Just You and Me Little House fanfic A fill in to Divorce Walnut Grove Style

A fill in to Divorce Walnut Grove Style. Laura and Almanzo are all made up after the misunderstanding they had. But a surprise happens that neither of them expect and that they will have to deal with. Story complete in one chapter

 Just You and Me

Sequel to Divorce Walnut Grove Style

"You're my only love," Almanzo whispered in her as he snuggled against her neck.

"And you're mine." Laura answered and they broke apart.

"Promise me something?"

"Anything," Manly answered.

"Promise me you'll never sing that song again."

"I promise," Almanzo said as he pulled her close.

"Oh, Manly," she said, "I made a fool out of myself. How could I ever be jealous of….?"

He kissed her, long and hard, not even letting her finish the sentence. They broke apart and he looked into her eyes.

"I guess you mean like Chad Brewster or your Uncle Tom Quiner or that Jason fella?"

He swayed her back and forth waiting for her to say something.

"It's something like that," she said, smiling through her tears.

Almanzo smiled and wiped the tears away with his thumb. "No, it's not. I should have known better myself. I should have told you that it was just as much my fault as it was yours. I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you. I was frustrated and tired and I took it all out on..."

This time her kiss silenced him.

"Beth," he whispered, bringing his hands up to the side of her face. "Oh, Beth."

The kiss became more passionate as he ran his hands through her hair, loosening the pins that held her bun together. Laura tried to push him away, but Almanzo wouldn't let her go.

"Manly, I'm a mess, at least let me…"

"You look just fine to me, darlin'" he whispered, his lips against hers. He deepened the kiss. And they forgot everything around them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Manly woke up and looked around him. They were in the parlor and on the floor; their clothes in a pile and kicked aside. He turned his head and there she was, sleeping beside him, snoring softly. He couldn't figure out how they got there, but at that moment all he cared about was her.

Almanzo stroked her hair and smiled. She was beautiful, even with black ink smeared all over her face. There was no woman in Walnut Grove, not any he knew at least, that compared to Beth, no one, not in temperament; not in her confidence or her courage. You always knew where you stood with Laura, she held nothing back. Adam had been right that time in Sleepy Eye when he called her a go getter.

And he couldn't believe how lucky he was to have been gotten by her.

"Beth," he breathed, "My Beth."

Her eyes fluttered open and found him staring at her, a wide smile on his face. He was still touching her face, rubbing her cheek.

"Manly, how did we get on the floor? And where are our…."

But she was silenced again as he kissed her lips and pulled her close.

"I want the night to go on forever," he whispered, the two breaking apart. "I want it to be just you and me tonight."

"What happened to all those kids you want?"

He smiled and kissed her, this time a bit more slowly.

"We're workin' on that already, Beth. I'm not the least bit worried." And his lips covered hers as he lowered her to the floor.

This time when Almanzo woke up, they were in bed, their bed upstairs, this time Laura was staring at him. "Come on," she whispered. "We both have to get to work today."

"Come here, sweetheart," Almanzo said, as Laura leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips, but he wanted more than that and pulled her down on the bed.

They were both lucky that they weren't really late.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

For the first time in a long time, she was glad school was finally over. She couldn't wait to get home; couldn't wait to see Ma, Pa and the rest of the family. Pa was going to put the new picture window in tonight, again. She was sure nothing would happen to it this time.

"Mrs. Wilder?"

Laura looked up. Ten year old Ben Walker was standing at her desk, barely big enough to reach it.

"Hello, Ben. I was just coming to see you. How's your Pa doing with the reading assignments I've given him?"

"Pa's doing a lot better. I've been helping him through the rough spots, but we need your help."

Laura walked out from behind her desk. She motioned to one of the church pews and they set down. "What can I do for you, Ben?"

"The both of us want to thank you for everything that you've been doing for us, Mrs. Wilder, but we need to borrow your quote book to do it."

"Alright, I'll help you with whatever you need. Meet me at our place later. You can explain it to me then, is that okay?"

Ben's face lit up. "Thanks, Mrs. Wilder," he said, hugging her. He turned and ran out the door.

Laura watched him with a smile. She shook her head, gathered up her books and followed his lead.

She didn't expect to run into Brenda Sue Longworth again. She had tried to flag her down and apologize, but Brenda Sue wasn't having any of it. When it was all was over, Brenda Sue's horses had run into Charles, literally, breaking the new picture window for the fourth time.

Laura, feeling a bit guilty about the whole thing, ran all the way home after promising her Pa that she and Manly would see them later on that night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Almanzo was wondering why Laura hadn't come by the store. He had waited almost an hour before he walked over to the schoolhouse. When he saw Albert in the schoolyard, he asked him if he saw her and he said he hadn't.

