The following morning Jo and Nick had their morning coffee together as usual. Sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, they could not help but think about what had happened the day before on the banks of Walden Pond.

"Jo," Nick said, looking into her glazed over eyes. She had stayed up late the night before writing her story, so her face showed the lack of sleep from the past few nights.

"Yes?"

"When do ya want to let everyone know about what happened yesterday?" Nick asked, running his fingers through his hair (Sidenote from author: which is VERY gorgeous, so all of you people out there who don't like his hair are completely nuts!!!)

"Well," she said slowly. "The sooner the better, I suppose. At breakfast?"

"Sure," Nick agreed. "Well," he said as he stood up from the table, "I guess I better go see to the animals."

"All right. I'll see you at breakfast, then."

"Jo," Nick said when he reached the backdoor.

"Yes?" she asked as she got up from the table and walked over to the sink.

"You look real pretty today."

Before Jo could say anything Nick walked out the backdoor, shutting it behind him. She smiled as she watched him walk to the barn.

Little did they know, Nan had been sitting on the stairs just beyond their sight, and she had heard every word.

"Bess!" Nan exclaimed as she shut the door behind herself. "You'll never guess what I just saw!!"

"What?" Bess asked impatiently while she brushed her hair.

"Mrs. Jo and Nick were in the kitchen, and they were actin' all different. Nick told her that she's looks real pretty today!!"

"Really?" Bess said in excitement. "Hmmm. I wonder what that was all about? Well, we have to go tell the others."

"Wait!" Nan said, stopping Bess before she got to the door. "They're gonna tell us at breakfast. Apparently somethin' happened yesterday."

"It must have been exceedingly romantic," Bess said dreamily. "Perhaps they're going to get married!"

"Bess, they haven't even started courtin',yet. Why would they go off and just get married?"

"Well, they have been living at the same place for two years now, and they are very close, so it's almost like they've been courting."

Asia sat the last bowl of food on the table and then took her seat. All of the children sat staring at the delicious breakfast waiting to be eaten.

"Well," Jo said with a smile. "Who would like to say Grace?"

"I will, Mrs. Jo," Dan volunteered.

"Thank you, Dan."

Everyone at the table joined hands and bowed their heads.

"God, thank You for this food and for this great family we have here at Plumfield. Please bless the food and us and help us do Your Will. Amen."

Everyone began eating breakfast and conversing with each other. Bess and Nan continually watched Jo and Nick, and then would look at each other with hopeful grins.

"Children," Jo said when she noticed that almost everyone had finished their meal. "Nick and I have something we would like to share with you."

Bess grinned at Nan as Nick smiled at Jo from across the table.

"Yesterday," Nick said. "Jo and I decided to start courtin'."

All of the children grinned and made their exclamations of praise.

"Atta boy, Nick!" Dan exclaimed.

"It's about time!" Asia said with a nod and smile.

"Mama?" Rob asked, putting his hand on hers.

"Yes?" She answered as she looked into her young son's eyes.

"Will Nick be my new daddy?"

"I don't know, Rob. Maybe."

"Well, I hope he will be!" Rob said as he jumped up from his seat and ran over to Nick. Rob threw his arms around Nick's neck and whispered in Nick's ear, "Please marry my mama."

"I will if she'll let me," Nick whispered back.

Jo sat smiling at the head of the table at the sight of her son so readily accepting the new relationship between herself and Nick. Nick and Rob had grown much closer over the past year, leaving Nick as Rob's father figure. Something about Rob's approval eased Jo's heart.

"So, Mrs. Jo," Nan said excitedly as they sat alone in the parlour. "Has Nick kissed ya, yet?"

"Nan!" Jo said in forced disbelief. "That is none of your business!" Jo shifted uncomfortably in her chair, messing with her skirts, and pursing her lips.

"I thought so," Nan said with a sly grin. She jumped up from her seat and hurried out of the room to find Nick.

Nan found Nick outside on the porch where he was fixing one of the shutters. Emil had broken it a few days before during a rather rough game of chase.

"So, Nick," Nan said cautiously. "Have you and Mrs. Jo, ya know..."

"What, Nan?" Nick asked while preoccupied with his work.

"Kissed?"

"Now, Nan, I don't need ya pryin' into what's goin' on with me and Mrs. Jo. You can just keep yer little nose outta what's goin' on, and you'll be just fine. We'll tell ya what ya need to know, all right?"

"All right," Nan said in a huff. She stormed off the porch and headed into the woods.

"Jo?" Nicked asked when he entered the parlor later that afternoon.

"Yes, Nick?" Jo answered, turning her head to find him standing in the doorway covered in mud.

"You want to do somethin' tonight?"

