E P I L O G U E
Little Women

"Welcome to the party!" Delia shouted as she opened the door to her home.

     "Thank you, Lia... my ears do hurt quite a bit from your shouting though." Jo joked, wrapping Delia in a tight hug.

     "Delia! I brought presents and everything!" Amy greeted, smiling sweetly, a sense of patience present in her tone of voice.

     "Where's Laurie?" Amy questioned, glancing over Delia's shoulder.

     "He's in the back preparing drinks, come in, come in!" Delia ushered Jo and Amy into her home. Fred Vaughn and Friedrich Bhaer trailed behind the two women, giving Delia a tiny wave before joining everyone inside.

     After much deliberation, Laurie and Delia decided to move into a modest home. There was plenty of space for a party of 20 guests and barely any furniture to crowd the rooms with, it had only been a few days since the two first moved in together and decided they needed to throw a housewarming party.

     Meg and John were soon to arrive at Delia's humble abode, though it was starting to get late for a party. Charlotte and Harriet managed to make it to the event, the sad news was that their mother couldn't make it.

     She had fallen sickly and told the two sisters to go without her. Delia couldn't believe it when she first heard, she knew she had to visit her soon.

     Somehow the two twin sisters became humble women, both of them seemed to drift apart when it came to looks and style. It became a lot much easier to tell both of them apart.

     Inside the home, Delia found Laurie pouring drinks left and right as Charlotte decided to see how much wine she could hold before losing consciousness.

     Delia snickered, telling her sister to stop it but easily telling that she was already drunk.

     "Charlotte, you've drunk a whole bottle at this point!" Delia complained, snatching the glass of wine out of her hand and downing it herself.

     "Who wouldn't pass up fine wine...?" Charlotte questioned, stumbling over to the chair that sat lonely in the corner. The sister's face was bright red and her head lazily bobbed from side to side.

     "It's only 5 in the evening, for goodness sake!" Delia screamed, not sure if she was getting tipsy herself or not.

     "Lia, you can't take large amounts of alcohol," Laurie said, grasping Delia's arm.

     "It's only a few sips! No need to worry, Theo." Delia beamed, parting Laurie's head gently.

     "I can barely handle half a glass! How can she handle more than that?" Amy asked, swiping the glass from Delia's fingertips.

     "I have some food over here, everyone can take some and dig in." Laurie grinned, taking a plate and shoving some turkey onto it before stabbing the middle with a fork and hovering the utensil over Delia's lips.

     "I can feed myself, thank you..." The woman snatching the fork from his hands and aggressively, chewing the meat.

     "This is quite good!" Jo complimented, taking another bite.

     "Oh! I almost forgot..." She continued, going into her bag that she had brought and shown a book to the crowd.

     "Little Women, by Josephine March..." Delia read, suddenly realizing what the book was.

     "I knew you'd be a famous writer one day, Jo!" Delia cheered, excited about the gift.

     "I wouldn't say famous..."

     "She's being modest again, the other day she told me she got recognized at the bank while giving out her information." Amy cut Jo off, explaining a story to everyone.

     "It was quite a pleasant interaction," Fred spoke, his foreign accent as present as anything.

     "I use to live in England, you know, Fred?" Delia smiled at him, speaking in a much more forced and prominent accent.

     "England? I haven't been there in a long while. I do remember going to all the sights though." He replied.

     Amy and Fred lived in a luxurious house that Delia had only managed to step into one time. It seemed way too fancy and polished for someone like her. Amy seemed to like to tease Fred a lot, it is quite entertaining if you catch her doing it.

     "I haven't been there since I was a little toddler, don't bother asking me about life there," Delia responded, starting to take an empty glass.

      "No more drinking," Laurie ordered, taking the glass by the lip and placing it on the other side of the table that everyone sat around.

     "Theodore Laurence! Give me the glass. Can a woman not enjoy a glass of wine?" Delia commanded, crossing her arms at him.

     "A man must take care of his wife, no?"

     "Why do you keep pulling that card?" Delia groaned, touching the ring around her finger.

     Delia and Laurie got married a good two years after the proposal, not being in a rush, The two got married on a sandy beach, surrounded by roaring waves and windy winds. It was quite a lovely day for everyone except for when Charlotte spilt her drink onto Harriet's dress and nearly got choked to death.

