Gracie

"I'm going to marry Gabe!" Gracie proudly proclaimed as she shoved more food into her mouth with her spoon. Gabe rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand as his eyebrows lifted helplessly.

Ily laughed, "Sweety, you can't marry your brother. You marry someone you love."

"But I DO love Gabe. And I'm going to marry him."

"Gracie..." Gabe started, but Ily's laugh cut him off.

"Poor Alberta. You have competition!" Ily laughed again.


Alberta raised her eyebrows and glanced over at Gabe who shrugged with a small smile.


"Gracie, are you done?" Gabe stood to pick her up. "It's almost time for the grown ups to have dinner."

"All done!" She raised her hands in the air in a practiced move so that Gabe could put his hands under her arms and lift her out. Once Gabe had her partly up with both his hands, Gracie reached out and grabbed his nose. "Got your nose!"


Ily moved from the head chair to a chair across from Alberta. The flash of movement and Ily's small smile caught Alberta's attention before she glanced away again pretending to peek over at the kitchen.


She could hear Rich, in the kitchen, grabbing dinner plates which clacked against each other. Another surprise for Alberta was to find that Rich could also cook.

Gabe's parents would be home soon. They would sit at this table soon. They'd see Alberta sitting at their table soon.

Alberta closed her eyes and gathered her strength.

*********************

Sorry about there not being a lot of pics of Gracie. When I took the pictures, Gracie was not my focus-- the older kids were. But when I wrote it, it sort of came out this way. (I wondered why Alberta and Gabe looked so uncomfortable.) I imagine that Gracie is about 4 years old. She's almost ready to go to school, and I'm contemplating sending her off to school in the fall.

The whole "going to marry my brother" thing is a tribute to my niece, who once insisted that she was going to marry her older brother. For like a month. Even after we explained to her how it works.

But in this case, even though to Gabe she's a little sister, they aren't actually related. Poor Gabe. I thought it would be too cruel (and unrealistic) for Gracie to understand that he was adopted and what that means. She just really loves him because he dotes on her more than Rich.

It's still kind of a cruel reminder though, if you think about it.