A/N: Updating is going to be tricky because of school and everything, but I'll do it when I can. Also, Ultimatelaurafan, Nate is supposed to be the male version of Mary in a way. He has blue eyes but brown hair. I probably should have explained him more in the first chapter, but I was so tired I completely forgot.
Disclaimer: I only own Nate and maybe some future OC's.
September 20, 1877
"Nate, Laura, come to breakfast!"
Nate quickly buttoned his shirt up. "We're coming, ma!" he yelled down before turning to his sister.
"Laura-LAURA!" he hissed.
"What?" he heard her sigh from underneath the covers.
"Why are you still in bed?"
"Cause I'm not going to school" Laura said, matter of factly.
Nate rolled his eyes and walked over to his sister's bed.
"You have to go" Nate told her. When there was no reply, he sighed and went downstairs.
"Morning ma, morning pa" he said, sitting down at the table.
"Morning son" pa said.
"Is your sister ready?" ma asked, scraping scrambled eggs onto a plate.
"Laura said she's not going"
Ma sighed.
"I tried" Nate shrugged. "She didn't even budge"
"Don't worry, I'll see to it" pa smiled.
Ten minutes later Laura was up and dressed and ready for school.
"Let's have a look at those hands" ma murmured.
Nate sighed but held out his hands as his mother inspected them.
"Ma, no one cares about our hands" he protested.
"Well, I do. I don't want you two going to school dirty"
"Ma, my neck hurts" Laura said, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Excuses, excuses" Nate muttered.
"Well, you scrubbed my neck so hard you probably took the skin clean off!"
"Good!"
"Enough, you two" ma scolded.
Laura sighed. "I don't like being big. I wish I was like Carrie"
"Not me" Nate declared. "I like being 13"
"That's cause you're a teenage. You're not ten years old"
Nate snorted. "You should be wishing you were 13 years old. The kids at school would respect you more"
Laura thought of something. "Ma…do you think they'll like us?"
Ma got up. "What kind of a foolish question is that? Of course they'll like you. Just be friendly and mind your manners. Now let me have a better look at you. Turn around"
Nate put one hand on his hip and slowly turned around, making everyone laugh.
"Oh, Nate, we're did we get you from?" Ma laughed.
"Well-"
"You both look fine" Ma cut him off, knowing he was going to say something inappropriate.
"How long is all this learning going to take?" Laura asked.
"We start learning when we're born, Laura. And if we're wise, we don't stop until the Lord calls us home"
"That long?" Laura asked in disbelief.
Ma smiled. "Come. I have something special for you two"
Nate raised an eyebrow but followed his mother and sister into the main bedroom, which belonged to ma and pa.
Ma took a box out from underneath the bed and opened it.
"These schoolbooks are yours now" she said, handing her two children three small books.
"Did they belong to you when you were a child?" Nate asked, observing the books.
"Yes and some things might have changed since I was a little girl, but everything should be in there. If it's a problem we'll just have to get you new books"
"Thank you, ma" Laura said, and gave ma a hug.
Ma patted her head. "You're quite welcome. Now, it's time to go. Laura, you carry the lunch pail and remember to bring everything home"
She ushered the two kids out of the room and out the front door where pa was chopping wood.
"Well", he said. "Everybody's all set for school. Now, don't you two doddle on the way. I don't want you to be late for the first day of school"
"Us? Doddle?" Nate joked.
"Be good, you two" ma warned.
"We will, ma"
"Have a good time"
Laura and Nate took a deep breath and then began to walk to school.
As soon as the two kids arrived at school, Nate felt nervous.
What if no one liked him? What if ma had been wrong?
"Nate? Come on"
Nate looked down at his sister and took a deep breath.
"Ok…come on" he muttered.
They both walked slowly towards the school side by side.
All the other children were staring at them and gawking at their clothing, which Nate didn't understand. He wore a white shirt and overalls, while Laura had on a red dress and a yellow sunbonnet. Was it silly?