"Yes," Jo said as she walked over to Nick. "But only if you promise to take a bath first! What on earth happened to you?"

"Well, I was workin' with Almond, and he threw me, right into a huge mud puddle."

"Well, go get yourself cleaned up. I'll start heating some water on the stove for a bath, okay?"

"Thanks," Nick said as Jo headed toward the kitchen. "I'll be upstairs gettin' everything together."

Jo hurried into the kitchen and filled two large buckets with water, lit the stove and waited for the water to heat up. A few minutes later she heard Nick coming down the stairs. She looked over at the staircase and saw Nick standing there with his shirt unbuttoned.

"Jo?" he asked. "Where are all the kids?"

"Fishing," she said simply. "I think the water is just about ready."

"Thanks," Nick said as he lifted the buckets off the stove.

"Let me get one of those," Jo said, hurrying to grab one of the buckets. "You'll spill if you carry them both."

"Thanks," Nick said and then lightly kissed Jo on the cheek.

Jo's cheeks grew pink, and she tried to keep herself from grinning ear to ear.

They walked up the stairs into the bathroom where they poured the water into the tub.

"If you'll wait just a minute, Jo, you can take my clothes," Nick said as he stepped behind the partition. He quickly undressed, tossing his clothes over the partition to Jo, which she caught and took downstairs.

"Asia," Jo said while walking into the kitchen. "Do you want to wash these, or do I need to?"

"Now how did Nick get those so dirty?" Asia asked in disgust when she saw the filthy clothes.

"Almond threw him into a mud puddle."

"I'll take care of them," Asia said, taking the clothes from Jo. "The boys have some clothes almost as dirty as these that need to be washed. So, how do you feel about this new relationship with Nick?"

"It's nice," Jo said with a smile. "I'm not quite used to it, yet, but I like it. It's taken us a long time to get to this point, and I am glad of that. I think it would've been a mistake if we'd started courting any sooner."

"Well, all I know is that it's about time you two finally started doin' somethin' about your feelings. Oh, Jo, have you told Amy and Meg, yet?"

"No, I haven't seen them since before it all happened."

"Well, you better tell them soon, before they find out from someone else."

"I will. They're supposed to be coming over this afternoon for a visit, so I will just tell them then."

"Hello, Jo," Meg said as she and Amy climbed out of the carriage.

"Hello, Jo," Amy said with a smile.

"Amy, Meg, I'm so glad you could make it," Jo smiled. "Come inside, I have some news."

"News?" Amy inquired. "About what?"

"You'll know soon enough. Just come into the parlour with me."

The three sisters walked into the parlour together, finding Nick sitting in a chair by the window.

"Hello, Nick," Meg and Amy both said.

"Hello," Nick said, standing up as the ladies entered the room.

"So, what is this news?" Amy asked excitedly. "Do you have a new student?"

"Um, no," Jo said as Meg and Amy sat down on the sofa. "It's about me...and Nick."

Meg and Amy both sat straight up and looked at Jo, then moved their eyes to Nick. Their eyes grew as wide as dinner plates in anticipation for Jo's next sentence.

"Well," Nick said. "Jo and I, well, we-"

"We've decided to start courting," Jo finished.

"That is so wonderful!" Amy cried in delight.

"Oh, Jo!" Meg exclaimed. "I am so happy for you! And you, too, Nick!"

Nick and Jo sat in their seats smiling at the reactions of Meg and Amy.

"So, when was this decided?" Amy asked. "I want details!"

"Yesterday," Jo said. "We went for a walk and ended up discussing it by Walden Pond."

"Oh, I am just so happy for you two," Meg said with a sincere smile.

"Good night, Rob," Jo said as she kissed her son.

"Good night, Mama. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Jo left Rob's room and found Nick waiting for her in the hall. He stood there looking at her in the light from candle she held and couldn't help but long to hold her close.

"Jo, would you like to go take a walk?" he asked quietly.

"I'd love to," Jo whispered and then blew out the candle. "Just let me get my shawl."

Nick followed Jo into her bedroom and watched her fish through her dresser for her shawl. He looked around the room at her furniture and personal things that were strewed everywhere. He noticed a rather peculiar at lying at the foot of the bed and went to pick it up.

"I see that you've found my writing cap," Jo said, approaching Nick's side.

Nick looked at it curiously and then looked to Jo for an explanation.

"My father gave it to me when I was a young girl. He said that a hat like that could only belong to one person, and that person had to be me - his wild girl. I have cherished it ever since."

"I would like to meet this wild girl," he thought to himself.

Nick smiled at Jo, put the hat down, and they headed out of the room together. They walked through the house in silence, but as soon as the front door closed behind them, Nick began to talk.

