I had intended this story to be a one shot. However, I got the new edition of Rilla of Ingleside (love it). It inspired me to write my own conclusion to the book. After all, don't we all want to know what happened after Ken entered the house after the war?

PS – this is longer than I intended, so I hope you don't get tired before the end.

Rilla closed her journal with a little sigh. Just then she was not finding it easy to keep faith. All the rest seemed to have some special aim or ambition about which to build up their lives – she had none. And she was lonely, horribly lonely. Jem had come back – but he was not the laughing boy-brother who had gone way in 1914 and he belonged to Faith. Walter would never come back. She had not even Jims left. All at once her world seemed wide and empty – that is, it had seemed wide and empty from the moment yesterday when she had read in a Montreal paper a fortnight-old list of returned soldiers in which was the name of Captain Kenneth Ford.

So Ken was home – and he had not even written her that he was coming. He had been in Canada two weeks and she had not a line from him. Of course he had forgotten 0 if there was ever anything to forget – a handclasp – a kiss – a look – a promise asked under the influence of a passing emotion. It was all absurd – she had been a silly, romantic inexperienced goose. Well, she would be wiser in the future, - very wise, = and very discreet – and very contemptuous of men and their ways.

"I suppose I'd better go with Una and take up Household Science, too." She thought, as she stood by her window and looked down through a delicate emerald tangle of young vines on Rainbow Valley, lying in a wonderful lilac light of sunset. There did not seem anything very attractive just then about Household Science, but, with a whole new world waiting to be built, a girl must do something.

The door bell rang. Rilla turned reluctantly stairwards. She must answer it – there was no one else in the house, but she hated the idea of callers just then. She went downstairs very slowly, and opened the front door.

A man in khaki was standing on the steps a with dark eyes and hair and a narrow running across his brown cheek. Rilla stared foolishly for a moment. Who was it?

She ought to know him - there was certainly very familiar about him-

"Rilla my Rilla," he said.

"Ken," gasped Rilla. Of course it was Ken – but he looked so much older - be was so much changed- that scar - the lines about his eyes and lips – her thoughts went whirling helplessly.

Ken took the uncertain hand she held out and looked at her. The slim Rilla of four years ago had rounded out into symmetry. He had left a school girl ,and he found a woman - a woman with wonderful eyes and a dented lip, and rose bloom cheek, - a woman altogether beautiful and desirable - the woman of his dreams.

" Is it Rilla my Rilla," he asked meaningly.

Emotion shook Rilla from head to foot. Joy - happiness - sorrow - fear every passion that had wrung her heart in those four long years seemed to surge up in her soul for a moment as the deeps of being were stirred. She tried to speak; at first voice would not come. Then –

" Yeth," said Rilla.

Ken reached forward and drew her across the doorstep to himself. He placed a kiss on top of her head, before Ken laid his cheek on top of her hair. The softness convinced him that Rilla truly was in his arms. Ken reached down and tilted her mouth up to his. He kissed her as he dreamed about for the past several years. It was several moments before Ken realized that Rilla had frozen in his arms. Belatedly, he realized he hadn't spoken since Rilla had replied with that endearing lisp. Ken had simply grabbed her without ceremony. The stray thought that Susan had said that was his habit on his last night here occurred to him. Ken pulled away, but kept a firm grip on Rilla's hands. "Sorry, I think I was carried away."

"What…how…Ken," Rilla stuttered before bursting into tears, "I thought you had forgotten about me."

Ken drew her over to the porch swing and cuddled her close. "Why would you think that, my darling? Here, take my handkerchief."

"I saw in the Toronto paper that you've been back for nearly a month. I've not heard from you." Rilla sniffed and delicately wiped her nose. She wasn't acting nearly as wise as she had vowed – was it a few minutes ago? Years seemed to have passed and confusingly been wiped away.

"The joys of being an officer. I've spent three weeks logging men and equipment in and out. I wanted to see you, Mother, Father, and believe it or not even Persis. I wired home, but you didn't get the message?"

"No," Rilla looked down at the cloth she was twirling between her fingers. "This has my initials on it?"

"You dropped it after our picnic. I was going to return it at the Harbor Dance, but all hell broke loose. It's been all over Europe with me."

Rilla was shocked that Ken had carried something of hers for five years and she never knew it.

Ken winced, "I'm sorry for swearing. I'm still getting used to being around ladies again."

"I think I understand. How are you? What happened to your cheek?" Rilla reached out a hand.

"I didn't "Cover" well one time when I "Ducked." A kiss might make it better."

Rilla leaned forward. There was something in Kenneth's eyes she couldn't refuse.

