Part Two

            After Jo had calmed down, Nick led her into her own bedroom.  “You’re exhausted,” he said, seating her down on her childhood bed.  “You need to sleep.”  There was no protest from Jo; she had no energy to even make an attempt.  Nick helped her take off her boots and get under the covers.  He gently caressed her cheek, removing some of the stray tears that were still there. 
            “Sit with me until I fall asleep?” she asked quietly.  Jo knew she sounded like a child but she didn’t care.  She wanted to feel safe and as long as Nick was beside her, she was.
            Nick took hold of her hand.  “Of course I will.  But you gotta close your eyes.”  Jo smiled gratefully up at Nick and obeyed.
            After a few moments, fatigue took hold of her and Jo’s breathing became long and steady.  Nick gently kissed her fingers and giving her back her hand quietly rose from the bed, making his way to the door.  As he approached it, he was surprised to see Mrs. March standing there, smiling approvingly.
            “You’ve completed a miracle, Mr. Riley,” she whispered.  “No one could get her to sleep.”
            Nick grinned awkwardly.  “She was real tired.  She had to sleep sometime.”
            Mrs. March took one last look at the form of her sleeping daughter and closed the door behind them.  As they made their way down the stairs, she looked at Nick.  “She is very lucky to have you.”  She paused, thinking.  “Jo has such a stubborn streak in her.  I think she gets that from me.  But for her to open up to someone, well, that takes a lot from her.  She must feel very secure with you and it is lucky that she has found that—this many times in her life.”
            Nick nodded in understanding.  “I think,” he said as they reached the bottom of the stairs, “that I’m the lucky one, Mrs. March.”

            “Hiya, Rob.  Whatcha doin’?” Dan poked his head into the little boy’s bedroom.  Rob sat upon his bed; the wooden ark his mother had made him lay beside him, the pieces forgotten.
            He looked up as Dan entered the room.  “Nothin’,” he said miserably.
            “Looks like you were playin’ to me.”  Dan picked up the toy and smiled at the little figurine animals that tumbled out of the door.
            “I don’t want to play with that anymore.”
            “Well, do you want to do somethin’ with me?  We could play a game or read a book or we could even go fishin’ if ya want.”
            Rob shook his head.
            “Do ya miss your ma?  Is that why you’re so sad?” Dan asked, wanting to find a solution to the child’s problem.
            “Maybe, a little,” Rob answered after a while.  He looked up at Dan.  “But that’s not why I’m sad.”
            “Well, I know that when someone you love dies, that’s pretty sad.” Dan took a seat beside him on the bed.
            “Yeah, but that’s not why I’m sad.”  Dan looked at him in surprise.  “I don’t remember my papa too good.  Now Grandpapa is gone.  What if I forget him too?”
            “Well, I don’t remember my parents at all, Rob.  And that makes me sad sometimes too.  But when that happens I just think of all of the people that are here and the things that I can remember doing with them.  Like when Nick takes us all fishin’ or when your ma tells us stories on Saturday nights.  After I think of all of the good things, I don’t feel sad anymore.”
            “But if I forget Papa and Grandpapa, won’t Mama be mad?”
            Dan smiled.  “Of course not, Rob.  But if there is ever a time when you can’t remember somethin’, go ask your ma.  I’m sure she won’t mind tellin’ you stories that she remembers.”
            Rob nodded slowly but continued to stare at the bed.  Dan sighed and stood, disappointed that the youngster was still confused, and made his way to the door.           
            “Dan?”  Rob asked quietly.
            “Yeah?”
            “You wanna play checkers?”