"I'm sure she's home by now," Albert told him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Almanzo reined in Skip and Barnum and ran up to the entrance of the house. He was looking forward to seeing her all day.

"Beth?" he called out.

And then he heard voices coming from the dining room.

"Love is a perfume you cannot pour onto others without getting a few drops on yourself," he heard a man's voice say.

"That's my absolute favorite, Mr. Walker." He heard Laura's voice call out. "I couldn't have picked a better one myself."
Almanzo slammed the front door and ran all the way to dining room where he stopped at the entrance. He stared at the three of them, Ben, Mr. Walker and Laura and they stared right back at him.

"Manly, you're home early."

"Early?" Almanzo said. "I was waiting at the Feed and Seed for you, but you never showed…."

He stopped, realizing that there were two other people in the room besides his wife.

"Mr. Walker," Laura said, turning away from her husband. "I'll write this out later tonight and I'll give the quote to Ben in school tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Mrs. Wilder," Ben said, holding up the paper. "I've got it. All I have to do is write it on the cards I made up."

Little Ben gave her hug and Mr. Walker thanked her and the two left the house as fast as their legs could carry them.

As the door closed behind the Walkers, Almanzo turned to face Laura.

"What was that all about?"

"Look, Manly, I'll explain on the way to Ma and Pa's. That's all I can tell you right now."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, at least we finally all had dinner together," Almanzo said as he put on his nightshirt.

"I feel badly for Pa and that picture window," Laura said, brushing her hair. "I kind of missed hearing his violin. Ma sure was upset that the old window had to be put back in." She stood up, walked over to him and put her arms around his waist. "You played all night though."

Almanzo smiled, placed his arms around her waist and swayed her back and forth. "Yep, I almost forgot the reason why that window broke again."

Laura looked up at him. "It was my fault. If I hadn't…"

Almanzo put his hand up to her lips. "Don't," he said. "It's over. It happened and that's it." They broke apart. He walked over to the bed.

"You never did tell me what the three of you were doing in the dining room earlier?" Manly had just finished turning down the covers.

Laura looked at him and shook her head. "I promised Ben that I wouldn't say anything." She knew it would only make him more suspicious.

And it did.

"Come on, Beth," he said, as he sat down on his side of the bed. He swung his feet onto it and pushed them under the covers. "What's the big secret with Henry Walker, anyway?"

Laura stood at her end of the bed and stared. "I promised, Almanzo Wilder. Ben is ten years old. I don't want to hurt him."
Manly watched in silence as Laura climbed onto the bed. She placed her feet under the covers. If he hadn't been serious, she would have seen a hint of a smile around his lips. This time there was none.

"Alright," she said, giving in. "But you have to promise not to say anything to anyone. Can you do that?"
Almanzo looked at her curiously. "Is it that bad?"

"MANLY."

"Alright, I promise."

"Mr. Walker can't read or write," Laura said, quietly. "Ben's been teaching him every day and on weekends when he can. Both Ben and his Pa don't want anyone to know that a ten year old has been teaching him. And he was too embarrassed to ask me for help. Ben made me promise before he got me involved. I've been supplying my Emerson essays and quotes to help."

Almanzo didn't say a word, so Laura continued.

"Ben told me that Mr. Walker likes Ellie Perkins. She's been helping Mr. and Mrs. Oleson out at the Mercantile. Mr. Walker wanted to write her a poem, but the boy doesn't know what to write and Mr. Walker is too embarrassed to tell him. So they settled on what Ben calls a "love quote." They came here to borrow my book, but I asked Mr. Walker to read them aloud so I can get an idea of how he's doing." She looked up, turned to Manly and smiled. "Ben made a card to give her. Oh, Manly, he's so good at drawing and painting, you should see some of them. Anyway, he's going to put the quote on the card and Mr. Walker will hand it to Miss Ellie. That's what was going on."

She waited for Almanzo to say something, but nothing came.

Manly looked at her. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I never knew, Beth," he said, touching her cheek. "Katie Walker always paid the bills, signed the checks and took care of the bookkeeping. When she died, Henry was lost. No one knew why. He never let on."

Laura took him in her arms. "No one knew, Manly. He kept it well hidden from everyone."

He looked up into her eyes. "Oh, Beth, I'm so sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry over," Laura said, cuddling next to him. "And it's nothing to be jealous over, either. Just as long as you understand what happened."

And she put her arms around his neck and kissed him this time. "I love you, Manly. It will always be just you and me forever," Laura said, when they broke apart.

"Always and forever," Almanzo whispered. "I love you, Beth," he breathed and he kissed her again.