Their marriage is intended to be a spiritual one, with Bhaer acting as Jo's guide and mentor. When Jo first arrives in Boston, she and Laurie meet again while Laurie is visiting friends in town. After hearing that Jo has no family except for a cruel mother who threw her out when she got married, Laurie offers to become Jo's sister. The two women travel together to Michigan, where Laurie lives with her husband's parents. There they find work as teachers at a girls' school called St. Agatha's. Laurie and Jo develop a close friendship that changes Laura's life forever. When Laurie learns that she is pregnant, she asks Jo if she will be her wife. Without hesitation, Jo says yes, and the two women are married by a priest in a church near Laurie's home in Massachusetts. After the wedding, Jo goes back to teach school while Laurie stays in Michigan to have her baby. When Laurie returns to school, she finds a new friend in a young girl named Nancy Bennet, who becomes like a daughter to her.