Another Conversation

"Hey...Andrew. Andy."

Albert sat besides his older brother, who was desperately trying to sleep.

"What do you want? It's late." Andrew complained, rolling over so his back was to Albert.

"I just wanted to ask you something."

Andrew smashed his pillow on top of his head. His adopted brother had been anxious for the past few days and everyone knew why. Albert and Laura Ingalls were getting married in a matter of days. Some people commented on how young the couple was and were worried if they were running into marriage. Albert was only seventeen and Laura did not even turn nineteen yet.

"If it's about Laura...?" Andrew mumbled.

"Do you think I'm ready to marry Laura?" He asked, a frown forming on his lips.

Andrew sat up on his bed and yawned. "You tell me. You have enough money to buy that land and all the supplies. Laura is planning on getting a teaching job incase the crop goes bad. You've been together for over a year and a half now."

"I'm just worried. What if things don't work out?" Albert looked and sounded very anxious.

"You'll be fine. If anything goes wrong, I'm sure you and Laura will figure things out. You're not like how Nellie and I were."

Albert shook his head. "What did you see in her anyways?"

"No idea." Andrew laid back down. "Now, get some sleep."

Albert quietly jumped back in his own bed. It was then he realized that this was one of the last times he would get to sleep in this bed, in the room he shared with his brother. Come to think of it, he only had a few more days of living in his adopted parents' house. He was sure going to miss his ma's cooking and all the fun times he had with his brother and pa. At least he was not building his own family too far away.

"I wonder when she'll want to have kids." Albert spoke softy to himself.

"Oh, brother." It turned out Andrew heard that comment.

"I'm serious. How am I supposed to get..."

"Albert, will you please?" Andrew sounded really irritated with his best friend's constant worries.

Then, their bedroom door opened and let a small amount of light in. "You two have been doing a lot of talking." A deep voice said to the boys.

"Sorry pa. Albert has been stressing out about the wedding." Andrew answered for the both of them.

"Well, worry about it in the morning. You need your rest. Both of you." Jonathan smiled and shock his head.

"Yes pa."

Jonathan left the room and let his boys finally get some sleep. Some time passed when Albert stirred awake once again. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. After thinking and figuring and imagining what the future held in store for him, he realized what he had to do. Him and Laura were not really ready to get married, not now. He loved her, but knew she deserved more than what he could give her. Maybe if they wait just a few months longer?

"Andrew?" He said softly.

"Yea?"

"You're actually awake."

"Yea. What's up?" Andrew was a bit worried. He had an idea of what Albert might say.

"I don't want to marry Laura. Not now. I still love her, but..."

Andrew got out of bed and went to his brother's side. He put his arm around the younger boy. Laura and Albert had been great together ever since they met in Winoka. It was defiantly a hard decision to make for him.

"It will be okay. Just go talk to Laura. If she truly loves you, she'll understand. I know she will."

"I just want to make her happy." Albert said calmly.

Andrew shook his head. "It's not that late. You should go talk to her now. Go throw a rock at her window or something."

"You just want to out, so you can sleep." Albert rolled his eyes. Even so, he started to get some clothes on. Albert went to the window and opened it to sneak out. He knew Andrew would help him out to make sure he was not caught. He just had to tell Laura he did not want to marry her yet.

"She'll probably be writing in her diary." Albert slipped out the window, determined to talk to Laura about the wedding and tell her he loved her.