            “And then there was the time that Jo cut off all of her hair so Marmee could visit Father,” Meg giggled at the memory.  Most of the family was sitting in the parlour, remembering times long ago and telling stories that neither Bess nor Nick had ever heard.
            “Her hair was her one beauty.  She cut it off herself and she looked absolutely awful afterwards,” Amy spoke with teasing disgust.
            “But she has kept it short,” Laurie offered.  “I think it suits her.”  He looked around the room, Mrs. March nodding in agreement.
            “Well, speaking of times of unattractiveness, my darling Amy,” she began, “I remember one time when your father intended to take all of my girls on a snow hike.”
            Meg smiled and jumped in.  “Father used to take us on small field trips around town, normally during the winter months,” she explained. “We would finish the day by tobogganing down one of the larger hills around Walden Pond.  If I remember correctly, there was one time that Amy wasn’t allowed to go and she threw herself into such a fit.  As revenge she got into Marmee’s makeup drawer and created quite the mess.  There was powder and rouge all over her and the room.”
            “Meg, please!” Amy said in embarrassment.  “I was only four years old.”
            “I believe you were six at the time,” Jo’s voice came from the parlour doorway.  “And the reason Marmee and Father wouldn’t allow you to come was because you had been so dreadfully ill they were not sure if you would see the next week.”  Jo entered the room, her eyes red and swollen from crying.  She still looked weary but it was no longer from emotional exhaustion.  She took a seat across from Nick who gave her a relieved and loving smile.
            “That’s right,” Marmee agreed, “But I don’t think we had much to worry about.  After finding that disaster, we had no doubts that she would become well.”
            “I got into so much trouble for doing that,” Amy giggled.  “But I do remember Father coming home, after taking the rest of you out, and bringing me a pocket full of rock candy that he had bought at the store.”
            Meg and Jo exchanged incredulous looks.  “Father told us he only bought one piece for each of us,” Jo argued.  “And if I remember I gave you my piece because I felt sorry for you.”
            Amy blushed.  “If it is any consolation, I think I ended up getting quite the stomach ache from eating all of that candy.”
            Meg smiled and shook her head.  “Father would do that, no matter who had to stay back.  He didn’t want to leave anyone out.”
            Marmee nodded.  “We were blessed with four such beautiful daughters.  Your father would have spoiled you rotten if he hadn’t known better.  And even though all of you got into your own bit of trouble, he was so grateful that you were whom you were.  He wanted to reward that whenever he could.”
            “We didn’t need rewards, Marmee.”  Jo glanced around at her sisters.  “We had the two of you.”

            “Thank you for coming,” Jo said as she was showing Nick out.  Everyone else had gone to bed, including Bess who had decided to remain at Orchard House.
            “Any time,” Nick smiled.  “Besides, where else would I get to hear such interestin’ stories about ya?”
            Jo blushed.  “I hope they didn’t tell you too much.”
            “Nah, nothin’ too embarrassin’.”  Nick slipped on his coat and grabbed his hat from the hook.  “Funeral’s on Wednesday?” he asked carefully.
            Jo nodded.  “Yes.  I believe about two o’clock.”  She shuffled her feet uncomfortably.  “Are you coming back up tomorrow?”
            “If ya want me to, I can.  Maybe I’ll see if Rob won’t come too.”
            “Is he okay?  I mean, how did he take all of this?  I haven’t exactly had the time to see him through it.”
            Nick began to tell her of the possible problem but then thought better of it.  “He’s fine, Jo.  Don’t worry.”
            She smiled.  “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
            “Definitely.”
            Jo wrapped her arms around Nick’s waist and rested her cheek against his chest.  She closed her eyes as she felt his strong arms enfold her.  “I love you, Nick,” she whispered after a few moments.
            Nick, although shocked at this first declaration, grinned.  “I love you too, Jo.”  He lifted her from his chest and looked her straight in the eye.  “But I’m not going anywhere.  You know that.”
            “Yes, I know.  I still needed to tell you.”
            “And I don’t mind hearin’ it,” Nick chuckled.  He placed a soft and lingering kiss on her lips and opened the front door.  “I’ll see ya tomorrow.”
            “Goodnight.”
            “’Night.”  Nick closed the door behind him, leaving the first true smile in three days on Jo’s face.

            “Mother?”  Bess crept into her parents’ room.  Although the sun had risen many hours before, Orchard House still stood quiet.  Bess had awakened fairly early that morning, her heart heavy with questions she wasn’t quite sure she could ask.  She finally got up the courage to at least make an attempt.
            Laurie was already up, finishing plans for the following day and allowing his wife to sleep.  Amy, however, was sitting up in bed, her eyes still closed but a smile appearing when she heard her daughter’s voice.  “Yes, Darling?”  She opened her eyes to find a hesitant Bess standing in the doorway.
             “I, um, well…” Bess was having second thoughts.  She wasn’t sure her mother, especially right now, was the best person to talk to.
            “Come sit here,” Amy called as she patted the side of the bed.  Bess complied, sitting down with a sigh.  “I’ve noticed that something is bothering you.  You know you can tell me anything, right?”
            Bess nodded.  “Of course I do.…”  She shifted uncomfortably.  “I just don’t know if I should.”
            “Elizabeth…”  Her mother’s tone was gentle but Bess knew that there was no way she could elude the problem much longer.
            “I’m a horrible person,” she began.
            Amy looked at her in disbelief.  “No, you are not.  What would make you think that?”
            The young girl played with the lace on the bedspread, avoiding her mother’s eyes.  “I haven’t cried,” she said, “I haven’t felt like crying.  Even Rob has been more upset about Grandfather than I have.”
            “And you think that makes you a horrible person?”  Bess nodded, waiting for a lecture or some sort of agreement.  “Well, I think you’re wrong about that.”
            Bess looked at Amy with surprise.  “But when someone dies, you are supposed to cry.  But I haven’t, so there must be something wrong with me.”
            Amy grabbed her daughter’s hands.  “No, there isn’t.  If you haven’t cried, or even if you never do, it does not mean that you have no heart.  Different people deal with this type of event in different ways.  If you don’t feel like crying, there is nothing that is going to change that.  As long as you know that you loved that person as much as you could, tears are not going to change anything.”
            Bess smiled and relief swept over her.  “Thank you, Mother,” she whispered and was enveloped by Amy’s arms.  “Thank you.”  And a few tears slipped from her eyes.

