"Mommy?" Bess looked up to her mother.

"Yes, Bessie?" Stella hoisted her daughter onto the bed she was lying on with her husband.

"Will you tell us the story?" She asked, her siblings toddling in as well.

"Of course. Come here."

Teddy lifted the two toddlers on the bed. The youngest, who they had named Joanna, lay on her fathers chest, the middle children, twins, named Amelia and Megara, on her mothers stomach, and the eldest, Bess, sat at the bottom of the bed.

"Where do you want me to start from?" She asked, lifting herself off her husband, and wiggling out of his grip, both of them laughing as they giggled.

"The very start!" Bess exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. Hold on, let me get it." Stella pretended to look around, before she grabbed the book and held it in the air.

"Go!" Bess urged. Bess reminded Stella of Jo, especially her quick wit and impatience.

"Alright, alright." Stella laughed, opening the book gently. To anyone else, it would be a tattered and worn book that would keep the fire going. But to the Laurence family, and the March, Primrose, Brooke and Baher families, it was a very important book.

Stella stared at the words for a moment, taking in the fact that when this book was published, Bess had only just been born and her and Theodore hadn't been married for a year.

Stella took a deep breath, four children around her, husband by her side, and began to read.

""I know just who I'll dance with!" Meg sighed dreamily, and Stella laughed at Jo's repulsed face...