16. Christmas 41 (1/2)

chapter xv

julia's journey from london to glen st. mary was very long and julia simply couldn't sit still. her head was filled with uncountable questions, imagining the reunion with her family and christmas at home. home! she couldn't believe it at all! a smile couldn't come off her face and the twinkle in her eyes was noticeble by everyone who looked at her during her journey. she was radiating with happiness over the thought that she will spend two wonderful and long weeks in dear house on the hill with her family by her side.

however julia also felt a small feeling of guilt in her chest by getting a three weeks leave from the hospital. "maybe i should have stayed and help those poor men?" she questioned herself but then… "gosh, i can't wait to see everyone!" and with this thought she stepped off the train on the station in her own glen st. mary. the very first person to get julia in her arms was faith whose face was shining with joy and eyes filled up with tears of happiness.

"my baby girl! my darling!" she cried into julia's ear. julia's own eyes started filling up with tears and she started laughing, the way she always used to whenever she didn't want to allow tears flow down her cheeks.

"i'm home, mother-dear!" julia cried back and kissed faith's red cheeks.

"you're really home, my sweet-pie!" jem caught his eldest daughter in his arms and couldn't hide his watery eyes any longer.

"i am, daddy." julia replied softly and felt how another, smaller this time, person started hugging her from the side "cee!" julia gasped and kissed each of her sister's cheeks twice "how much you've grown!" she said. cee clearly did grow. she was just a head shorter than her sister now, her face got more mature and eyes much more alive than the last time julia has seen her.

"you did as well, julia!" cee exclaimed. julia chuckled and suddenly stopped when she saw another two figures standing just behind her parents.

"walt!" julia threw her arms on her

other's neck and started screaming with joy "walter blythe! i can see you!" she laughed.

"and i can hear you!" walt replied happily while kissing julia's forehead. "he didn't change one bit!" julia thought "but oh my, he's getting more and more handsome!". julia turned her head to the person standing next to her

other. it was a young woman with pale and slender face, blue as the sea eyes and the loveliest smile julia has ever seen. "you must be the famous lily!" julia said cheerfully.

"yes, i am. and you must be the even more famous julia!" lily answered and gave julia a warm hug.

"you finally met." walt said while looking at his fiancee with adoration in his eyes.

"eventually." julia agreed and grabbed cee's hand quickly "are we going to the house on the hill now?" she turned to her parents with crimson cheeks.

"no dear," faith took her daughter's arm "we're all going to ingleside. everyone is waiting for you there." she grinned to julia knowingly.

"another party?" julia asked with a mischievous smile on her face "for me?"

"yes, for you, you dear thing." jem said affectionately and kissed his oldest daughter's red cheek.

the minute julia entered ingleside, there was no end to shoutings, huggs, kisses and tears for the next ten minutes. julia didn't even have time to take off her coat or a hat. julia's guilt vanished completely with all the kisses she got firstly from her grandmothers, and this guilt would not return any more into her soul. she thought that it wasn't happening. that it couldn't possibly be true that she was surrounded by her family, not the whole family of course, but most of it.

tears were coming down her cheeks like the small rivers and when she dryed them off she looked around at her cousins, aunts and uncles and noticed that something clearly was missing "but where's blythe?" she asked.

"he is… he's right here!" leslie said with excitement when she looked out of the window of ingleside's living room.

julia turned around and looked out as well. there he was, blythe ford running towards the front door with a small pakcage in his hands. dear blythe, with his black curls, pale face and grey gleaming eyes of a poet. julia started

eathing heavily. "he got so much more mature and… so handsome!" julia thought but would never dream to say it outloud although she did have to bit her tongue. julia ran to the front door and opened it with shaking hands "blythe!" she gasped

eathlessly and within one second she was in blythe's strong arms.

oh, how lovely he smelled! he smelled just like he always used to, of the old pages from books, and the warm fireplace of the house of dreams. goodness, and how tall he was! julia had to tip toe to reach his neck. "it's you, sheba… it's really you." he whispered and julia could hear how he struggled not to let himself cry.

she chuckled "blythe… you, dearest of them all!" she put her hands on his cheeks and looked in his grey eyes with the deepest adoration "i can see your face and hear your voice and touch your cheeks, isn't that wonderful?" she asked him

eathlessly again, her own eyes feeling wet again.

"it's certainly not more wonderful than for me to see your face and hear your voice and touch your cheeks." he whispered back and put his package on the cupboard standing next to them. he put his own hands on her cheeks, laughing himself.

julia let out a small laugh and looked at the package standing on the cupboard "what's that?" she pointed at the package, trying not to let her cheeks turn fiery from all the waves of hotness which were passing through her body.

"oh!" he gapsed as if he just remembered something "that is my gift for you." he said and reached for the package which he quickly put into julia's hands. she opened it up quickly, with hungry movements.

"oh, blythe…" she said and put a hand on her mouth, not believing in what she was holding.

"i was saving for it for quite a while. i just knew that it should be yours." he said with his funny, very blythe-like grin. in julia's hands there was a very beautiful and dazzling silver necklace with a little shining rose on it. on the back of the rose two words were engraved: "keep hope.". julia didn't know what to say and blythe knowing that, put the necklace on her neck, feeling very proud of making julia speechless who as he knew wasn't a person prone to get speechless.

"julia, dearest," grandmother blythe said and rushed towards her grandchildren with a smile crossing her delighted face "do take off your coat and hat, i'm sure you must have forgotten that you are still wearing them!" she chuckled.

"i really did, grandmother." julia agreed and smiled at her. then she took off her hat. the whole room went silent, for under julia's hat there were no longer long red curls to her shoulders, but much shorter curls which were now touching her chin.

"what did you do to your hair?" rose gasped.

"can't you see?" julia giggled and touched her hair gently "i cut it because i thought i needed a change, and... besides it was becoming very annoying during my work." she said, glancing at blythe so that he could give his opinion about it.

"i think it looks

illiant." blythe said and patted julia on the shoulder shyly.

and the whole room started chatting again.

the party was a big success. julia talked, talked and talked with each member of her family. she even tried to talk to the little jackie whom rose was holding in her arms through the whole evening. "he looks just like you, rose!" julia said to her cousin, kissing jackie's chubby hands.

rose looked down on her bundle of joy and kissed jackie's small forehead "except for the eyes. he has john's blue eyes." she said lovingly.

julia got to know lily and from the first sentence the two of them shared, they became bosom friends. julia thought as if no one nor anything else changed. her family was as big and loving as it always has been, the dear ingleside was homey as always, rainbow valley was untouched by time and the new members of her family were simply new kindred spirits.

"you've changed." julia said to blythe when the two of them were taking a walk through the lovely and very snowy rainbow valley.

blythe looked at julia with a furrowed

ow "did i?" he asked her.

"yes." she replied slowly "i don't really know how but i think you did."

"in a bad way?" he questioned with an almost worried look on his face.

"i don't think i can answer that." she looked in his eyes deeply, trying to think if she could ever answer this question. blythe was quieter, that was the only thing which was changed. and somehow, julia thought, he got more shy than he has ever been. somewhere deep under her skin she felt that blythe wasn't telling her something, although she didn't quite know why wouldn't he tell her as they always shared their deepest of secrets. maybe he enlisted… julia though but shook her head quickly, of course her family would know, wouldn't they?

"you've changed as well." he said unexpectadly, squeezing her arm gently.

"well… i did cut my hair." she chuckled quietly and so did blythe.