After a few minutes, Ken moved away. "I do have a confession before we continue. I came In on the afternoon train. I found a job with the Charlottetown paper this morning. I'm going to live full time on the Island. This afternoon, I found your father. He seemed very confused, but he gave his consent," Ken took a deep breath and slowly pulled a ring box out of his uniform jacket as he went down on one knee, "For me to ask for your hand." Ken waited. It occurred to him at best he was asking someone to marry him after maybe three dates. Was she going to laugh at him?

His worry was for nothing. Rilla flew into his arms. Ken placed the ring on her finger and drew her back to the swing; this time on his lap. What was said next is best left to the dear reader's imagination. Suffice it to say a dream castle was being constructed, but not as they had created on their own five years ago. This one was more humble, but much richer as the years had changed our hero and heroine.

The sun was beginning to set. Ken drew the recently bejeweled hand to his lips, "I – "

"What is going on here?" came a thunderous voice. "My sister isn't like one of the women following the army!" Jem stormed onto the porch with Jerry a half-step behind him. Nan and Faith were a couple steps back gathering the picnic basket that had dropped to the ground.

"Jem!" Rilla exclaimed.

"Go into the house while I deal with this."

"I am not a little girl to be ordered around." Rilla stamped her foot.

Nan moved forward, "Of course, you aren't, but come into the house with us before one of us finds a slate to break over someone's head."

Rilla stomped into the house followed by Nan and Faith, "Why does everyone continue to treat me like a child?" Rilla gestured wildly with each word.

"We – What is on your hand?" Faith interrupted herself grabbing Rilla's hand to examine the large emerald offset by pearls.

"It's the ring Ken just gave to me. He says he remembers how good green looked on me. The pearls represent the tears from the past few years."

"How long have you been engaged to Ken?" Nan asked feeling as if she had stepped into a rabbit hole when she entered the Ingleside gate.

"I'm not sure. Mother says when he was proposing when he asked me not to kiss anyone else when he went away, but I wasn't sure. I'm sure now." Rilla sighed and looked down at her ring with a blissful smile.

"Mother knew? Did anyone else? Di and I never knew." Nan started to ask logical questions to sort things out.

"Mother found me crying. Fred Arnold asked me to marry him before he left. When I refused, he asked for a kiss, and I couldn't. I felt so badly. I had promised Ken, but I wasn't certain what I had promised. Walter and I had talked it over his last night home."

"Two men have proposed to my baby sister, and I never knew," Nan marveled.

Faith had been standing by feeling like she was watching a tennis match. She could tell that one more baby sister comment would not sit well with Rilla. "And you ended up with the finest looking man to step foot on this Island in a long time. Now Nan, I think your brother is very attractive, just as you think mine is, but you have to agree Kenneth Ford has long been in a class by himself. Now there are three weddings to plan. Promising not to kiss anyone else sounds so much more romantic than Jem's proposal that involved stories about soldiers dying in long ago wars." Faith chattered until she saw that both Rilla and Nan had calmed down. The Blythe kids could illustrate the red-haired temper their mother referred to herself as having. "Let's get some lemonade for the men. Isn't it great that we can use all the sugar we want again?"

Nan followed Faith into the kitchen. While Rilla followed, it could be suggested she drifted to the door as she could barely take her eyes off her hand.

Meanwhile outside –

"Now that the girls have gone inside, perhaps you could explain why Rilla was sitting on your lap." Jerry stated folding his arms.

Ken rolled his eyes. While Jem was a year older, he and Jerry were the same age. He didn't appreciate the paternalistic tone in Jerry's voice. "I was simply enjoying my first chance in several years to spend time with my fiancée."

"Fiancée? Who said it was okay? My sister is very young, and I repeat, a lady unlike many who were around the army."

"I'm starting to wonder about the time you spent with Faith during the war, Jem, as you seem to know so much about the women over there. Your sister is nineteen years old, and your father gave me his blessing this morning. Is there anything else I need to explain to you?" Ken realized he was speaking harshly to Jem and Jerry, but darnit, he had imagined a romantic evening out of one of his father's books with his lovely new fiancée. Not engaging in schoolyard insults with her brother, yet Jem was one of his oldest friends. "Sorry, I snapped at you, but I hadn't expected someone to be yelling at me this evening."

"I guess I'm just confused. I know you bought Rilla's pie at the Auxiliary auction, but that seems different than asking her to be your wife."

"We spent some time together at the Lighthouse dance. Then we started writing to each other. I wanted to lay the world at her feet. I came here for my last leave. I managed to spend an evening with Rilla, Jims, and Susan "

"All three?" Jem quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes, I wasn't sure if it was by plan or not. I saw her with Jims and suddenly I could see my own house and children. It was Rilla who was listening to their secrets and bandaging their knees. I wanted to propose then, but I knew I was headed 'Over There' – who was I to ask her to wait for me?"

"I guess that could happen." Jerry said.