     She and Laurie had decided to wait on having children. Although loving the struggle of having children around her all the time, (Charlotte and Harriet), Delia didn't feel the need to start a family of her own just yet. She had her family right there, around the dinner table.

     There were three knocks at the door, rushing to it, Delia assumes it was Meg, and she was correct. Meg stood there tired with John Brooke behind her.

     "Sorry, we're late! We ran into some issues with the coachman." Meg apologized, hugging everyone in the room before looking around the house.

     "And the kids are here! I'm sorry if they cause a ruckus..." Meg trailed off, seeing the food on the table.

     "I'm hungry!" Josie, Meg's youngest daughter muttered, following Meg to the table filled with food. The twins, Demi and Daisy followed their mother.

     "Well, while you all settle in, I'm eager to start reading this book..." Delia laughed nervously. Trying to Jo break a sweat which she was successful at.

     "Oh, lord..." Jo cursed, anxiously watching Delia turn the pages of her copy of the book.

     "Chapter one... playing pilgrims. "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo..." Delia started reading off the page.

     "Sounds like a very Jo thing to say," Amy commented, snickering at the way Delia had made Jo's voice while she read her line.

     "Oh, please stop..." Jo begged, leaning on Friedrich's arm, feeling as though she were being tortured.

     "Why? I thought you'd like me to read your story." Delia teased, scrunching up her nose.

     "I do! But I didn't expect you to read it aloud!" Jo groaned, covering her ears so she didn't need to hear Delia continue reading. Meg and John chuckled in their corner with their children.

  "It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg," Delia continued, earning a snicker from Laurie.

     "I'm sorry by the way, Meg." Delia couldn't stop smiling as she scanned the page.

     "You are a good writer though, Jo. Despite all my teasing."

     "I know, that's why I got published," Jo said, making everyone break out in fits of laughter.

     "That was a smart-assed joke right there." Delia scoffed.

     "I have to admit, that was quite a savage comment made by Jo March herself." Laurie joined in on the conversation.

     "I'm quite a fierce, independent woman, didn't you know?" Friedrich cleared just throat at that line making everyone lean back in joy.

     "You have to accept that you're married eventually, Jo. Just like how I realized I married to a foolish man." Laurie chuckled at what Delia said. Taking her hand and placing a kiss on it.

     "You have to admit, I am charming though."

     "I'll give you that, Theo... and only that." And the laughs of everyone in that house echoed through the home. It seemed that everything was fine.

    Delia had never felt so alive and joyful in her life, it was as though every turn her life has taken had led up to that moment. And everything fits into place. It seemed that everything worked out in the end.

     A few more knocks sounded at the front door. Delia didn't know who could be, and she sure would be in for a shock when she walked to the front door and swung it open, only to reveal a familiar face.

     "Delia?" the man croaked, staring at Delia with wide eyes, as though he were surprised she would even open the door.

     "Arry? Jesus Christ..." Delia took a step back, feeling the urge to slam the door in his face.

     "I don't want to speak with you, Arry. This was a nice encounter, I hope you've been doing well but... goodbye." The door swung shut, leaving poor Arry speechless outside.

     "Delia, who was it?" Laurie questioned, walking over to Delia with concern. "It was nothing, Laurie. No need to worry about it. Let's get back to dinner."

     And with that, Delia soon forgot about this encounter. She has done so well forgetting about Arry. It was time to move on. It's a new day, a new age, a new chapter in her life. It was the beginning of something fantastical.

A U T H O R ' S   N O T E

No body asked for this but I gave it
to y'all anyway :) I felt kind of awkward
leaving this story off on such a sad note
with Beth's death. I guess this is an
improvement.

At first I was gonna leave it off on a
cliffhanger but I decided that it was the
epilogue so I had to sum things up lol.

Thank you so much! You have officially
finished reading this story...? I think, I
hope. I need a breather lol. It's been a
long ride. I love you all, I've said all of
this stuff before, so you're probably tired
of it at this point.

I'm kinda emotional... I don't remember
finishing stories to be this big of a
rollercoaster of emotions. To be fair, the
last time I finished a story was like, a
year ago.

Thank you for just clicking on this story
and deciding to give it a go! It means so
much to me, you don't even know! I'll stop
talking and just end this note off with...
The End.