Multigenerational
I sat in the rocker for long hours. And I watched Elsie care for her babies. She washed them with her tongue. She lay on her side and fed them. She nudged them over on their backs to clean them...
Three times a day, I put five of the puppies in the basket. Then I let the little runt feed by herself. Once a day I held her in my arms and fed her a bottle. It was special milk from the vet. The little runt got stronger every day.
We're hot and red-faced and breathless and when we see Dexter we both start to laugh.
"You too, Dexter," Mean Megan says. "You have to dance too."
I say, "Dex too."
Maybe Dexter is too stunned to say no, because she starts making her pretty swan movements while I snap my fingers and stomp my feet and Megan grooves and swerves her head around and makes her hip-hop moves. Mom and Dad stand in the doorway of the den, watching us and saying nothing.