"We're going to all be brothers soon." Jem said, "I know the two of you are both the Race that knows Joseph, why does it feel like I'm about to start refereeing a match when I'm around you both."

Jerry and Ken looked at each other for the first time in a long time. For so many years, it had seemed like the Merediths had a competition with Ken and Persis over who was a closer friend to the Blythes. All that fell away, and they saw the weariness in the other's eyes. So many years had been spent fighting, a truly evil enemy; neither wanted to fight any longer. Both felt the flash between two men lately. One that couldn't be described to an outsider, the horror and kinship of the trenches weaved a brotherhood between the men.

"One more thing, speaking of brothers – " Ken realized something might help Jem come to terms with his engagement.

"Speaking of brothers, what?" Nan carried a tray of glasses outside, "Is it safe to come outside? We come bearing lemonade."

The men turned towards the doors; each reaching out to draw someone next to him. Nan, Faith, and Rilla had matured into women, but there was an innocence to them that the men longed to recapture.

"Shouldn't Di, Walter, and the others be coming back soon?" Ken asked. He leaned back in the swing and brought Rilla's trembling hand up to his mouth again as he realized the names he had listed. "I'm sorry – of course – I know"

"It wasn't real, was it?" Jerry leaned forward, "You saw men die every day, but they weren't your friends or your family. They were safe "Somewhere" else. Now you're back and it doesn't seem true that they are still "somewhere in France"."

They all sat somberly for a moment lost in memories.

"Now, what were you saying when we came out about brothers?" Nan was never one to miss a detail tried to get the conversation started again.

Ken squeezed Rilla's hand. "I saw Walter one night in Beauvais. We were bringing supplies to his unit."

Nan and Rilla gave quick gasp. It was the first they had heard of their brother's life since he stepped onto the train.

"Walter asked if I had heard from any of you. It had been a couple weeks I told him. He asked me if I was sure it had been a couple weeks since I heard from Rilla. I could tell he was trying to tease me. I think it was the first time I'd ever heard Walter tease, but the mail seemed to have been stuck in the mud. He asked me about my intentions. It was the first time I talked about us out loud, though my men did always wonder who sent me all the socks and goodies. He nodded quickly, 'Good, good. Ken I'm fairly sure what's going to happen to me here. Rilla and I talked the night before I left. She's hoping you'll come home to her. I just feel certain that you will. Tell her, Di and Nan that I love them. Also, I think that Walter Ford would be a very good name.' He smiled as he said the last part. I wanted to tell him that of course he would be coming home with us, but there wasn't time. We shook hands and – that was it."

Everyone sat still watching the sun finish setting over the horizon.

As the lightening bugs began to flash, Faith spoke up. "Now we have three weddings to plan. What colors are we going to choose, where will they be, and can one of us arrange to beat Mary Vance married?"

"Why do we want to beat Mary Vance to the altar," Jem asked his eyes twinkling in a way they hadn't in a long time.

"Because after the Harbor Dance, after all of you left me there," Rilla glanced around the group, "she took me home and rubbed cod liver oil on my feet and told me I was a little fool to think Ken Ford would give me a second thought."

"Because she asked me if I thought Jerry would still become a minister after the war. Then she told me all about how Miller Douglas is going to be the most successful storekeeper the Island has ever seen," Nan added.

"Because we love her, but no one here wants to spend the next sixty years hearing about how Miller was the first Glen boy to race his beloved to Father when he came home," Faith concluded.

"I see," said Ken. "First, let me assure you that I did give you a second thought. Secondly, my parents and Persis are due at the House of Dreams tomorrow. I was too impatient to wait another day. I'm sure between you ladies, Mrs. Blythe, and them, you all can concoct all the plans you would like."

"I'll agree," Jerry said, "Jem, Ken are you up for a fishing trip tomorrow? I think I want to stay out of the way as the bolts of material are tossed around."

"If we go down to the House of Dreams," Faith smiled, "we can stop at Miss Cornelia's on the way back to show off your ring. Now don't start, Rilla. We've all been through a lot and deserve to have some fun. You know, Mary will laugh with us one day, so you don't have to worry about hurting her feelings."

Plans were thrown around with laughter growing more and more extravagant. Anne and Gilbert stopped just outside the gate. "Look, Gilbert! The porch is full, and they are laughing. I had begun to stop hoping that would ever happen again. Is that Ken Ford there as well? Oh! I wonder if he surprised Rilla?"

"I think he did. At least, he surprised me today. Could you drop a hint the next time one of our children gets engaged?"

"I think I could do that. Should we go up to say hello?"

"Let's let the young people, be young again. And the old people can slip in the back door." Gilbert flashed a smile down at the love of his life.

Anne smiled, "I thought I would never say this again, but I feel very Blythe."