Time had passed for Jess and Christi...and things had changed...for the better of course. They had both fallen in love with each other and soon had begun courting.

It was the later part of September, the ending of the first harvest season...Walnut Grove decided to have a big celebration for it...One of the church members had a huge farm with a very nice barn on their property, so the church voted and decided to have the shin-dig there.

"I hope all of you have had a wonderful harvest season and have harvested many good crops..." Rev. Alden spoke to the crowd..."I know you all will thank the Lord for it...Well, it says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, 'For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.' Now, I know all of you farmers, and your families, have worked extremely hard this year, so after I say a word of prayer...Let's eat!" He said with enthusiasm and everyone, including him, laughed...

Rev. Alden prayed for the feast and afterwards, everyone got a plate and went through the line. Later, Jess Lawson, holding Christi's hand, went up to the minister and asked if he could make an announcement.

"Certainly..." Rev. Alden said and addressed the large group. "Folks, listen up! Jess Lawson has something to tell everyone...Jess..." He motioned to him...

"Well, I'd like to say first thank you all for such a warm welcome...and I know I've only been in Walnut Grove for a year or so, but I feel like I've been here my whole life and I've gotten to know a great deal of you...Some,...more than others..." He smiled down at Christi, to which she smiled and blushed up at him. "What I'm trying to say is,...I've asked Christi Loyalton to marry me and she's said yes..." He said, pulling her into him with an arm around her waist...Everyone went up and congratulated them and later continued with the harvest celebration.

"Take a walk with me, Mary?" Fred asked, smiling at her...

"In the dark?"

"Sure...it'll be fun...and its not like you'd be alone!...I'll be with you!"

"Well, c'mon then...but let me ask Ma or Pa first..." She went and found her mother and asked permission...Caroline allowed her, and so the two set out on their walk...

"Your birthday's coming up in a few weeks. Happy early Birthday, Fred." Mary smiled.

"Thanks for the early birthday wish, Mary...22 years old on the 30th..." Fred smiled..."Its hard to believe..."

"Are you doing anything special?...We should throw you a party!" Mary said, with her eyes lighting up...

"Oh, no need..." Fred smiled..."I've never celebrated too big. Not used to it...I'm content as long as I live another day, and I have clothes on my back and food to eat..." He laughed.

"Your adopted parents never threw you a birthday party?..."

"No...I'm sure Amos would've done a little something for me...but Leah...Not a chance..."

"Why not?" Mary questioned.

"I never told you this...but I never had a good childhood...Leah didn't treat me so well...She beat me...plenty of times..."

Mary looked as if she were about to cry..."How could anyone do that?...Be so cruel and heartless!...That must've been aweful for you! What you went through..." She said, wrapping her arms around him and placing her head on his chest...

"Well, what's done is done...and I can't change the past...Its gone...never to return again...You're about one of the only folks I've told...It hurts too much to talk about...and remember...But I can't help but remember...when I see the scars on my body..."

"You don't have to say anymore..." Mary said quickly..."Plus, I'd hate to see a grown man cry..." She cupped her hands on his face...

Fred smirked...there was no way she'd see him cry...but then his smirk broke into a smile..."I just thought you should know...I mean...you'll see me like that...When we're married..." Mary blushed at the thought of seeing him...indecent...but also the thought of marrying him...She smiled..."If you ever get around to asking me..."

"I will...I'm waiting for the right time..."

"Can't spend forever waiting, you know..."

Fred grinned and knodded his head. "You're right..." He held Mary by the shoulders..."I do have something to tell you though..."

"Yes?"

"There's a new job offer in New Jersey this summer...A real good one...I'd be working at another saw mill..."

"That's wonderful!...Are you going to take it?...Oh you have to, Fred!" Mary beamed.

Fred reached up and stroked her cheek..."I'd be away from you. I don't want to do that, Mary...I'd be gone an aweful long time..."

"I'd hate to be away from you, too...But we love each other...Don't we?...No, amount of distance could come between that..."

"Right again..." Fred smiled.

"Just think on it awhile...don't make your decision in haste..." Mary said, looking into those wonderful gray-blue eyes...Fred gazed back at her for moment...He thought she looked so radiant and beautiful...the moonlight shining on her blonde hair.

"I will, Mary...I'll think on it...And I'll be sure to tell you my decision..."

"Well, you better..." She smiled, and soon their lips met in a kiss...

Fred and Mary continued their little walk and then soon returned to the harvest celebration...

Some months had passed and it was summertime...Fred and Mary had taken a walk together...He stopped suddenly."Mary..."

