Nan smiled as she wandered down the stairs towards the big mirror in the front entry. She had made a bet with Bess and she would win!

The bet was, that Bess would act like Nan for a week, do the chores that Nan did, dress like Nan, and talk like Nan for a week, and that Nan would act like a perfect lady like Bess was. Whichever of the two didn't make it through the week had to do the other person's chores for a month.

So Nan was now carefully smoothing out her dress and straightening her hair for dinner. In walked Bess, Dan, and Tommy. All three were laughing. Bess' hair was in wisps around her face and her clothes were soaked in mud.

"Oh Nan, you should have seen it. Tommy was running around trying to finish his chores before everyone else, when he ran right into Bess. They both fell in the mud." All of them started laughing again.

Nan smiled politely, the quickly let it fade. "Yes, well, I wouldn't want to ruin my dress."

Bess smiled in amusement then left to wash her hands.

When they had all left, Nan sighed and looked again at her reflection. This would be the longest week she had ever had to live through.

The classroom was hot, and stuffy and the gel in Nan's hair was beginning to melt and run down the side of her head. She quickly wiped it off and tried to pay attention to what Franz was saying.

" . . . and so, x plus nine added to nine minus x equals eighteen. Does that make sense to you guys?"

Nan looked confused at the chalkboard, but her mind kept wandering to the stupid bet she had made.

"Nan. Would you please tell us what year Christopher Columbus sailed to America?"

Nan looked up, "uh . . . fourteen . . . ninety-two?"

Franz stared at her. "Correct. Now, the laws in the land were pretty simple compared to the laws of today. Can anyone tell me something that has changed from then until now?"

Finally the school day was over and Nan got up and started to go with the other kids to find Nick.

Bess cleared her thought beside her startling Nan. "Where are you going Nan?"

"Oh, uh . . .to the house."

"I mean, you wouldn't want that dress to get dirty mucking out the barn."

"No." Nan smiled pleasantly, "no of course not." Nan turned and marched for the house, trying to ignore the snickers from the boys behind her.

Once inside the house, Nan made her way to the parlor to ask Mrs. Jo what needed to be done. When she got there she was surprised to see her father sitting on the sofa. "Father!"

The two adults turned to her. Her father stood and walked over to where she was standing. "Hello, my darling. Look at you. What a lovely young lady you've turned out to be."

Mrs. Jo tried to keep from laughing. "Yes, she has seemed more like a young lady recently. Especially this week, it seems to me that she's . . growing up."

Nan glared at her. Then turning back to her father, "what are you doing here?"

"I have come to see how you are doing. I am sad to say that the wedding between Miss Kelly and I will never happen. She's, uh . . . . found someone else."

Nan looked up in surprise at the last remark. Sure, she hadn't been too upset when he told her that he wasn't getting married to old-sour-face, but to lose her to someone else. That was just wrong. "Oh father, I'm so sorry."

"Yes, well, I've found no one more pleasant to sit and talk to then Mrs. Bhaer herself. She is an excellent hostess and a fine school mistress."

"Well thank-you. That was very nice." Mrs. Jo smiled at him.

Nan noticed the look her father was giving Mrs. Jo and cleared her throat. "Yes, well, Mrs. Jo is very kind to everyone who comes around. Even Captain Hoffman had to say that she is one of the very best hostess in Concord and maybe even in the area surrounding Boston."

Her father nodded, but she could tell that his mind wasn't on what she had just said. "Uh Mrs. Jo?"

Jo turned to look at her. "Yes Nan?"

"What chores do I need to do today?"

"Well, the house looks fine to me, and it isn't everyday that your father comes to visit, so why don't you just take the day off and help Asia make some tea?"

"That sounds lovely to me." Mr. Harding smiled.

They started talking about Plumfield, and didn't hear Nan mutter, "yes, . . . . lovely."

"Bess? We've gotta talk."

"What's the matter Nan. Can't last till the end of the week?"

Dan and Nat were leaning against the door and they tried (unsuccessfully) to hide their smiles.

"No," Nan gritted her teeth, "I can last till the end of the week, its just that I'm worried about Mrs. Jo."

"Mrs. Jo?"

Dan and Nat walked over to listen to what Nan was saying.

"Yeah, Mrs. Jo. My father came today, and they were both acting really strange. Like, they couldn't keep their eyes off each other. Kind of like when Nick first came and although Mrs. Jo wouldn't admit it she had feelings for him."

"So?"

"I would think that you would be happy that Mrs. Jo is interested in your father." Dan said with his eyebrows raised.

