The gentle caress of Nick's thumb against her cheek began to pull Jo from her unconscious state.  She relaxed into his hand and slowly opened her eyes, finding Nick's baby blues staring back at her.

            "Hey there," he whispered tenderly.  He placed a light kiss on her forehead and smiled.

            "Where am I?" she murmured, her gaze searching behind him.

            "You're in Dr. Pierce's office."  He sighed.  "You collapsed."

            "Collapsed?" Jo attempted to sit up as another wave of dizziness struck her.  She fell back against the pillows, shaking her head clear.

            "Yeah.  Everybody's pretty worried about ya."

            "I ruined the party, didn't I?"

            Nick took her hands in his.  "Nah, you didn't."  He began to chuckle.  "Amy said she'd make sure all the presents were sent to Plumfield.  Ya didn't have time to open them, I guess."

            Jo smiled slowly as the room door opened and Dr. Pierce appeared from behind it.  "Well, it's good to see you're awake."  He wandered over to the other side of the bed.  "Can you remember anything that happened?" he asked as he began taking her pulse.

            Jo sighed.  "I can remember feeling nauseous and I couldn't catch my breath.  The room became blurry and that's about all."

            Dr. Pierce nodded and helped Jo into a sitting position.  "Mr. Riley has told me that you haven't been sleeping very well," he stated while using his stethoscope to listen to her breathing.

            "Or eatin'," Nick added quietly.

            "There has been a lot going on lately," Jo reasoned.  "And I guess things became a little overwhelming."  She looked sheepishly at Nick.

            "Any headaches? Vomiting?"

            "No, nothing."  Jo shook her head.

            "Good."  Dr. Pierce stood and stepped towards the door.  "From what I can tell, Mrs. Bhaer, this is exhaustion.  But it can develop into something much worse.  You're more susceptible to illness in this condition so I'm recommending two days of complete bed rest.  And no more skipped meals."

            "Two days?" Jo asked, a little frustrated.

            "Jo…" Nick warned.

            She rolled her eyes.  "I understand.  Thank you."

            "Not a problem.  Let yourself rest just a little while longer and then you can go home."  Dr. Pierce nodded to the couple and quietly shut the door after him.

            Jo slumped back down, tears stinging her eyes.  "I just wanted everything to be perfect," she sniffled.

            Nick carefully grasped her arm, shifting from his chair to sit on the bed.  "It don't gotta be."

            Jo breathed in, her lips quivering.  "But…" she stopped, tears streamed down her cheeks.

            "No buts," he affirmed.  "You're more important to me than any wedding, Jo."  He tenderly stroked her face.  "The boys told me about the present.  I don't want it if it's gonna make ya sick."

            "It was supposed to be a surprise," she muttered.

            "They were concerned about ya.  Said you couldn't concentrate in class, always sleepin' in.  They didn't know what ta do."

            Jo closed her eyes.  "I know."  She sniffled a little and sighed.  "I want to go home."

            Nick nodded, squeezing her hands before standing.  "I'll let everyone know you're okay and get the wagon ready."  He leaned over and lightly kissed her eyelids.

            Jo sighed as Nick left the room.  Rolling over onto her side, her cheeks began to flush with the onset of crying.  However, the exhaustion she felt overtook her and when Nick returned he found her fast asleep.  He shook his head and resumed his seat next to her.  Reaching for her hand, he frowned.  "Two days, Jo.  Two days."

XXXXX

            "How are you feelin'?" Asia asked the next morning as she brought Jo a tray for breakfast.

            "Foolish," Jo muttered, sitting up in bed.  "I hate just lying here."

            "I know ya do.  But those are doctor's orders," Asia replied, tucking in some of the covers around the bed.  "I'll bring up your journal and some books."

            Jo stared at the food in front of her and then up at her friend.  "Asia, what am I going to do?"

            The housekeeper looked up, startled at the despair in her voice.  "What do you mean?"

            Jo sighed.  "I'm getting married in less than a week, five days in fact; two of which will be spent in bed.  I've got children to dress, decorations to shop for and a meal to plan.  How is everything going to get done?"

            Asia sat down on the bed and smiled.  "I've already taken care of the food and your sisters are dealin' with the decorations.  And as for the children," Asia chuckled, "I think they can dress themselves, Jo."

            The humour did nothing for Jo's mood.  "And what about Nick?  I won't get a chance to finish his gift."  She angrily pulled that the lace bedspread.  "It was probably a bad idea to begin with.  He wouldn't have liked it anyways."

            "Now don't be silly, Jo.  He will love the idea.  But it didn't have to be so big in the first place."

            "Nothing else seemed right enough at the time.  I want to give him something that will let him know how important he is to me, to everyone at Plumfield.  Something to show him how much we need him here; that we are, without a doubt, his family."

            Asia's eyes lit up with the prospects.  "I'll be right back.  Don't move!" And with that, she leaped to her feet and ran out the door.

            "Where can I go?" Jo muttered.  "Doctor's orders, remember?"  She picked at her food, not really wanting to eat.

            After only a few small bites of toast, Asia appeared in her doorway, clutching her journal, a pen and ink.  "Now you can tell him."  Jo looked at her quizzically.  "Jo, why not give Nick something that you've been doing for most of your life?  Tell him everything you've just told me – in the best way you know how."  Asia gave her the supplies and left the room with a sly smile and a knowing glance, leaving Jo to create Nick's wedding gift.

