"It's so good to finally have all of you together at the same time," said Mrs. March. It was Friday evening, and the Marches had invited both Fritz and Jonas over for dinner. Mrs. March had cooked her specialty, lasagna.

"This is the best lasagna I've ever tasted," said Jonas.

"Doesn't your mother ever make it?" Beth asked him.

He grimaced.

"Only the Hamburger Helper kind. Never from scratch."

"She has a large family to cook for," said Mrs. March. "It must be a challenge to feed so many mouths."

Jonas smirked.

"That's why she always buys so much Hamburger Helper and Shake n Bake."

"But don't you get tired of the same meals over and over again?" asked Beth.

Jo thought of Berlin in late 1945, of boiling wallpaper for the nutritional value of the paste.

Jonas shrugged.

"I guess I never really thought about it. It's been awhile now, and yet every time we sit down to a meal, there's Karl's empty chair, and it just hits me all over again that he's gone forever."

"I don't mean to sound intrusive, but do you follow any particular religious belief system?" asked Fritz.

"We've been Lutherans all our lives," Jonas told him.

"As have I," Fritz replied.

A thrill of excitement went through Jo. I knew it!

"When I received the news that my beloved sister had passed, it was my hope that I would see her again someday that got me through it," said Fritz.

"We have something in common, then," said Jonas. "I lost a brother, and you lost a sister."

Fritz smiled - a sad smile.

"Indeed we do."

"There's no harm in believing in an afterlife, if it brings hope and comfort to the bereaved," Mr. March commented.

Dad, please! Jo groaned inwardly. She looked at Fritz and was relieved to see no reaction to her father's words.

"How would you all like to play goofy golf tomorrow?" asked Jonas, changing the subject.

"I have never played it," said Fritz. "Why is it called goofy golf?"

"Because it's different from regular golf," Jo explained. "Instead of hitting the ball into a plain old hole, you get to hit it into any number of interesting objects. I can't believe you've never played it. Mom and Dad used to take Meg, Beth, and me when we were younger."

"Well, I shall look forward to the experience," said Fritz.

The next day, Fritz drove Jo and Beth to the goofy golf course. Jonas met them there.

"I'm so glad you could come," Beth told him. "I'm sorry you had to drive so far."

"That's all right." His lips lightly brushed hers. "To me, you're worth it."

They started with a hole shaped like a guitar, then moved on to one shaped like dog house.

"Are you having fun?" Jo asked Fritz after awhile. She was concerned he would find the game juvenile and boring.

"I'm having a lovely time," Fritz replied. "You were right, Josephine. It is quite entertaining."

"It was a good idea, but what made you think of it?" Jo asked Jonas.

He shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess because my brothers and sister love it so. I take them when Mom needs some time to herself."

"Sounds like you're a great big brother," said Jo.

"I try to be."

"I wonder what it would be like to have younger brothers or sisters," said Beth. "Mom got pregnant when I was little, but she had a miscarriage. The baby's name would have been Amy."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" said Jonas. "I had no idea."

"That's OK," said Beth. "I've always wondered what it would have been like if she'd lived, though."

A vivid memory came unbidden to Jo: lying on a hospital stretcher in the Germany of 1952, her strength ebbing as her life's blood oozed from her body. Which one of them do you want us to save?

"Josephine!" Fritz's voice wrenched her back to the present. "Are you all right?"

"Oh! I'm fine." Jo glanced around. "Where are Jonas and Beth?"

"Beth got thirsty, and Jonas offered to buy her a drink. Didn't you hear their conversation?"

"Oh, yeah." Jo gave a shaky laugh. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Are you tired? We could take a break if you are."

"Oh, no, I'm fine. I do need a bathroom break, though."

She walked into the small building where the video games and restrooms were. She didn't see Jonas and Beth at the concession stand. She took care of her business and stepped outside - not in the direction of the goofy golf courses, but in the opposite direction. She saw picnic tables and a group of trees. She thought she saw movement behind one of the trees and, intrigued, crept silently over to investigate.

Jonas and Beth were necking behind the trees. His lips were on hers, while her fingers trailed through his hair and his roamed over her clothing, getting closer and closer to her breasts.

Jo almost passed out from shock. Why, Beth had never even kissed a boy before!

Suddenly afraid of being noticed, she quickly went back into the building and then exited it in the direction of the goofy golf courses. Quickly she re-joined Fritz.

"You look as if you've seen a ghost!" he remarked.

"I saw Jonas and Beth," she replied. "They weren't buying drinks."

"What were they doing, then?" She watched his face change as realization struck him. "Oh. Oh!" He burst out laughing.

"I don't think it's funny," said Jo.

"They are both adults." Fritz got that faraway expression in his eyes. "I remember when Minna wrote and told me she'd met someone. I was happy for her, but at the same time, very concerned. I was so afraid my sister's new love might not be honorable, that he might take advantage of her kindness and naivete. In the end, I had to let it go, to accept that Minna was an adult and capable of making her own decisions."

Jo nodded. She knew he was right.

She was right behind Freddy, and they were stepping on rocks by the riverside. Freddy was several years older than her, and he was her world; everything Freddy did, she had to do as well.

The rocks were slippery, and spaced a few inches apart. Freddy's legs were longer than hers, so it was much easier for him to step from rock to rock than for her to do so.

Freddy took a skillful step from one rock to the next. She stretched her plump little leg as far as it would go; at the same time, she thrust her body forward. Her foot touched the rock but slid off right away; at the same time, her body fell forward, her knee making an undignified ker-plunk on the rock.

Pain shot through her leg, and she began to wail.

Quick as a flash, he was there, lifting her, murmuring comforting words, cleaning and bandaging her knee.