"I would. But, if Mrs. Jo marries my father, then she can't marry Nick now can she? Nick would probably go off to sea, and we'd never see him again. Is that what you want?" Nan was upset, and the gel was running off her hair again.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. So what can we do?" Bess looked at the house as if to make what happened disappear.

"We gotta find a way to make sure that Nick stays here."

"How?" Nat asked.

"I . . . . . I don't know." Nan sighed sorrowfully.

"Hey Jo."

"Good morning Nick." Jo looked up from her desk and smiled.

"I was wondering if there was anything important that you needed done today."

"Actually, while I was out in the barn, I noticed that one of the saddles has a tear. I was wondering if you and I could go into town today and look for a new one." Jo looked at him expectantly.

"Sure. The side of the barn needs a couple of new boards, but we could go this afternoon."

"Great."

As she sat in school, Nan tried to think of ways to push Jo and Nick together so that Nick wouldn't have to leave. She could always confront her father, and tell him not to even think about marrying Mrs. Jo, or she could make up awful lies about Mrs. Jo, but both didn't seem fair to her father, or to Mrs. Jo. Her father probably wouldn't believe her about the lies, and he wouldn't care what she thought about him marrying Jo. What to do?

Jo was humming when she went to breakfast the next morning, and Bess, Nan, Nat, and Dan shot worried looks at each other. The last time she had come to the table humming was before Fritz had died.

Nick was the one to comment on it though. "You seem happy."

She smiled. "I am happy. The children are all well, including Rob, I have a teacher, and a cook, and a caretaker for the grounds, and Mr. Harding is coming over tonight to discuss ways that he can help improve the school."

Nan looked up with an upset expression on her face.

Dan muttered, "what if we don't want it ‘improved?'"

"What was that Dan?" Jo looked over at him.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Alright then, you'd better hurry. School starts in 10 minutes."

"See. What did I tell you? It's all my father's fault."

"Nan, come on. He hasn't proposed yet." Nat said trying to cheer her up. The four of them sat on a log cooling their feet off in the water.

"Yeah, but knowing my father, he'll come tonight, they won't get anything done because they'll be so busy talking about anything and everything having a wonderful time, then he'll say that he hast to go home to think about it, he'll come back tomorrow, and say he's come up with a brilliant plan."

"What will the plan be?" Bess asked in a small voice.

"Probably something like, close the school, send me and Rob off to a boarding school in Boston, send everyone else home, change the school into a boarding house, and get married. . . . Oh yeah, and he'd get rid of Nick and Asia too saying something to the effect of, ‘I have worked with my cook and caretaker for seven years, why don't we just stick with them?'" She sighed, "then he'll say to take a couple of days to think about it, and that she won't get a better offer, and . . . . ." Nan didn't finish.

"You really think that that's what he'll do?"

Nan nodded and the rest sighed. "Knowing him, we should probably start saying our goodbyes right now."

Jo seemed peculiarly rushed and happy that day, and the kids seemed extremely sad, so sad that Nick was wondering what had happened. Finally he managed to trap the four kids in the barn. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"

Bess jumped and they all turned around.

"What?" Dan asked.

"What is going on with you kids today. You are all acting so somber. Like someone had died."

"Mrs. Jo is getting married." Nan mumbled.

"What?!?!?"

Nat laughed, "not really. We just think she is going to soon."

"Mr. Harding?" Nick asked softly.

"Yeah." Bess murmured.

"Well, . . ." Nick tried to gather his wits together. "I guess she'll be happy."

"I don't think so." Nan muttered.

Nick looked up is surprise. "Why not? Don't you . . like your father?"

"Oh sure. I mean, I love my father, but he'll make her miserable."

"Why do you say that?"

"He can't stand independence, and that is Mrs. Jo summed up into one word."

Nick nodded, "then why do you think he'll marry her?"

"Because, he thinks that Mrs. Jo has made me into a lovely young lady, . . . because of the stupid bet, . . . but anyway," Nan saw Bess' smile, "she's eligible, the people in town say that she's a perfect catch for any man, and she's still young enough to have a few more kids."

Nick flinched at that remark. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"We can't think of anything to do." Nan smiled, "Any ideas Nick?"

"I think I have a few up my sleeve," he grinned and motioned for them all to come in closer. . .

"Hi Mrs. Jo, whatcha doin'"

"What am I doing, Tommy."

"Yeah, what are you doing?"

"I'm fixing this door knob, it always gets stuck. I think that if I pull it . . . out . . ." Jo grunted and pulled with all her strength, and suddenly the wood around the door gave way and she ended up sitting two feet away with a sore backside.