Before anyone could say anything a girl with bouncy blond curls and a beautiful yellow dress walked over and stopped when she saw them.
"Country kids" she said, and her tone was not friendly.
Nate was taken aback and Laura just stared at her as she walked into school along with the other children.
"What a…" Nate began, but he stopped himself from saying what he really wanted to say.
"How did she know we were from the country?" Laura asked.
Nate snorted. "Anyone can tell from our clothing, Laura. Come on"
The two walked into school but Laura stopped when they were in the entrance.
"Laura, what are you doing?" Nate whispered.
She didn't answer him.
"Won't you come in?" Nate heard the teacher say.
Everyone turned around to look at them and Nate felt his face grow hot.
"Laura, please" he murmured to his sister. The he took her hand and they walked up to the teacher's desk.
"You must be the new children from plum creek, aren't you?" the teacher asked with a warm smile.
"Yes ma'am" Nate answered softly.
"I'm Ms. Beadle"
"I'm Nathaniel-Nate-Ingalls, ma'am, and this is my little sister Laura"
Ms. Beadle nodded. "I'm very pleased to meet you. I'll put your name in this register and that'll make it official"
Nate and Laura walked next to her.
Laura turned and saw that everyone, including that snippy girl, was staring at them.
"We have our own books" Laura said, glaring at the girl.
"Laura!" Nate whispered fiercely, embarrassed by his sister.
"Can I see them?" Ms. Beadle asked.
Nate handed her the books. "They belonged to our ma….will they be okay to use?"
Ms. Beadle glanced at the books. "I can see she took fine care of them. Yes, they will be fine" She put the books down on her desk. "Now, how much schooling have you two had?"
"None" Nate admitted. "But our ma taught us a lot of things. I know how to read and write and do math…most of it, anyway. I'm not too good with history"
Ms. Beadle smiled. "That's perfectly all right, Nate. You'll be learning plenty of history here"
Laura looked at the other children before walking to Ms. Beadle's side.
"I can't read" she whispered. "I'm a little good with writing and Math and I know a tiny bit of history"
Ms. Beadle put a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Laura. Don't you worry, you'll learn fast, and I'll help you every spare minute I can"
"Thank you" Laura said.
Ms. Beadle nodded and stood up.
"Children, I'd like you to welcome two new students. This is Nate and Laura Ingalls"
"Hello" the children muttered.
Ms. Beadle frowned. "Now, I wouldn't call that much of a welcome. We'd like to here you say, good morning, Nate"
"Good morning, Nate"
"And Laura"
"Good morning, Laura"
Ms. Beadle gestured towards a seat in the front.
"You two can sit together and share your books"
Nate took the books and walked over to the seat and sat down, as did Laura.
"Did you bring a slate?" Ms. Beadle asked.
Nate blushed again. "No, ma'am"
"Well, you can't learn to write properly without a slate. I'll lend you mine for now"
She handed them the slate.
The girl who had been mean to them outside spoke up.
"Country kids" she said loudly.
Laura spun to face her and Nate rolled his eyes.
Ms. Beadle gave the girl a warning look before handing them the slate.
"All right class, today we're going to start with sums"
The class groaned, except for Laura and Nate.
Ms Beadle ignored them.
"Willie?"
"Yes, ma'am?" the young boy answered nervously.
"By threes, please, Willie"
Willie sighed but got up and went over to the chalkboard and began to write 3 plus 3 .
Laura looked at Ms. Beadle. "Ma'am, how is he ever gonna get those numbers off?"
Nate wanted to die as the whole class began to laugh.
Ms. Beadle picked up her ruler and slammed it on the desk. "Silence! There will be silence in this classroom"
The class quieted down but Nate and Laura could still here some children giggling.
Ms Beadle sighed and turned to Willie.
"Willie, Laura has asked a question. Will you please demonstrate the answer?"
Willie picked up an eraser and wiped off the numbers.
Laura was amazed. "Nate, look, it's clean as a whistle!"