            “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Father Lewis spoke as earth spilt from his hand and onto the oak coffin that lay within the ground.  The family surrounded the gravesite, with so many of the townspeople behind them.  Mrs. March clung to her eldest daughter’s arm with Amy, who was steadied by her husband and daughter, on the other.  Jo was on the other side of Meg; embracing her with one arm and her other hand held tightly within Nick’s, who carried Rob beside his mother.
            “Today we commit a wonderful man, husband, father and friend to God’s Eternal Kingdom with much grief.  Yet we are reassured by the glory of Jesus Christ, that we will all be together once again,” Father Lewis continued.
            The entire household of Plumfield was situated within the crowd, most of the children standing with their parents.  Those who were without gathered around Asia, who stood behind Nick, her hand on Dan and Nat’s shoulders trying to offer some comfort.
            The day was sunny and warm.  “It suits Father,” Meg had said earlier.  “He would have wanted it to be that way.”  Mrs. March took a long glance around at the people, friends and relatives that had assembled to pay their respects to her husband.  It amazed her that in one life the man she had loved so dearly had touched so many.  Of course she knew just how wonderful of a man he was yet it moved her that there were countless others who felt the same way she did.
            Her gaze landed upon her daughters.  The families and lives they had created for themselves warmed her very soul and she knew that there was no other experience that could bring about that same feeling.  She had been truly blessed with a life that was justly full, as had her husband.  She nodded and closed her eyes.  Yes, my dear, she thought, this is exactly the way he wanted it.

            Orchard House was abuzz with family and friends, each giving their regards to Mrs. March and her daughters.  Rob, Demi and Daisy ran through the parlour, pieces of chocolate cake in hand while Dan, Bess, Nat and Nan sat in the kitchen picking at the leftovers.  Nick sat on the sofa, watching Jo speak to people he was sure she had never met before.  She rolled her eyes at him a couple of times and contained a giggle when she was almost caught by a so-called cousin.  Seeing her need to be rescued, Nick strolled up to the group and pulled her away by the arm, stating that she was needed in the kitchen.
            “Me?  In the kitchen?” she laughed when they were a safe distance away.  “When have I ever been needed there?”
            “There’s first time for everythin’.”  Nick grinned.  “’Sides, I haven’t been able to talk to you since we got here,” he said as he guided her to a quiet corner.
            Rob suddenly tore through the crowded room and spotted his mother.  “Mama?” he asked as he breathlessly came towards her.  “Can I have another piece of cake?”
            Jo smiled.  “All right.  Just a small one, though.  You have to save some for me.”
            “I know, ‘cause chocolate’s your favourite.  Thanks, Mama!”  As Rob took off towards the kitchen, Jo turned back to Nick.  “He seemed to cope with this fairly well.”
            Nick smiled sheepishly.  He had been stunned at the transformation of the young boy when he had returned.  Yet he still did not want to worry Jo.  “I think the kids were there for him.  Must have done him some good.”
            “I wanted to thank you, Nick.”
            “For what?  Like I said, the kids musta talked to him or something.”
            “Not just that,” Jo spoke, looking at her feet.  “For everything.  For understanding the situation and for being there when I, well, wasn’t exactly at my best.”
            Nick lifted Jo’s chin so that their eyes met.  “That’s part of my job, isn’t it?  I know ya like to handle things by yourself, and I respect that.  But like I said before, I’m here if ya need anything.  Anything, Jo.”
            She smiled in assurance.  “Thank you,” she restated simply, their eyes saying everything else.
            “Oh, there she is!  Jo! Jo!”  A voice came from behind them and Jo’s shoulders sank.
             “Here we go again,” Jo said.

