Little House on the Prairie Prequel Story. "Mary."

Chapter Six

Laura narrates: "Another month goes by and Mary continues to show great progress as Ma continues to work with her despite how her father feels. But the long hours teaching, tutoring Mary, and keeping up with the other students' assignments start to weigh heavy on Ma. But her love and compassion for Mary kept her going."

One night, back at their cabin in the Big Woods, Charles wakes up to find Caroline missing next to him. He looks up and notices the glow of the lamp and sees Caroline up at the table. He gets up and goes over to her. "Caroline?" She turns and sees him and then says to him, tiredly. "Oh. Charles. I hope I didn't disturb you." He walks over to her as he responds. "Nevermind about me, what are you doing up so late?" He takes a seat next to her as she replies. "Oh, there were some more papers I needed to grade and I thought I would get them over with."

Charles looks at her puzzled as he says. "In the middle of the night?" Caroline then gives a guilty expression as she says. "Well, I couldn't sleep anyway." He places his hand on her back as he says to her. "You're still worried about Mary, aren't you?" She sighs as she responds. "Yes. It just pains me to see how much her father just doesn't seem to want to make any effort to connect with her." Charles then tells her. "Well. Some people just don't want to ever change I guess." Caroline then says to him in frustration. "But it isn't right and it isn't fair to Mary." "I know." Charles says as he rubs her back. "But you tried. The best thing you can do now at this point for that man is pray for him." Caroline sighs and says. "He makes it so hard." He smirks. "But I will." She then squints her eyes and puts her hand up to her forehead. Charles looks at her in concern as he asks. "Hey, you alright?" "Yeah. I just have a bit of a headache." She replies.

He then turns her head to face him and he notices the dark circles under her eyes. Charles then says to her in concern. "Caroline, you look exhausted." "I'm fine." She says. Charles responds with. "You don't look fine, Caroline." "I am. It's just been a little difficult keeping up with Mary's assignments and the other students, that's all." She explains. Charles then tells her. "You've been working yourself too hard. You need to slow down. It's not good for you, and it's not good for the baby. You need to think of taking care of yourself too, Caroline." Caroline then says to him. "Charles, I'm fine, really. It's only for a couple more weeks. I can handle it. I can't give up on Mary now, she needs me." He sighs and says. "Alright. But if this gets worse, I'm gonna put a stop to it. I have to think about what's best for you and the baby. So, please try to slow down, not just for your sake, but for the baby's. Alright?" She nods. "Alright." "Okay. Starting right now." He says and closes the book in front of her. "You need your rest. Come on." He helps her out of the chair and leads her back to bed.

The following week, an exhausted looking Caroline is back in the classroom writing some arithmetic problems on the blackboard. She stops suddenly when she begins to feel some discomfort, but then gets back to writing down the problems again. She puts the chalk down and turns to face the class and says to them. "Alright, class, I've placed some arithmetic problems on the board. Are there any volunteers who would like to come solve them, please?" A few students raise their hands and Caroline calls on them. "Samantha, Henry, and Mary." They each get up and go to the blackboard.

As the students are solving the problems, Caroline begins to feel a little faint. She leans against the wall and tries to compose herself. Mary takes notice and says to her. "Mrs. Ingalls? Are you alright?" She gives her a weary smile as she responds. "Yes, Mary, I'm fine. Just focus on trying to solve that problem now, please." Mary turns back to the blackboard. Caroline then begins to feel a slight pain. She winces as she bends over slightly with her hand over her middle in fear of what it means. She slowly starts to panic as she whispers. "No, no, it can't be, it's too soon." Mary looks at her. "Mrs. Ingalls?" Caroline starts to become lightheaded and the room starts spinning around her and she then collapses onto the floor. The students all gasp. Mary goes to her and shakes her shoulder. "Mrs. Ingalls!?" Samantha then shouts out. "Somebody get a doctor, quick!" Mary quickly gets up and runs out of the room fast.