Sequel to I Do, Again Laura and Almanzo discover a lot about themselves and just how beautiful love can be.
The Glory of Love
A Sequel to I Do, Again
Almanzo and Laura stood on the front porch, their arms around one another waving as Charles and Caroline drove away in their rig with Carrie and little Grace on board.
"That's the closest we've ever had to having kids," Almanzo said, watching the rig disappear down the road.
"Let's not forget Rupert and Myron," Laura said, looking at him.
Almanzo looked at her with a grin. "Now who could forget those two?"
Laura smiled back. "You're right," she said. "Just as glad they're back with their parents."
Almanzo pulled her close and kissed her. "There is a huge difference between those two and your younger sisters, Beth. Grace is such a cutie. She's a good little girl when she wants to be. "
"When she wants to be," Laura repeated, "Although I didn't have any trouble reading to her at all." She looked at him. "What did you read to her anyway?"
"Well, I didn't exactly read to her, I just told her what I remembered. I started with Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and the Beanstalk and ended with Little Red Riding Hood. She fell asleep before Red found the wolf in her Grandmother's bed. "
Laura smiled and shook her head. "Try reading her Cinderella next time, she'll go right to sleep."
Almanzo frowned. "Cinderella?"
"Yeah," Laura said, "Your sister once gave me her volume of Grimm's Fairy Tales when Ma said Grace couldn't fall asleep. Eliza Jane told me that Cinderella always put her to sleep, so I tried it out on Grace. Guess what?"
"I guess she fell asleep."
"You got it, Manly," she said, smiling. She reached for the doorknob, but Manly got to it first. He held it open for her and closed it behind her.
"Mr. Wilder," Laura scolded him playfully, as he smiled, placing his arms around her waist. "What are you up to?"
"Doc Baker told you to take it easy, Mrs. Wilder," Almanzo said, "And from now on, you are going to take it easy. I'm not taking any chances with our baby."
"Does that mean on everything?" she asked looking at him. She pointed to the stairs.
"I don't think they're off limits, Beth. Just take it easy, alright?"
Laura nodded. She went upstairs first, Almanzo followed her. When she reached the top, she turned into the room where she plopped down on the bed, Almanzo sitting right next to her.
"Speaking of babies," he asked her, "Do you still have that book my sister gave you? It'll probably come in handy. Do you know where it is?"
Laura looked at him. "Eliza Jane never asked for it back, so I never returned it. It should still be at Ma's and Pa's place up in the loft under the bed. Well, hopefully it's still there. Who knows what Albert did with it?"
"We can get it tomorrow night, while we're over there. You said it works?"
"Yeah, it does," Laura said. "It even worked on me. I fell asleep after I read it."
Almanzo sat up. "You know, I would've remembered that. Sis used to tell me everything. Where was I?"
"Sleepy Eye," she answered
Manly sat up and stared at her. "Wait a minute, Eliza Jane did tell me. Is that the time your Pa drove you out there to see me because I had…"
"Almanzo Wilder, what are you getting at?" Laura frowned. "No one knew you had pneumonia until Pa got there. He was concerned about you. You'd been gone for weeks and no one was sure when or if you were coming back. You made me choose between you and my father and you called me a little girl because I sided with him and I wouldn't go with you."
"Well," he answered, "At the time, I thought he was wrong, that was the reason I went to Sleepy Eye in the first place; to try and forget you. And I know I called you a little girl to get you angry. I'm sorry."
"You didn't get me angry, but the whole thing made me upset, especially with that saloon girl…"
"Shh," Almanzo said as he moved closer to her on the bed. "There was nothing to that. I already explained that to you, more than once now." He smiled as he slid his arms around her waist and looked into her eyes.
"Truth is, Laura, I never once thought of you as a little girl,"
She started to protest, but Almanzo shook his head and covered her lips with his hand.
"No, let me finish." He said, searching her eyes. "I fell for you the first day Eliza Jane introduced us, when you got my nickname wrong. Sis knew it; she'd kid me about it all the time. She knew how I felt about you before I did. I loved it when you used to visit me at the store and I missed you when you didn't show up. I never knew why. I guess it was because there was no one else who wanted to listen to me talk about my dreams of being a successful farmer, about riding fast across the prairie and about training Barnum to walk. You were never a kid to me; it just never felt that way no matter who said what. In my eyes, you were different. You always acted so much older than any of the women I was seeing. I tried to play it down, I tried to deny it and I would never admit it, but that connection was always there. And it got to a point where I couldn't lie to myself anymore. I love you, Laura. I always have and I always will."
Almanzo stared at her. "As for your Pa, he just wanted what was best for you. I was older and he was concerned about the age difference, which I had stopped paying attention to. But he was right, he wanted to make sure that our love was secure, that no matter how long we waited, our love would only grow stronger and I have to admit, it did."
"Did you really call him "Gramps?'' she asked as she snuggled up close to him.
Manly smiled and nodded as he placed his arms around her waist. "I think he took it all in stride. He keeps talking about his grandbaby all the time. There isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't mention it. I mean, even tonight, Laura. You heard him as well as I did."
"Tomorrow night we'll hear more," Laura said. "You do remember that they invited us over."
"I know," Almanzo said, "It's so incredible the change in both of them."
Laura nodded. "It's so beautiful that they got married again and that Mrs. Paulson lent Ma her old wedding gown. I wish we could have been there."
Almanzo smiled. "I know you do and I know how you feel, but I think they both needed some time alone."
"You're right," Laura said. She looked up, suddenly remembering something. "Manly, I know that you probably did, but did you manage to make those gifts.…?"
Almanzo grinned. He stood up and grabbed her hand. "Come with me, Beth."
Laura frowned as Manly literally dragged her downstairs. "Where are you taking me, Mr. Wilder? You know what time it is?"
Almanzo didn't answer. He dragged her through the parlor and out the front door all the way to the barn, directly to his worktable.
"A lot of these were stored in the barn last year. I couldn't believe that they were still in good shape," Almanzo told her as he lit the lantern and raised it. "See for yourself, Mrs. Wilder"
The light revealed so many gifts, she could hardly believe it. There was a new sewing box for Ma, a new pipe stand for Pa. Albert got a new tackle box and Carrie and Grace got leftover sewing boxes that Almanzo called keepsake boxes.
Laura looked at him, then at the presents, then back to him. She was speechless.
"And that's not all," Almanzo smiled, taking her hand and pulling her over to the corner where there was more, although some were unfinished. "Bottle stand," he whispered, "just in case you need it. There's a rocking chair for you to sit in and rock the baby to sleep. The cradle isn't finished yet, but it will by the time the baby comes."
She ran into his arms, tears running down her cheeks. She stood on tip toe to kiss him.
"Hope you've got a bookcase in there," she asked, leaning against his chest.
"Why?" he asked, stroking her hair.
"Well, for all those books we're going to have to read to our new baby."
"I have a feeling we're going to need a lot more than one bookcase, Beth," he said, "And you'd better stop crying because you're starting to get my shirt all wet."
Laura pulled away and looked up at Almanzo's smiling face. They both started to laugh.
"We'd better get back upstairs," she said.
"I think you're right," he answered.
It wasn't too long after that they went back into the house. The rest of the night belonged to them and them alone.
Author's Note: The book, Grimm's Fairy Tales that Eliza Jane gives to Laura is my creation only and not in any Little House episode.
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