"So, how was your day?" Nick asked after offering Jo his arm.

"Wonderful," Jo answered as she placed her hand on Nick's forearm. "Yours?"

"Fine. I got the shutters fixed that Emil broke the other day."

"Good. I just hope they stay fixed for a long time."

"So do I."

They walked in silence as the moonlight showered down on them. The night was crystal clear, allowing the heavens to burst forth with light from the twinkling stars and the silvery moon. A light breeze rustled the leaves and tousled Nick and Jo's hair (Sidenote from author: please remember previous sidenote!).

"Didn't Rob go to bed kinda early?" Nick asked. "It's only 7:45."

"It was a little early, I guess. He's had a very busy day, though."

"I guess all the other kids are playin' around or somethin'."

"Yeah. Since it's Saturday night they might be up pretty late."

Nick nodded his head, and they continued walking in silence for quite sometime.

"Jo, would you tell me about this wild girl you used to be?"

"You really want to know?" Jo asked with a measure of surprise.

"Yeah. I mean, you're not so wild now, so I wanna know about how ya used to be."

"All right. Well, when I was young I was always getting into some sort of trouble. I never really did it on purpose or anything. I would just go out into the woods and play and then forget about the time. I wrote all kinds of stories and plays about the wildest things! And my sisters and I had this society - the Pickwick Society - that we were all in. We had a newspaper and everything. We, well, mostly I, would write all of these articles and then 'publish' them in the paper. I was always finding some way to entertain us."

"What were your stories about?"

"Oh, they were all about damsels in distress and full of murder and gore. I rather craved violence when I was younger."

"And now?"

"I suppose I still do," Jo said with a devilish look. "I just don't let people know about that! I had always wanted to be a boy when I grew up, because they seemed to have it so much easier. Boys could do whatever they wanted to. They could go to college and have as many intrigues as they wanted. I guess that was why I was a wild girl."

"Well, I'm glad that you were a wild girl and not the wild boy you wanted to be!" Nick said jokingly.

"I'm pretty glad of that, too," Jo said with a smile. "It's getting rather chilly."

"Do you want to go back inside?"

"Actually, I would. I don't really want to leave Asia alone in the house with all of the children."

"Mrs. Jo!" Tommy called out when he heard the front door open.

"Yes, Tommy?" Jo answered as she removed her shawl.

"Come into the parlour!"

"And bring Nick!" Dan added.

"We'll be there in just a minute!" Jo answered.

Nick hung Jo's shawl in the hall closet, and they walked into the parlour together.

When they entered the room they found all of the children, including Rob, standing around a quilt that had been placed in front of the fireplace. On the quilt were two glasses of milk, two pieces of cake, and a book.

"We fixed up the parlour so y'all could eat dessert together!" Tommy said with a grin. All of the children stood grinning at Nick and Jo.

"It's just our way of saying how happy we are that-" Bess began sweetly.

"You two finally got some sense!" Dan interrupted.

Jo and Nick grinned at each other and at the children.

"Thank you very much!" Jo said as she hugged Tommy.

"Come on," Nat said. "Let's go on to bed and let them be alone."

"You don't have to go to bed just yet," Jo said. "It's not even 8:30 yet."

"That's all right, Mrs. Jo," Nan said. "We'll just stay up in our rooms, okay?"

"All right, go ahead."

All of the children left the room, leaving Nick and Jo alone in the parlour.

"Cake looks good," Nick noted as he sat down on the quilt.

"Yes, it does. What book is that?" she asked curiously.

"Uh, a book of poetry."

"By who?"

"Lord Byron."

Jo smiled and looked into Nick's eyes. They began eating their cake, and finished it rather quickly.

"Would ya like to read some?" Nick asked, handing Jo the book.

"Why don't you read some?" Jo asked, refusing to take the book from Nick.

He smiled at her, and patted the quilt next to him. Jo moved to sit closer to him.

"This page is marked," Nick commented. "I guess I'll read it. Okay," Nick began to read the poem. "She walks in Beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies; and all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes: thus mellowed to that tender light which Heaven to gaudy day denies. One shade the more, one ray the less, had half impaired the nameless grace which waves in every raven tress, or softly lightens o'er her face; where thoughts serenely sweet express, how pure, how dear their dwelling-place. And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, so soft, so calm, yet eloquent, the smiles that win, the tints that glow, but tell of days in goodness spent, a mind at peace with all below, a heart whose love is innocent!"

Jo smiled at Nick, watching his facial expressions as he read the poem.

"Jo," he said quietly.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Nick," Jo said with a smile.

They continued to read poetry by the light of the candle well into the night, enjoying each other's company and their first day in the world of courtship.