Page 117 of A Whim and a Prayer

Julia blinked, dishtowel limp as she sidled closer to Mama. “Is Winnie sick, Mama?” she whispered.

Winnie giggled as she hurried over to the pantry to unhook one of many aprons Mama kept there, promptly tying it on. “As a matter of fact, I am, Jewels. Sick of being the brat in the family while you, my sweet sister, are always the angel.”

“Now, Winnie, that’s not true—” Mama dried her hands on her apron before she gave Winnie a quick hug.

Winnie pulled back to arch a brow.

“Okay, well maybe it was a little true”—Mama chuckled as she gave Winnie another tight hug—“but it’s not true anymore. I am so happy to see you in such a wonderful mood, sweetheart,” she whispered in Winnie’s ear, “especially after all you’ve been through today.”

“Well, it’s truly a blessed day, Mama. I just slept two wonderful hours, I have the best mother and father in the whole, wide world, my crazy wonderful family is coming over in an hour and”—she blew Jewels a kiss—“I have a little sister I absolutely adore.” She leaned close to Mama’s ear. “Not to mention I just got my time of the month.”

Mama jerked back with saucer eyes that instantly brimmed with tears. “Oh, Winnie!” Clutching Winnie’s hands, the two of them laughed and jumped up and down, whooping all the way.

Julia’s mouth plunked open as her pale brows pinched up in concern. “Mama … are you okay?”

“More than ‘okay,’ Ju-ju-bug,” Mama said with a giggle, breathing hard as she pressed a palm to her chest. “It’s just a truly blessed day, sweetheart.”

“So!”—Winnie glanced at the clock on the wall before scanning the kitchen—“we’ve got an hour before company comes, and I see umpteen desserts on the counter all ready to go, so what else needs to be done?”

“Well, the deviled eggs are done and in the icebox, and the chicken salad and egg salad are, too, but they still need to be made into sandwiches, so can you start with that, Winnie? Julia, you can finish the dishes while I make up a cold-cut platter.” She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, still a truly beautiful woman even with sweat on her face.

“All I can say,” Mama continued, “is thank God I made most of the desserts and meatballs last week and your aunts are each bringing a finger food, or I would be fit to be tied.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Winnie tugged the bowls of chicken and egg salad from the ice box as she shot a grin over her shoulder. “Because even tied, bound, and gagged, you’d still be the best hostess in the world.”

“Why, thank you, sweetheart,” Mama said with a smug smile before she feigned a scowl that made Winnie laugh. “Now, get to work, you two, so we can put on a real show for the clan.”

And what a show it was! Winnie couldn’t remember having a better time with the family—just one more blessing on a mountain of others.

By the time the last of the family left at ten o’clock, Winnie was whipped, and so were her parents.

“It was a wonderful party, Mama,” Julia said with a sweet yawn, eyes drooping as much as Mama’s and Daddy’s. “Everything’s done, right? So we can all go to bed?”

“Yes, Ju-ju-bug.” Mama picked up a stray potato chip from the living room floor before glancing around with a yawn of her own. “Thanks to you, Daddy, Winnie, and countless aunts and cousins, we are finally ready to go to bed.”

Turning out the lights one by one, Daddy checked the front and back door, then trudged out of the kitchen with a weary look. “I don’t think I’ve been this tired in a long while.”

“I don’t know why, darling—you nodded off through half the game and missed several rounds of poker before I woke you up.” She reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “But the good news is, neither Collin nor Luke won the pot this year.”

“Who did?” Winnie asked with a wide stretch of her arms.

Her mother wiggled her brows. “Alex did, and a worthier winner there has never been.”

“I’ll say,” Daddy said with a wink at Winnie, “we’d owe him a fortune if he wasn’t family.”

“What do you mean, Daddy?” Julia turned on the bottom step of the stairs with a drowsy look that suggested she might be asleep before she even hit the bed.

“I mean,” Daddy emphasized with a pinch of Mama’s waist as they plodded up the stairs, “your mother needs a full-time head-doctor.”

“Mitch!” Mama elbowed Daddy but good while Winnie and Julia laughed.

“Come on, Little Girl, we both know it’s true.”

“Mama?” Winnie worried her lip while Mama turned on the stairs.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

Winnie peered up at her mother with a shy smile. “Will you come kiss me before you go to bed?”