"I can see that" he snapped back. Laura was embarrassing him.
The rude girl looked at her friend who was sitting next to her.
"What did I tell ya?" she said with a smirk "Country kids. Don't even know what a blackboard is"
"I know what it is" Nate said weakly, but Ms Beadle spoke up.
"Nelly" she said angrily.
This was probably the worst day of Nate's life.
Later that night at home, Nate and Laura were doing their homework.
"I take it you like school, huh?" pa asked Laura when he was done quizzing her.
"Oh, yes, pa, I love it!"
Pa looked at Nate.
"What about you, son?" he asked.
Nate shrugged. "It would have been better if Laura hadn't embarrassed me"
"How did I embarrass you?" Laura asked angrily.
Nate spun around to face her. "You asked the stupidest questions and made everyone laugh at us!"
"Now, Nathaniel" ma said gently. "There's no such thing as a stupid question. If none of asked questions, how would we learn?"
"Ma, she didn't know what a blackboard was!"
Pa shrugged. "I didn't know what a blackboard was until I was 12"
Nate sighed and shook his head before continuing his homework.
"Did you make any friends today?" ma asked.
Nate nodded. "There's this kid named Dean. I like him a lot. And this kid Willie. He's about 9, but he seems okay"
"That's good" pa said with a smile. "What about you, Laura?"
"There are some girls I play with, but there's this one girl named Nelly Olson who I dislike. You know what she called us? Country kids"
Pa was confused. "You are country kids, there's nothing wrong with that"
"There is the way she said it" Nate jumped in.
"Made me so mad I wanted to smack her good!" Laura added.
Pa frowned. "Now just a minute, I don't want you talking like that. You go to school to learn, not to fight"
"You know, a kid told me her last name was Olson, but I didn't think of it until now. She must be Mr. and Mrs. Olson's daughter and Willie their son. I should have known as soon as he told me. She's just like Mrs. Olson" Nate said thoughtfully.
"Well, if she's like her mother, then I guess you two should have a reason to not like her" pa said.
Ma was surprised. "Charles!"
"Wait until you meet Mrs. Olson, ma" Nate shrugged "You'll see what we're talking about"
"Will you two just promise me to try and get along with her?" ma pleaded.
Laura thought about that for a moment before nodding. "All right, I'll try"
Nate threw up his hands. "I don't even talk to her, so…"
Pa smiled and got up to get something from the cabinet. He then handed Laura a dime.
"Take this to Olson's store tomorrow and get yourself a slate"
"Thank god" Nate muttered.
"Thank you, pa!" Laura cried.
"Now you two go off to bed. You have to get up a little earlier to get the slate"
Laura and Nate put away their homework and kissed their parents goodnight before heading up to bed. Today may have been bad, but tomorrow was a brand new day, and they planned to start it off right.
September 21, 1877
After a quick breakfast, Nate and Laura headed out to the Olson's store to get their slate.
"Good morning" Mr. Olson greeted them as they walked in.
"Good morning" Nate and Laura replied.
"I'll be with you in a minute, girls"
"There's no rush, Mr. Olson" Nate said
Laura elbowed Nate. "You sure you got the money?"
"For the hundredth time, yes" he snapped.
Suddenly Willie and Nelly came flying down the stairs.
"Country kids, country kids!" Willie sang as he and Nelly grabbed some candy from the counter.
"Willie!" Mr. Olson snapped. "This is not a playground. Willie, do you hear me, out!
Then he sighed and walked around the counter and looked at Nate.
"Now, what can I do for you today?"
"We'd like a Slate, Mr. Olson….and a paper tablet for school, please"
"I've got just what you need" Mr. Olson replied with a smile. He went to go get what the children asked for and the returned with a slate and paper tablet.
"Here we are" he said, and handed them to Laura.
"Is that enough to cover it, sir?" Nate asked, handing Mr. Olson the dime.
"Exactly enough. Do you have a slate pencil?"