XXXXX

            Nick jumped from the wagon even before the horse had a chance to completely stop.  He could see Laurie through the window to his office and Nick hoped that it was late enough in the afternoon so that avoiding Laurie's clients would be possible.  Knocking on the door, he let himself inside and was greeted by a surprised Laurie, just packing up his belongings for the evening.  "Nick?"

            "Oh, hey.  I hope I'm not interruptin' anythin'."  Nick removed his hat, playing with the brim in a nervous manner.

            "Certainly not.  I just finished up with Mr. Atkins."  He motioned towards a chair across from his desk.  "How is Jo doing?"

            Nick took a seat and smiled.  "Better.  But I wouldn't want to be Asia right now.  Tryin' to keep Jo in bed is goin' to be a problem."

            "Wish her luck from me," Laurie chuckled as he took in Nick's apprehensive demeanor.  "So, what can I do for you?"

            Nick looked at his boots.  "Well, um… remember I said I needed to talk to you about somethin'?"  Laurie nodded.  "I was wondering if we could talk now."

            "Of course."  His forehead creased.  "Is something wrong?"

            "Well, ya see… I was thinkin' about Jo and the wedding and well… I realized that she's more experienced in this whole thing than I am."

            "Naturally," Laurie assured.  "The ceremony with Fritz was slightly less elaborate than yours will be but you can thank Amy for that."

            "No, that's not what I mean…" Nick sighed, frustrated.

            "You're not having second thoughts, are you?" Laurie asked, his brotherly side taking over.

            "No!  'Course not!  I love Jo.  I'd never do anythin' like that to her."  He wasn't sure how to proceed.  "Uh, it's just that the wedding isn't the only thing I've never been through before."  Laurie looked confused.  "Things like the weddin' night…" Nick's face flushed with embarrassment.

            Laurie's face fell with realization.  "You mean you've never…"

            "Nope."

            "All those years out at sea and there wasn't even one woman…"

            Nick glared across the desk.  "Never," he replied, annoyance apparent in his tone.

            Laurie allowed the shock to sink in.  "I'm sorry Nick.  I guess I just thought a world traveler such as yourself would have… well, you know."

            "There were many of the guys that did," he snickered nervously.  "But I'm just not that type of man.  I wanted to make sure I loved her before… well ya know."  His gaze returned to the floor.  "And it's just that I don't want to disappoint Jo or… scare her.  So I was hopin'… maybe… you could give me a few pointers?"

            Laurie grinned.  "Of course.  I'll tell you whatever you want to know.  But I think you should also speak to Jo about this."

            "Ta Jo?"  Nick was a little mortified at the thought.

            "Don't worry Nick.  She'll understand and besides, it will make things a little easier, for the both of you."

            Nick nodded slowly, considering the plan.  "I guess maybe you're right."

            Laurie stood and grabbed his coat.  "How about we head over to the tavern?  It might be easier to talk over there."

            Nick smiled appreciatively.  "Thanks Laurie.  I owe ya one."

            "Don't mention it."  Laurie stepped towards the door, Nick following behind.  "If you're going to be my brother-in-law, we're going to need to stick together.  Those March women can be trouble!"

XXXXX

            "Shh, Nat!  We don't wanna wake anyone up!" Dan whispered as the two boys crept down the back stairs.  It was still very early in the morning; the clock reading three-thirty and they had forced themselves awake to finish some work.

            "I hope no one saw us leave," Nat replied, rounding the kitchen table and heading towards the cellar.  "They'll tell for sure."

            Dan led them down the ladder and groped for the lantern, which he lit and set in the center of the dirt floor.  "I'm glad Mrs. Jo never got the chance to clean all this up," he said looking around at all of the pieces to Nick's chair.

            "Yeah." Nat picked up a leg.  "Asia said that Mrs. Jo wanted her to bring it up to her bedroom."

            "I guess she really wants to give this to Nick!" Dan snickered.  He grabbed a piece of sandpaper and began scraping it over the seat.  "So I was thinkin' if we could get the legs done and put on the seat today then we can finish the back tomorrow."

            "That should be good.  The legs won't need much more work and it shouldn't take much to put it together."  Nat blew across the wood, ridding it of the dust.  "We've only got four more days."

            "It'll get done and we can surprise the both of them."

            Silence has past over them as they worked.  Both of the boys had realized the difficulty that had surrounded the collapse of their teacher.  They knew how passionate and determined she was about finishing the chair and considering their devotion to both their 'adopted' mother and father, Nat and Dan had decided to complete the gift, unbeknownst to anyone.

            "You think that Nick will like it?" Nat asked, choosing another section to sand.

            Dan looked at him and smiled.  " 'Course he will.  We just gotta make sure that it's sittin' next ta Mrs. Jo."

            "Definitely.  But we might need Asia's help with that part."

            "Ah, that don't matter.  Asia won't tell anyone."  Dan brushed off the seat.  "There!  That should do it.  Let's get these legs on."

            As Nat held the legs straight, Dan positioned the seat on top and carefully nailed it into place.  "Looks good.  We'll be finished before breakfast at this rate."

            Nat grinned.  "Yeah.  And maybe tomorrow we can start a little later on.  Get some more sleep."

            Dan yawned, placing in the last nail.  "Definitely."