            “Thank you for coming,” Meg said to the last of the guests and closed the door behind her.  “That’s a relief,” she exclaimed as she entered the parlour where the immediate family sat.  Asia had taken all of the children back to Plumfield, leaving Nick behind as Jo was uncertain whether or not she needed to remain at Orchard House.
            “I never knew we knew so many people,” Amy sighed as Laurie handed her a cup of tea.
            “I believe most of them were your father’s associates,” he said, sitting beside her.
            “Associates aside, we really need to keep track of the number of relatives we have accumulated.  Do we really have an Uncle Franklin?”
            “I imagine he is from your father’s side,” Mrs. March answered.  “I don’t remember any Franklins in my lineage.”  She rose from her chair and made her way in the direction of the kitchen.
            “Well, this is far too exhausting, any way you look at it.” Jo stifled a yawn.
            “I’ll stay with Marmee tonight, Jo.  Why don’t you go home and get a decent night’s sleep?” Meg offered, realizing the true meaning of her sister’s words.
            “Certainly you want to be back with the children,” Laurie added.
            Jo looked at Nick who gave her an It’s up to you shrug.  “We’ll see,” she answered.
            “Of course she is going home,” Mrs. March insisted, entering the room again with a handful of envelopes.  “All of you are.  And I won’t take no for an answer.”
            “We will see, Marmee,” Jo said, smiling.
            Mrs. March shook her head and began to pass around the envelopes to their addressed owners.
            “What are these?” Amy asked as she turned the white paper over.
            “They are from your father,” Mrs. March answered simply.  She completed the distribution and sat down, one in her own lap.
            “They were with the rest of his estate papers.  His will read that he wanted them opened after he was gone,” Laurie explained.
            “They are personal letters, one for each of you.  He wanted a way to remind each of you how special you were to him,” Marmee finished.
            The room became quiet, each woman lost in her own thoughts.  “I don’t know if I can open this,” Amy whispered, tears in her eyes.
            Mrs. March shook her head.  “Whenever you are ready.  It is not meant to bring sadness, just a little note from father to daughter.”
            Jo stood up, visibly shaken.  “I think I need some air,” she blurted out and ran from the room.  Nick, looking a bit shocked, stood up as well.
            “Let her go,” Mrs. March said.  “She needs to be alone for a little while.”  She looked around the room, an encouraging smile on her face.  “Well, who would like some more tea?”

             Jo stood on the front porch, the envelope staring back at her from her hands.  She sighed, trying to determine whether or not to open it.  Her stubborn will got the best of her and she sat down on the swing, angry with herself.  I told myself I wasn’t going to do this, she thought as tears stung her eyes.  She closed them and with a final sigh, began to open the letter.
            It read:

                        My dearest Josephine,
            Of all my daughters you are the one with the amazing strength.  No one could ever tell you no, including your mother and I.  You must have gotten that stubbornness from her.  Although life has brought you so many heartaches, you have never quit and have made it what you wanted it to be.   Because of that, I am so very proud of you.  Never think otherwise.
            Yet, as a father, I am entitled to worry about my girls and I always will.  So, I leave with you advice I have gained throughout my years.  Allow yourself some time to delight in the pleasures and the people around you.  These things are much too beautiful to not consider them a miracle.  And let that strength go once in awhile.  It is not a sign of weakness, my darling, but a gain in so much love.
            Eternally devoted,
                        Father

            The moon was bright and a cool evening wind blew across the porch.  Nick parted the curtains and caught sight of Jo, still sitting on the swing, shivering slightly against the breeze.  He slowly opened the front door and smiled as he stepped down the stair.  “It’s cold out,” he stated unnecessarily.
            Jo shook her head.  “It’s not that bad.”
            Nick sat down beside her.  They rocked back and forth for a few short moments before Nick turned to Jo.  “You all right?”
            She smiled.  “Yes.  I am,” she said with all certainty.
            Nick grinned.  “It’s getting pretty late,” he declared after a few more minutes.
            “It is,” Jo agreed, standing up and making her way to the door.  “Just give me a bit to get my belongings together.”  Nick looked at her questioningly.  “Marmee doesn’t need me here.  And what I need is to be at Plumfield, with my children… and you.”  Jo blushed as she spoke.
            “All right,” Nick replied, standing and moving down the steps.  “I’ll get the wagon ready and then we can go home.”
            “Home,” Jo murmured, going inside. “Home.”

The End

Comments? Feedback?  I would love to hear anything.

Disclaimer:  I first must apologize, as I know there are many huge Ms. Alcott fans out there and I completely understand that Mrs. March died before Mr. March yet I find her character such a strong one that I felt that her presence suited the story.  I’m also afraid there might be some confusion with the placement (or lack thereof) of certain characters, especially of Demi and Daisy.  I’ll just say that there were staying at Plumfield the entire time so that we don’t lose them.

I am sorry if there are any other mistakes with characters or otherwise.  I just hope that readers will enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**These are not my own characters; I’m just borrowing them. **
~Maggie~   email: mags8426@hotmail.com

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