"No, sir, we don't"
Mr. Olson nodded. "Well, that will be a penny"
Nate was quiet for a moment before answering. "We don't have a penny, sir. That's all we had"
"I knew they wouldn't" Nelly said to her brother.
Mr. Olson turned to his children and said sharply, "I'm telling you two for the last time, get on out of here!"
Nelly and Willie frowned at their father before leaving.
"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Olson, but pa likes to pay money right on the barrow and will be angry if we accept this. Thank you, though" Nate sighed.
"You're very welcome" Mr. Olson said sympathetically, and watched as Nate and Laura sadly made their way out of the store.
"That Nelly Olson is really working my last never" Nate hissed to his sister when they were outside.
"Yeah" Laura agreed.
"I would give her a taste of her own medicine if ma and pa would let me"
"So would I" Laura echoed.
Nate put his head in his hand. "We need a slate pencil, Laura"
"Pa gave us so much already. We can't ask for more"
"No, you're right. But I want to"
Laura patted her brother's arm before an idea popped into her head.
"Our Christmas pennies!" she cried, making Nate jump. "We still have those! I could use mine to buy the pencil and we can share it!"
"That's not a bad idea" Nate mused. "But do I have to give you my penny then?"
Laura shook her head at her brother.
"Okay, okay, you can have half"
Laura smiled. "Come on, we'll be late for school"
September 25, 1877
The past four days had gone by in a blur.
Nate and Laura were learning so much in school, and they finally got their slate pencil. And somehow, Laura and Nelly had started to play together. Except Nelly always wanted to do what she wanted to do, so Laura stood up for herself, which escalated into a fight. Laura promised never to do it again, but had later told her brother that if Nelly did anything again, she would punch her.
Ma met Mrs. Olson and finally knew what her children had been talking about all this time. The woman was rude and mean.
One day, ma came home with a surprise.
"What is it, ma?" Laura asked excitedly.
Ma unwrapped a long, blue piece of fabric. It was beautiful.
Laura reached out to touch it, and it felt nice and soft.
"I love it, ma" Laura said.
Ma sighed. "I don't know what possessed me to spend so much money on myself"
"I'm glad you bought it" Laura smiled.
"I good take it or leave it" Nate admitted.
"Only cause it isn't something for you" Laura claimed.
Nate shrugged. "True"
"Maybe I should take it back…" ma began.
"Caroline, why did the good Lord make you so pretty if he didn't want you to have a new blue dress?" pa said.
"I can't wait for everyone to see you ma. It'll be like looking at piece of heaven" Laura chimed in.
"If they don't think that already I can't say much for their judgment or their eyesight" pa added.
Ma felt tears spring into her eyes. "What am I going to do with you? What am I going to do with the lot of you?"
Then she walked over and hugged her family. Yes, she was very lucky to have them all.
September 26, 1877
"Ma!" Laura cried, running towards her mother as Nate trudged behind me.
"What on earth is it?" ma asked.
"Where's pa?"
"Up here" pa called up from the barn.
"We're going to have a visitor's day!" Laura exclaimed.
Ma smiled. "That's nice, dear"
"Yeah, except we have to write a stupid essay to read in front of all the parents"
"Oh, Nate, that's not so bad" pa laughed.
"Yes, it is! I hate reading in front of other people"
"I'm sure you'll do just fine" ma said.
"You can wear your new blue dress, ma" Laura piped up. "You better get started on that"
"It's the end of this week" Nate added.
'Well, you two better get busy on your essays, right now" said pa.
Nate groaned but Laura grabbed her brother's arm and they both ran off into the house.
September 30, 1877
Thursday night, Laura and Nate worked hard on their essays. Visitor's day was the next day, and now that it had come, Nate felt a little excited and nervous.
"I'm finished" he declared, throwing his pencil down and leaned back in his chair.
"What's it about?" ma asked, finishing up her blue dress.
"How we moved from Wisconsin to Walnut Grove"
Pa nodded. "Can't wait to hear it"
"What about you, Laura?" ma asked.
