adeline // t.laurence

act 1 - scene 2

Christmas morning in the March house is full of chaos. All of the March sisters - besides Jo - are decorating the home, adorning the walls and fireplaces and stairs with garlands and mistletoe, throwing popcorn at each other more often than putting it on a string.

"Jo! Jo, where are you?" Meg calls up the stairs, not entirely surprised her sister hadn't yet come downstairs, or even woken from her slumber.

"Do you like these garlands?" Amy asked, holding them up for all to see.

Adeline was in the dining room, helping Hannah with the dough for the bread rolls and sweets.  She looked up at Amy's question, smiling and nodding. "They're beautiful!" Beth gasped, 

"Merry Christmas!" Jo announced as she barreled down the stairs, Amy shouting back a "Merry Christmas!" as she strung another garland on the window above the sofa, turning to consult Beth on the positioning of it. Lin immediately abandoning the dough she was rolling out to hug her sister. "Jeez. Morning, Linnie." Jo smiled, patting her on the head. 

"We've been up for hours!" "Have you been writing again?" Jo had pages of writing in her hands, and her sisters perked up. "I got carried away with our delicious revenge play last night. Poison!"

Amy groaned, sinking into the couch, "No! No poison, it's Christmas!" she looked to Lin, desperate for backup, but her older sister shrugged, just as Jo laid down on the floor, tucking one of the pillows from the sofa behind her head, "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents." 

"It's so dreadful being poor." Meg spoke as she pulled her needle through whatever it was she was working on.

"It's not fair that some girls to have lots of pretty things and other girls have nothing at all."

"We hardly have nothing." Lin spoke, giving a pointed look to the blonde. Beth tugged her closer by the hand, having her sit on the floor next to her. "At least we have father and mother, and each other." she added to Lin's previous statement, leaning her head on her shoulder.

Jo looked so sad, "We haven't got father. And we won't have him for as long as this war drags on."

"I wish I had heaps of money and plenty of servants so I never had to work again." Jo piped up, "You could be a proper actress on the boards! They aren't all fallen women." Meg rolled her eyes, smiling, "I can't be an actress!"

Amy stood on the couch, waving her arms about as though she were a graceful ballerina, "I have lots of wishes, but my favorite one is to be an artist in Paris and do fine pictures and be the best painter in the world."

"That's what you want too, isn't it Jo? To be a famous writer?" Beth asked, fiddling with her doll. Jo crawled over, "Yes, but it sounds so crass when she says it."

"Jo, that's rude." Lin said, Jo sticking out her tongue in response.

"Why be ashamed of what you want?" Amy said, her arms limp at her sides now. 

"I'm not!"

Beth placed her doll on the table gently, wrapping her arms around her two sisters-who she was sandwiched between. "My wish is to have us all to be together with father and mother in this house - thats what I want."

Amy huffed, plopping down into a chair, "Beth is perfect."

"What about your music, Queen Bess?"

"I only do that for us. I don't need anyone else to hear it." her skin was tinted pink.

"You must not limit yourself."