and Matthew going to start having one soon?"

Marilla looked up from the baby and was processing what Rachel had asked her.

"Oh um we want to. We'll just have to see what the Lord does. I mean after all, we've only been married a month since last week. Matthew wants children so badly, as do I, surely one day we'll have boys and girls running about the place," Marilla shrugged her shoulders in carefree way.

"There's nothing like being a mother, Marilla, Baby Caleb has taught me so much, and Thomas is smitten with him."

Caleb began to grizzle and cry, "here I'll take him," Rachel rocked him in her arms until he settled down.


Later that night, while in bed, Marilla spoke in the darkness:

"Matthew?"

"Hm?"

"Would you like a baby?"

"Yes, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, very much. I was holding Caleb today and felt a pang in my heart, as I always do, for a little one like him. If you could pick which would you want, a boy or a girl?"

"So long as it's healthy and you're healthy I don't care. A boy would help me on the farm, but a girl that looked like you would be lovely. I can imagine the bows in her hair and the pretty dresses that she would wear."

"Bows only add to one's vanity and you know I prefer sensible dresses, no point in wasting fabric! I think a boy would be more practical, and if he had your messy hair then you would have someone to match with," Marilla teased.

"Very funny. I think you'd make a wonderful mother. I mean, you could be pregnant right now, right?"

"It's true, I haven't gotten my blood yet."

"You wanna, you know, try for one? Right now?"

"Marilla laughed and kissed him passionately.