Tommy grinned, "I'll get Nick."

He started down the stairs, and she called out, "Hurry Tommy." Then she rubbed her sore spots and stood to peer at the whole she had made.

"So what happened?"

"I don't know. I pulled out the screws, and was going to pull the knob out, but instead of just the knob it pulled out the wood around it too. Can you fix it?"

Nick picked up the wooden piece that was lying on the ground. He grinned, "there's your problem."

"What?"

"You only took out the screws on the one side. You forgot about the side in the bedroom."

"Oh," Jo blushed, "oops. . . Can you fix it?"

He looked at it, then at the door, and groaned. "It's not going to be easy, but if I forget about everything else, I can have this done by tonight."

Jo nodded, "okay. Well, I would prefer my door to be fixed by tonight."

"What were you trying to do anyway?"

"The door keeps sticking," Jo shrugged, "I was going to fix it."

Nick sighed, "Next time leave the fixing to me, okay?"

Jo nodded, and entered her room to get ready for that night.

After she had finished changing behind the curtain, Jo stepped out and brushed her hair. Nick was measuring the width of the door and the circumference of it. He stopped when he saw Jo and peered through the door.

Emil was coming up the stairs and grinned when he saw Nick. To announce his presence he cleared his throat. Nick jumped. "Oh, hi Emil. What's up?"

"Oh nothing. I was just going to my room to study. See you later Nick."

"Bye."

"Nick?"

Nick turned at the sound of Jo's voice. "Yeah?"

"Can I come out now?"

"Oh sure. Yeah. Come on out." Nick stepped back from the entrance to the door to let her pass.

Jo opened the door and stepped out. "Do I look alright? Not too elegant, but not to plain either?"

"You look great. You always do."

"Thank-you Nick." She smiled and started down the stairs.

Mr. Harding came right on time for supper, and the table seemed unusually quiet that evening. Jo looked from child to child, noting their expressions. Dan, Nat, Nan, and Bess, were staring intently at their food, Nan only answering her father's questions when absolutely necessary. Emil, Tommy, and the other boys were talking quietly at the other end of the table with Nick, and Rob seemed to be frightened of Mr. Harding.

All of a sudden Tommy stood and slammed his fist down at the end of the table. "That's Not True!"

Everybody jumped, and Bess let out a startled shriek.

"Tommy! . ." Jo stood.

"That Is Not Acceptable!" Jo turned to find Mr. Harding standing beside her. Tommy immediately shrunk down in his seat, Nan groaned.

"Here it comes. Lecture number 6, ‘children should be seen and not heard.' Either that or lecture number 4 ‘be polite around guests.' Or he could just suggest that he take Tommy out and give him a good whipping."

"You've had it before?" Dan whispered.

"Many times." Nan mumbled.

"Children should be seen and not heard, and you must always be polite around your guests." Mr. Harding continued. "Jo, I must insist that I be allowed to give him the whipping he deserves."

"Wow, all three at once. Must be some kind of new record for him." Nan muttered.

"No!" Nick stood at the other end of the table. "Jo, he was just trying to defend himself. He doesn't deserve a whipping."

The children looked at each other. Nick against Mr. Harding, this could be interesting. Nan was silently rooting Nick on.

"He does deserve it. He should be on his best behavior around a guest."

"Yeah? Well you certainly aren't acting like a guest."

"That is unacceptable."

"Of course it is." Nan whispered as Tommy started whimpering.

"Come here young man." Then when Tommy didn't move, he yelled "NOW!"

Everybody flinched. Jo just stood in shock, finally she found her voice, "Mr. Harding that really isn't . . ."

"Please Jo, I insist."

"No!" Emil spoke quietly but firmly. "If you want to whip Tommy, you'll have to whip me first."

Dan stood up, "and if you want to whip Emil, you'll have to whip me first."

"And if you want to whip Dan, you'll have to whip me first." Nat stood next to Dan. One by one all of the children stood up, saying that he'd have to whip them too.

Finally, Bess stood, "If you want to whip all of them, then you'll have to whip me too."

Nan looked up in surprise. Bess had never had a whipping in her life, it would be excruciating. Nan was now the last one sitting, she stood, "If you want to whip all of them, all my friends, and my ‘family' then you'll have to whip me first father."

Jo's eyes became blurry as she watched all of the children defending each other, and Nick. Nick was standing at the end ready to protect Tommy with his life if necessary. Mr. Harding sighed and sat back down. "It isn't worth it." Jo smiled slightly and waved her hand as if to seat them all.