She turned around..."Yes, Fred..."

"I...I've decided to take that new job in New Jersey..."

"That's great!...I'm so happy for you..." She said quickly...Mary wrapped her arms around the back of his neck...

"Will you listen to me a minute?" He pleaded. "...I don't expect you to...but I'd like you to come with me...We can get married!...What do you say?" Fred said, holding up a ring with a simple diamond on it...It was all he could manage to afford...but it was enough...

Mary stared at him...she didn't know what posessed her to say 'yes' to him, but she did...

"I love you, Mary..." He said, lifting her up in his arms and spinning her around...Her hands clung to the back of his neck...She laughed with glee as he was spinning her around.

"Oh, I love you too!" She said, and kissed him...

"Let's go, Mary...The nearest Justice of the Peace is in Sleepy Eye..."

"Now?" She asked, astonished...

"Yes now!...The sooner the better! You want to be with me, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

"C'mon!" He said excitedly, he took her by the hand and they ran over to his place (he had moved out of the sod house and into his own place, outside of Walnut Grove), got into his buckboard, and set out for Sleepy Eye...

It was none other than snooty, Nellie Oleson who overheard their conversation and saw them leave together...

"Mother!...MOTHER!" Nellie shouted, running into the mercantile to tell her mother the juicy gossip...

"What is it, Nellie dear?" Harriet asked...

"Its Fred Lay and Mary Ingalls!...They ran off together!...To Sleepy Eye!"

"The little hussie!...Just up and running off with a man like that!...He killed a man you know, more than one, in fact..."

"He did?" Nellie's eyes went wide...

"Yes, he told me that himself!...I was trying to set you two up and he told me he wasn't the right man for and you wouldn't want a man like him...and then he said..."

"That he killed someone!...My word!" Nellie gasped..."He's a criminal!"

Mrs. Oleson sneered..."And I heard he's a drunkard as well!...Not a good man if you ask me..."

What Fred didn't tell Mrs. Oleson, was the men he killed were the enemy that he defeated in the war...He just thought she'd put the facts together...Plus, he enjoyed messing with her head!...

"I just can't believe Mary Ingalls would do a thing like this!" Nellie said...

Just then, Caroline walked into the mercantile...wanting to sell a basket of eggs...

"Oh Caroline!" Mrs. Oleson wailed..."Have you heard about Mary?"

"What about Mary?..." Caroline asked...

"Its so horrible, Caroline!...I just can't believe Mary would do a thing like this!"

"Do a thing like what, Mrs. Oleson?" She asked...starting to get annoyed...

"She's run off! With that...that Fred Lay!...Nellie told me everything! He seduced her and she gave in...and...and they've run off to Sleepy Eye together!" Mrs. Oleson wailed.

"Its all true! I saw them drive away...in his buckboard!" Nellie said."I saw them with my own two eyes!"

"That doesn't sound at all like Mary...but you never know..."

"What's all the commotion around here?" Nels walked in the room.

"Mary Ingalls and Fred Lay ran off to Sleepy Eye together!" Nellie shouted...

"They wouldn't do that..." Nels said...

"They did, Father!...I saw them!"

"Would you like for me to go get Charles and we can get to the bottom of this, Mrs. Ingalls?..." Nels offered...

"If you would, Mr. Oleson..." Caroline said. "If you don't think its too much trouble, now..."

"It isn't...I'll head on over right now..."

"Charles, my wife and Nellie said something about Mary and Fred running off together to Sleepy Eye..." Nels said, when he went over to the mill...

"They WHAT?" Charles shouted.

"Now don't get all bent out of shape!...I just thought we'd head over and see what this is all about..."

"Right behind you..." Charles said, determinedly...and they headed out to Sleepy Eye in Charles' buckboard.

Mary and Fred were in the Justice of the Peace's home. They got there just as the sun was beginning to set in the sky...Fred knocked on the front door and they waited...

"I'm sorry all I'm wearing is my everyday gray dress..."

"Don't be sorry...You look beautiful, Mary..." Fred smiled down at her and she blushed...

"Hello? Who is it?...We've just sat down to supper..." Varnum, the Justice of the Peace said, when he opened the door.

"Sorry, to disturb you...but we would like to get married..."

He rolled his eyes..."Doesn't everyone...Well, that's what I'm here for...Come on in, then..."

Varnum, with Mary and Fred following behind him, went into the doorway of the kitchen..."Philomena! Get the rice!...Another wedding to do!" He hollered...

