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Show Nettie, page 3 grandmother's lap to the ground. "Margaret," Papa called. "We're home." Mama was already at the back door and embraced her mother-in-law. Thinking themselves too old for kisses and hugs, Will and Robert shouted their greetings to their grandmother from a safe distance and ran the horses into the barn. Nettie shot into the house calling for Alice and Clarence. "Come see our fat lady, Alice," she called to her sister. "Come to Nettie, love," she crooned to Clarence as she picked him off the floor and escorted both the youngest to see their grandmother. "Jeannette," her mother called warningly. "Be more respectful. It's Grandma, Grandma Peterson!" Grandma Peterson laughed and her heavy body shook all over. "Teh, tch, she's honest, that's all. If that's how she remembers me, then it's better than not being remembered at all." And she smiled at Nettie who yielded up her baby brother to his grandma's waiting arms. The next few hours tumbled themselves after each other in a haze of greetings, hugs, kisses and warm embraces, and relatives coming to share the reunion. The women filled the kitchen concocting delicious foods with tantalizing smells and the men set up a long table in the yard. Grandma Peterson acquainted herself with the newest grandchildren, Clarence and Alice, and Annie's brood, her great-grandchildren. Annie was Nettie's oldest sister. Clarence endeared himself to his Grandma's heart by clinging to her neck and resting his two-year-old head on the soft, amply padded bosom his Grandma so willingly supplied. |
