Little Women: If Beth Had Lived 2

Laurie helped Beth into the waiting carriage, then climbed up himself. He looked at her face and was relieved to see happiness tinged with only a slight trace of trepidation.

"Everything's going to be all right, love." He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"I know." She stared at her hands, then looked up at her husband. "Laurie, do you remember the first time I played piano for you?"

Laurie chuckled. "How could I ever forget it?"

"This used to be Christina's," Laurie said softly, running his hand along the wooden frame of the cabinet piano so lightly that he barely touched it.

"I know." Beth felt terribly awkward, but curious just the same. "How did she die, Laurie?"

"Scarlet fever." Laurie picked up a sofa pillow, then set it back down again. "The day before she fell sick she wanted me to go ice skating with her. I needed to catch up on some homework I had been putting off, so I told her that I would take her the next day. The next day she developed a fever and sore throat, and over the next few days, she just got weaker and weaker. She was gone within a week."

"I'll never forget the morning Grandfather woke me to tell me she had passed. I've never seen him more heartbroken. She really held a special place in his heart, Christina did. She looked more like our father's side of the family. She had brown hair and blue eyes like you; in fact, she looked a lot like you. I've always looked more like our mother's side of the family."

"To me you look just like you're full-blooded Italian," Beth told him.

Laurie chuckled. "That's what everyone says."

"So were you and Christina very close?"

"We were only eighteen months apart in age, and we did everything together. When I lost her, I lost not only my sister but my best friend as well. I'll always regret that I didn't go ice skating with her that last day i could have. The homework had been put off long enough. Another day wouldn't have made a difference." Laurie's voice was choked, and he was near tears.

Beth came and sat on the sofa beside him and laid her hand comfortingly on his arm. "You had no way of knowing what was about to happen."

"Hindsight. I know." Laurie continued staring dismally at a spot on the floor. "She could play piano much better than I could. I used to get so jealous."

"That's understandable. Sometimes I feel that I would give almost anything to be able to write as well as Jo or draw as well as Amy."

"You're wonderfully talented in your own way, Beth." At last he looked into her eyes. "Say, Beth...um...would you like to go ice skating with me now?"

"I'd love to, Laurie." She hoped that the experience would be emotionally healing for him, and besides, he was an awful lot of fun to be with. He was the only person who could bring out her light-hearted, carefree side.

"That wasn't the first time I heard you play, you know," Laurie said with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"When you used to come over and play our piano, many times I would stop whatever I was doing and just listen to you play. You always played so beautifully, and your music always brought me such comfort. For me, it was just like listening to the angels play."

"Really? I...I didn't know that." Beth blushed and stammered helplessly. Laurie gently lifted her chin and kissed first her nose, then her lips. "It's true," he whispered. He saw in her eyes how much his confession had pleased her, even if she was too shy to tell him that.