Everybody sat down except for Nan, she still stood, and with tears in her eyes, turned to Mrs. Jo, "can I please be excused?"

"No you may not." Mr. Harding growled.

"Please ‘Mrs. Jo?'" She put an emphasis on the Mrs. Jo.

Jo thought for a minute, then nodded.

Nan tried to smile gratefully, but it didn't turn out, and she quickly left the room.

"Aren't you going to talk to your daughter?" Jo and Mr. Harding sat in the parlor late that night.

"Why?"

"Why? She's your daughter, and believe it or not, she loves you."

"So?"

"Mr. Harding, really. She has feelings too you know."

He sighed, "fine. Take me to her."

Jo nodded, and stood to lead the way. They walked up the stairs and down the hall. Nick was still working on the door.

"What's this?"

Jo stopped, grateful for the darkness, because she was sure that she was blushing. "Oh, uh. . . we had a slight problem with the door, and Nick is trying to fix it. The uh . . . wood around the knob came out."

"My caretaker would have had it done by now." Mr. Harding pushed Nick aside to peer at the hole.

Nick glanced up in surprise, but allowed him to look.

"It's obvious what the problem is," Mr. Harding continued. "The screws on the bedroom side of the door weren't taken out when you tried to pull out the knob. If you had a better caretaker, then this wouldn't have happened."

Nick stiffened, and Jo broke in, "actually its not his fault. It's mine."

"Well, "Mr. Harding stepped back, "if you had a better caretaker, he wouldn't make you do stuff like this."

Nick was about to say something when he felt Jo's hand on his shoulder. "Actually Nick didn't even know I was going to do it. He has offered to stay up all night if he has to to get it fixed."

"So why did you do it then?"

"Because it needed to be done."

"Why didn't you just as Mr. Riley to do it? Was he too busy to help his employer?"

Again Nick stiffened. Jo patted his shoulder reassuringly, "I'm perfectly capable to do some things around the house Mr. Harding. Although, I do think I'll leave the doors to Nick from now on."

Mr. Harding shrugged, "well, its getting late, I'd better head back."

Jo walked down the stairs with him and out to the front porch. "I thought we were going to discuss the possibilities for helping Plumfield."

"It's much too late Jo. I'll think about it in the morning and come back for dinner tomorrow night. Lets say six o'clock?"

Jo nodded politely, and he took her hand and kissed it, holding on to it for longer than necessary. "Goodnight Jo."

The children and Nick were standing at the upstairs bedroom looking down on the whole scene, they turned quickly when they saw Mr. Harding kiss Jo's hand.

"I tried Nick." Tommy said quietly, "but when he said he was going to whip me, I couldn't continue."

"I know Tommy, its okay."

"I should have known that my father would pull a stunt like that." Nan said as she plopped down on her bed. "Mr. High-and-mighty always has to be the center of attention."

"Well," Nick sighed, "I guess I'd better go fix that door before tomorrow night." He attempted a smile, and left the room.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Jo came up the stairs, tired. "Excuse me Nick. Do you mind finishing this tomorrow? I'm really tired."

"Of course not Jo. I'll finish it first thing in the morning."

Jo nodded, and entered her room. Not even bothering to change, she fell onto her bed sighing. ‘How could he be so overbearing. Nick would never act like that. . . .' she sighed again, ‘Nick.'

The morning came to quickly for Jo. She was still tired from being up so late the night before. Then there was a soft knock at her door.

"Yes?"

"Jo?"

"Nick, is that you?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering if I could start working on your door."

"Go ahead." She then got out of bed and stood to get dressed (behind the curtain.)

The pounding from his hammer started almost immediately after she had given permission, and she smiled. He was a handy man to have around.

The day had gone smoothly until Jo had announced that Mr. Harding was going to be back that night. Then everyone had become quiet, and Nan had hardly looked at her from then on. Jo sighed, it wasn't like she wanted him to come back, but quite honestly the school could use the money.

That night, all the children were silent, and Jo noticed that Nick was not at the table for dinner. She looked towards the hall, and realized that he was probably still working on the door. That afternoon he had run into some problems when Tommy had broken the board he was going to use, on accident. Not only that, but the horses had to fed, and there were other things he had to do everyday, so he was just now finding time to work on it again.

Mr. Harding kept a conversation going, and Jo politely answered his questions. Then Rob accidentally dropped his spoon on the floor. Mr. Harding looked up with piercing eyes. He stood up and was about to say something when Nan too stood up. Ignoring her father she turned to Rob.

