Anne with an E The Next Chapter

Jerry faces his fear

With Diana in Carmody, Jerry had time to think about his approach. He decided he first needed to talk to his parents about this. He knew the impact would be hardest on them because of their relationship with Amélie's family.

He traveled to his childhood home on a cool September morning and stepped into the one room house he'd grown up in. His mother greeted him warmly as she always did. He was the second oldest son but had been the first to leave the family homestead. She missed him so but always gushed proudly about his job at the Cuthpert's and the hard work he did there. She asked about Anne, Marilla and Matthew and filled him in on what was going on there.

"Maman j'ai besoin de vous parler, à vous et à papa" said Jerry (I need to speak with you and dad).

"Yé dans le champ là, qu'est-ce qu'y'á ?" said Mrs. Baynard (he's in the field, what's the matter).

Jerry's concerned expression scared Mrs. Baynard and she demanded to know what was happening. He insisted that both his parents needed to be there, so she wasted no time and packed up some scones and coffee and pulled Jerry along with her to the fields.

Mr. Baynard was happy to see Jerry arriving with his mother.

"Ah ben t'es venue me donner un coup de main à matin! Tes frères sont partis me chercher des matériaux" (Hey, look who came to give me a hand! Your brothers are gone to town to get me more material).

"Oui je peux bien rester vous aider mais j'ai à vous parler avant" said Jerry (I can help you dad but I need to talk to you both before). The three took a seat at the nearby logs to talk.

Jerry had to explain what he'd been thinking about for months. He sat quiet for a moment, unable to figure out where to start. His parents urged him to say something. He began telling them that his heart was not in it with Amélie. He cared for her but he didn't feel love for her in the way it mattered. He explained it was important for him to have a loving relationship like his parents had and he explained that Amélie was more like a sister than a potential spouse. He wanted to be fair to her. A life with a man who couldn't love you was no life at all he explained.

He noticed the extreme disappointment and confusion in their eyes. They started to ask questions in rapidfire sequence.

"Jerry... is there someone else?" his mother exclaimed. "You can't always find a great love!"

"Don't don't be ridiculous, you have to be practical... her parents are counting on her to be married to you...be reasonable" his father said sharply. "You have your head in those books too much, you spend too much time with that Anne girl".

"Are you in love with Anne? Is that what this is?" his mother looked curious..."She's a bad influence! I knew it!"

"No" he said "it's not about books or Anne. She's engaged to Gilbert Blythe!"

Jerry stood up and started to pace.

"Look, I just know my heart and I don't want to marry Amélie. She's a lovely person but I'm not in love with her. I know this will be bad for you and I'm so sorry, but you can't force me. You can put the blame on me...I can take it". His parents looked pained.

"No one ever asked me if I wanted this" Jerry said, a little more agitated.

"Jerry is another girl then?" his father said.

"No, that's not it exactly?" said Jerry

"Do you not like girls?" his mother said.

"Oh my God, maman!" He moved his hands to his head, frustrated by where this was going.