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"I'll walk you home, no you don't have to love me, oh Adeline." Adeline by John-Robert


When they had gathered their family at home, minus Beth who was too shy, they made their short walk to the Laurence house

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When they had gathered their family at home, minus Beth who was too shy, they made their short walk to the Laurence house. Marmee stayed back to speak with Mr. Laurence and the girls rushed into the library where Amy sat with Mr. Brooke and Laurie.

"My dear girl," Adeline cried, catching the attention of Laurie who looked excitedly at Addy as she crossed the room to her sister.

"Del!" Laurie called, causing the girl to snap her head towards him at the nickname. She smiled warmly before catching the eye of Jo, who had marched in quickly after her.

"What richness! Theodore Laurence, you ought to be the happiest boy in the world!" Jo gasped as she looked at all the books that lined the walls of the grand library.

"A fellow cannot live on books alone," he offered, smiling at Jo.

"I could," Jo replied, not even looking at Laurie. He smiled fondly at the girl, causing Adeline to smile at the continuation of her plan.

Meg entered the room, taking over for Addy in caring for Amy. She began speaking softly to the girl, prodding at what caused the injury.

"What did you do?" Jo narrowed her eyes at Amy as Adeline stood slightly behind Laurie.

"Nothing! Just a drawing, and then... Mr. Davis hit me," Amy cried again as Meg removed her gloves and placed them on a side table to get a better look at her hand. Adeline noticed John eyeing Meg the second she walked into the room, and now that her gloves were on the table, he eyed those too, causing Addy to giggle.

Laurie spun around to look at the girl behind him, smiling down at her as she avoided eye contact. He wanted to take a step closer, to hold onto the girl, to tell her how he has not stopped thinking about her for a day, but he knew better.

"Christopher Columbus, look at that!" Jo broke Laurie out of his trance as she stared up at the large painting of Mr. Laurence.

"That's my grandfather. Are you scared of him?" Laurie asked in a lightly teasing tone.

"I'm not scared of anyone! He looks stern, but my grandfather was much more handsome," Jo stated just as Marmee entered the room with Mr. Laurence on her arm.

"Jo! We do not compare grandfathers," Marmee scolded as Jo spun around, eyes wide as she was caught red-handed.

"You think he's more handsome, hey?" Mr. Laurence chided with a smile, clearly enjoying the predicament that Jo had gotten herself into.

"Oh, no! You are very handsome! I didn't mean..." Jo stumbled over her words for the first time in a long time.

"I knew your Mother's Father. You've got his spirit," Mr. Laurence smiled fondly at the girl, as Jo broke into her own smile. That was a grand compliment for her.

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