"What about the pot roast?" They heard her holler back...

"Just leave it there! We'll eat it later!" Varnum turned his attention to Mary and Fred..."So...Where are you two kids from?"

"Walnut Grove..." Mary replied...

"Walnut Grove..." He moaned, weakly..."Not another one from Walnut Grove!...and they're both blonde too! Yup...this is gonna be a Nellie and the dumb pig farmer all over again...Boy, that kid was dumber than a box of rocks!...What was his name, again? Oh yeah...Luke..." Varnum thought..."And your names?"

"Fred John Lay and Mary Amelia Ingalls..." Fred replied...

"Okay...let's get this show on the road...Just don't say, 'With this ring, I wed thee...' and put the ring on my finger instead of hers..."

"Why would I do that?...And why would I even think of doing that?" Fred asked, getting creeped out...

"Trust me...Its been done before..." Varnum said. "Okay...lets start already..."

Fred and Mary joined hands in front of Varnum, with his wife, Philomena standing off the the side of him...and they began.

"Do you...Fred John Lay...take this woman...to be your wife...To love, honor, obey and cherish till death do you part?..."

Fred looked down at Mary, smiled and then looked up at Varnum. "I do..." He solemnly said.

"Put the ring on her finger, lover boy..." Varnum said, flatly...

Fred slipped the ring on Mary's finger and they continued.

"Now, do you...Mary Amelia Ingalls...take this man to be your husband ...To love, honor...obey and...yada yada yada..." He said without any emotion...

Mary hesitated, as she was taken aback by this...but she opened her mouth and said, "I do."

"By the power vested in me by the state of Minnesota...I now pronouce you..." He hesitated and then said quickly..."Ya man and wife already!...Move it along, will ya!...Philomena...the rice, eh..."

Fred took Mary in to his arms and and they both leaned in...

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY DAUGHTER! YOU DIRTY, ROTTEN, PIECE OF SCUM!" Charles yelled, bursting through the door...Everyone was shocked...Varnum stood there and didn't move one muscle, Philomena had a handful of rice stuck up in the air and didn't throw a single grain of it...Mary clung onto Fred so tight, they both thought she'd rip the sky-blue shirt he was wearing...Yet, seeing her father in such rage made her let go of him, which gave Charles the opportunity to deck Fred right in the mouth...and sent him flying across the room!

"Pa!" Mary screamed, but Charles ignored her..."Get up and fight like a man...you coward!" He yelled, picking Fred up by the front of his shirt...Fred had his fists in front of him in an effort to protect himself...yet, Charles punched him once again...

"I'm supposed to be the Justice of the Peace!...Why isn't there any peace in my home...Ever?" Varnum wailed.

"Pa...STOP IT!" Mary yelled! And yanked his arm away from Fred...

"Stay out of this, Mary!" Charles yelled at her...

"Its about me! She snapped. "...And maybe I wanted to marry him!"

"I DON'T CARE! How could you run off like this and be so foolish, Mary?...I'm very ashamed of you!...Justice of the Peace, I want you to..." Charles began.

"I know, I know, I know!" Varnum yelled..."You want me to un-marry these two!...1, 2, 3, un-married yous two shall be!" He said, ripping up the marriage certificate..."Goodbye,...goodnight...drive safely! I'm going back into the kitchen to eat a good home-cooked meal in the little bit of peace I have left!"

"Oh Fred!" Mary wailed, clinging to him...

"Mary..." He tried to soothe her..."Maybe your Pa is right...Mary, face it...you deserve better than me..."

"No...No I don't! You're the one I want!" She said, tears streaming down her face...

"Mary..." Fred said, un-shed tears filling his eyes..."You've got your whole life ahead of you...I don't want to spoil it for you...You'll meet someone else and fall so deeply in love, you won't know what hit you...I'm sure of it..."

"Maybe you're right..." Mary gazed up at him..."But you know, I'll never forget you..."

"And I don't think I could get you out of my mind, Mary...You were my first real love...You'll always hold a special place in my heart." He said, bringing her closer to him.

Mary slipped the ring off of her finger..."This belongs to you, then...And even though it was only for a few seconds...I was glad to be,...Mrs. Lay."

A/N: Remember the Little House episode, "Here Come the Brides?" Where Nellie runs off and marries Luke Simms, the pig farmer's son? And Miss Beattle marries Adam Simms, the boy's father? Well, Varnum and Philomena are the Justice of the Peace and his wife in that episode?...lol. :) Which is from where I based this chapter on...