"Trying to feed the dogs again? You know that isn't allowed." She looked funny trying to hold a mean face that kept changing into a smile.

Rob laughed, "no."

"I'll go get you another one," Bess smiled and left the room taking the dirty spoon with her.

Jo looked at Nan relieved as Mr. Harding sat down. Bess came back and gave the spoon to Rob kissing him lightly on the top f his head. He giggled and pretended to wipe it off.

The rest of the night had gone uneventful, thankfully. That is until Mr. Harding wanted to see the job that Nick had done on the door. Jo searched for an excuse that wouldn't sound like an excuse, but kept coming up empty handed. So, she tried to change the subject, and thankfully, it worked.

"Did you come up with any ideas for Plumfield?"

"Oh, yes. I've been thinking about that." Mr. Harding sat down.

Bess, Nan, and Nat stood hidden by the doorway, so they could listen. Dan, Tommy, and Emil were upstairs helping Nick with the door. Then Rob came walking towards them, just as he was about to speak, Nat put a hand over his mouth. "Shh." He whispered, "just listen, okay?"

Rob nodded, and stood by Nat.

"So?" Jo prodded.

"Well, . . . . . I want you to marry me."

Jo dropped the lamp, causing it to break in a thousand tiny pieces. The noise reached up to Nick and he immediately ran down the stairs. Nan and Bess held him back and whispered what was just said, Dan and Tommy crouched down next to Nat and Rob, and Nick was by the two girls. Then Asia came and was quickly told what happened, and she stood by the girls and Nick. Emil and the other boys went outside to sit underneath the open windows.

"Marry you?"

"Yes, we can close the school, send Nan and Rob off to an excellent boarding school in Boston, send everyone else home, and change the school into a boarding house."

"Close the school, and change it into a . . a boarding house."

"Yes.

"What about Nick and Asia?"

"Well, I have worked with my cook and caretaker for seven years, we could just stick with them. You can take a couple of days to think about it. . . . . I can assure you that you won't get a better offer Jo."

"I'm not looking for the best offer Mr. Harding!"

"Then what exactly are you looking for Mrs. Bhaer?"

"Love."

"Just that. Love. Don't you want someone who can take care of you? Someone who is rich?"

"Someone like you?"

"Exactly. Someone like me."

"No Mr. Harding. I am not looking for someone like you, and if that is the best idea you have for Plumfield, then I don't need to talk to you."

"I'll give you a couple of days." He said and started for the exit.

Jo threw up her hands in exasperation. "NO! How many times do I have to tell you? No, we don't whip the boys every time they accidentally do something wrong, and No I Don't Want To Marry You!"

He turned eyes flashing, "its this Nick fellow isn't it?"

She stood her ground, "What if it is?"

"Fine, I leave then, but I'll take my daughter with me if you don't mind."

"I mind."

"Well, that's just too bad now isn't it. Unless you'd like to rethink my offer."

"Never."

"NAN!"

"What do you want?" Nan stepped into the room, and Jo wondered how she had gotten there so fast.

"Pack your things, we're leaving."

"I don't want to leave."

"Are you talking back to me young lady?" Mr. Harding stepped forward, and grabbed her arm roughly.

"Let her go." Nat stepped into the room, and that was when Jo realized that they were all outside the door.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"A friend." Nat replied. The others silently walked into the room behind Nat.

"Yes, I am your daughter father, and I love you more than anything else in this world, but right now, Mrs. Jo, Nick, Nat, everybody, is more of a family to me than you ever will be. Please don't take me away father. Please." Nan was read to beg if he didn't listen to her.

He watched her, then looked at everyone in the room. Then he sighed and turned to Jo. "You'll take good care of her?"

"Of course." Jo answered.

He nodded, then put his hat on his head, "I'm leaving then," he said, then walked out the door.

Nan turned, and followed him. Nat and Bess were about to follow, but Nick stopped them, "I really think she needs to talk to her father . . . alone."

They nodded, and went to sit in the parlor.

Nan stood, next to her father by his buggy. "Will you come visit me again?"

He smiled, "I'll try. . . . . . . Listen Nan, I know that I am obnoxious sometimes, and that I ignore you too often, but I want you to know that I love you. I love you more than anything else in the world."

She nodded, "I love you father." She started to cry, "I've missed you."

He opened his arms, and she stepped into them, "I've missed you too. I've missed you too."

Dan, Nat, Bess, Nick, and Jo, watched from the window, as father and daughter, once again, became a family.