Near the beginning of the book, the girls wake up on Christmas morning to discover that their mother is not home. They know that she will be back shortly and are excited about giving her the gifts they have picked out in the beginning of the book, and they are looking forward to making and eating breakfast. They miss their father but are grateful to have one another as well as the food and gifts that they do have, even if it isn’t as much as they would like. They open the books that their mother left for them underneath their pillows and begin to make breakfast.

A short time later, their mother returns home and says that she has been at the house of a poor family nearby, the Hummels. Marmee tells them that the family has nothing; they are cold and hungry and have nothing to eat on Christmas morning. Although the girls are disappointed to give up their breakfast, they are ultimately happy to be sharing what they have and providing another family with a Christmas morning meal. The girls pack up their breakfast and bring it to the family so that they may have a warm and delicious meal on Christmas morning.

Later on in the book, the girls grow less diligent about visiting the Hummels, though Marmee has asked that they visit the family every day. Beth asks that another sister take a turn visiting the Hummels, but they are all too wrapped up in other things, so Beth visits by herself. When she comes home, she reports that the Hummel baby has died from scarlet fever. Beth ends up contracting scarlet fever from the Hummels and eventually dies from the disease.