"Um…it's a surprise" Laura lied.
Nate glanced down at his sister's paper and only saw a few words on there. His eyebrows drew together but he kept silent.
"Well, it's about time you two were in bed" pa yawned, getting up with Carrie in his arms. "I know it's time for Carrie and me"
He kissed his children on the head and went to put Carrie to bed.
"Let's go, Laura" Nate said, suddenly tired.
"In a minute" Laura sighed. Nate shrugged and walked up to get ready for bed. She obviously had something on her mind. He just hoped she'd be able to come up with something for tomorrow.
September 31, 1877
Nate and Laura climbed down the stairs and sat down for breakfast.
"You two ready for today?" Pa asked.
"You bet" Nate answered with a grin.
Laura didn't say anything.
"Where's ma?"
"Right here" ma called gently, coming into the kitchen with a blue dress in her hand and a blue shirt.
Nate and Laura looked at each other, surprised, before jumping up.
"Oh, ma, you were supposed to make a dress for yourself!" Nate scolded.
"Well, I wanted my children to have something nice to wear, so I made a dress for Laura and nice blue shirt for you" ma said with a tiny smile.
Laura hugged her mother. "I sure do love you, ma"
Ma kissed the top of her daughter's head and clapped her hands together. "Well, how long are you going to make me wait to see them on you?"
"I'll put mine on right now!" Nate cried, and ran to get changed.
"So will I" Laura said.
They really did have the best ma in the world.
Before they knew it, it was time.
Everyone's parents were at the school, even some grandparents. All the children were dressed their best and Laura and Nate were glad ma had decided to make them new clothes instead of wearing their Sunday clothes.
Nate was the first one up.
He took a deep breath and began.
"It seems like a long time ago, when really it was only a few months ago, when my family and I lived in the big woods of Wisconsin in a small, grey house made out of logs. It was my ma and pa, me and my two little sisters', Laura and Carrie. We had a lot of great times there.
"I'll never forget the times when we would hear the wolves. My pa would take me and my sister Laura to see them out the window. I was always amazed and a little afraid at how close they were.
"One day, pa came home and told us we were moving. We were all a little upset at first, especially me, but it turned out to be an adventure. Crossing the Mississippi, meeting Mr. Edwards, a friend of ours, and building a home on Indian Territory, which we had no idea it was until we were told we had to move.
"I was upset that we had to move again. I was just getting use to living on the prairie, but I think moving to this town was the best idea pa's ever had. Everyone here-mostly everyone-is friendly and everyone knows each other, which I like. Hopefully my family and I will never move again. Hopefully we'll stay in Walnut Grove forever. Now that I'm here, I never want to move again"
Nate's hands were trembling as he looked up at the audience.
Everyone burst out clapping and he smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.
After he sat down, Willie and Nelly went up. Willie's was…cute, for a 9 year old, but Nelly's was just downright rude. Even Mr. Olson looked embarrassed.
After them was Laura. Nate felt nervous for his sister, and was surprised when she began talking about ma. A part of him wished he had done so.
Finally it was over and everyone headed outside.
"You both did a wonderful job" pa congratulated them.
"Yes" ma agreed. "Laura, may I speak with you for a moment?"
Laura dropped her head but followed her mother.
Nate felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see pa.
"Son…I want you to know that we are going to stay here, hopefully forever. And you were right; moving here was the best idea"
"Really, pa?" Nate asked.
"Really"
Nate smiled and hugged his father.
"I'm glad you're my pa"
Pa chuckled. "And I'm glad you're my son. My only son"
"And hopefully it will stay that way"
Pa laughed and hugged Nate tighter.
Nate really did feel lucky. He had two wonderful parents and two sisters who he wouldn't trade for anything.
Life with his family was good.
I didn't really like the ending, but I didn't know how to end it, so…
Please review and tell me what you think. Once again, I'm so sorry for any grammar mistakes, but I really do stink when it comes to that stuff, so my apologies.
