Thankgiving Day

Meet Marlene Pugh Chapter 2

Note: Mrs. Pugh's children and grandchildren were co-created by myself and fellow fan fiction writer Mandalicious for our collaboration Holiday Memories. This story is events in that story from Marlene Pugh's perspective. I own no rights to any characters from Annie.

On Thanksgiving Day Marie burst through my bedroom door at 7:15am and bounced up and down on my bed.

"We're going to see Grandma today!" She squealed happily.

I grinned at her. "I'm just as excited as you are darling. We haven't seen Grandma in awhile."

"I was just a baby when I saw her last I think." Marie said.

I gasped. 'Has it really been that long? Gosh I need to do a better job at staying in touch with Mama.' I thought to myself.

"What's wrong Mama?"

"Nothing, I just can't believe it's been that long since you last saw Grandma. This visit is certainly long over due. Come on sweetheart. Let's hurry up and start getting ready. Uncle Ralph is picking us at quarter of nine. We have a 10:15 train to catch to New York."

"Isn't Daddy coming too?"

I shook my head. "No darling. He got called into work at 5:30 and has to work until 5:00. "

"That's too bad."

"It certainly is."

We ate breakfast, showered and got ready to go. My brother came to pick us up right on the dot at 9:15."

Marie ran to greet him. " Uncle Ralph!"

My brother swept my daughter up in his arms. "Hey squirt. Are you excited to see Grandma today?"

Marie nodded.

"Time's awaisting. Let's head to South Station."

The train ride was about 2 and half hours. A tall balding man met us at the train station.

"Hello. My name is Oliver Warbucks. We're so excited you could join us today for dinner. The limo is waiting out front."

We followed him outside to the limo and loaded our food platters in the trunk.

"Thank you for having us over Mr. Warbucks." Marie said.

Oliver smiled at us in the rearview mirror. "You're welcome dear. We're going to have a lovely afternoon."

The drive to the mansion was only five minutes long. Marie's jaw dropped in shock when we pulled up in the driveway.

"Do you really live here?"

"Close your mouth or you'll attract flies." I scolded.

Oliver chuckled. "It's not a problem. Annie and Molly had that same exact reaction when they first came to live here."

Once we got out of the car and grabbed our platters Marie ran ahead of us up the front steps. The front door opened and my mother stood in the entry way.

"Grandma!"

My mother wore an ear to ear grin. "Hello sweetheart. It's so wonderful to see you!"

Marie gave my mother a tight hug. "Your house is so big Grandma."

My mother chuckled. "It is, isn't it? Let me look at you . Oh my goodness you're getting so big! How old are you now?"

"9. I'll be 10 in March."

My mother's eyes grew misty. "You're growing up so fast and so is Harry. The children are all upstairs playing in Annie's room, why don't you go join them?"

Marie hesitated. "Where am I supposed to go?"

At that very moment a red haired girl appeared at my mother's side.

"Hi I'm Annie. You must be Marie. My mom told my sister and I so much about you. We're all upstairs in my room. Come on, let's go!"

Marie looked at me nervously. "Run along and play sweetheart. You'll be fine." I said.

Annie took Marie by the hand. and led her upstairs. "She's a little shy." I said glancing at my mother apologetically.

My mom kissed me on the head softly and her eyes were misty. " She's growing up so fast Marlene. I feel so horrible for not doing a better job with keeping in touch."

""Don't worry about it Mama. We have so much catching up to do. William couldn't make it unfortunately.. he got called into work at the last minute."

"I'll come down to Boston to see you soon. I promise you. For now come in come in! We're just about to have appetizers!"

Grace appeared in the hallway. "Hello I'm Grace. It's so nice to finally meet you. Mama has told me so much about you and your brothers Marlene.

I smiled. "Thank you so much for inviting us over Grace. It's great to finally meet you too. Your home is lovely and your daughter Annie is a doll."

Grace returned my smile. "Annie is our family's sunshine. She has such a wonderful outlook on life and her energy is absolutely contagious."

We followed my mother and Grace to the kitchen which was filled with people. I hugged my brother Billy and his wife Phyllis right away.

Grace smiled. "Let me introduce you to everyone. These are my sisters Jennifer and Melissa and my inlaws Gene and Anne and Annie's birth parents's brother Toni an Jim"

"Nice to meet you all. All of your children must be upstairs."

"Oliver nodded. "That they are. Jennifer has a son and a daughter. Kathryn is 13 and Jacob is 8. Christopher, Melissa's son is 7. My brother's daughter Bella is 11 and his son Eli is 9... the same age as Marie. Toni and Jim's kids are Margaret and Larry who are 12 and 9 and our twins Joanne and Frederick just turned 3 in September."

"My goodness, you have quite a large family."

Grace smiled. "We do and I'm so happy that all the kids get along so well. Marie and Harry should have no trouble fitting in with them."

My brother Ralph was quiet as if trying to process the names and ages of all the children. From the corner of my eye I saw him steal a glance at Grace's sister Melissa who did not look much older than him. My younger brother is quite the flirt. I was hoping he wasn't cooking up any sort of scheme to become flirtatious with her.

"Ahem." I nudged him gently.

"What?"

"I see you glancing at Melissa.. she's married you know,"

Ralph grunted. "Stop trying to be like Mom Mare. I'm not gonna flirt with her or anything. She's my sister in law for goodness sake."

" I know you too well Ralphie ."

"Let's just have an enjoyable day... all right?"

I nodded. We chatted for awhile. Grace called the children downstairs for dinner around 3:45. My mother was seated between Grace and I at the table. She smiled at both of us and squeezed our hands tightly under the table.

"You two girls are truly a blessing to me. I love you more than anything." she whispered.

Grace and I exchanged a smile. "We love you too Mama.. You're our very best friend." Grace said and we each kissed her check softly.

We left to go home around 6:45. I gave Grace a hug as we left.

"I am so happy we finally met Grace. I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Grace returned my hug tightly. "I feel the same way. We're so happy you could join us today. What are you doing Sunday? We're going to Boston to go Christmas shopping. You and Marie should come with us."

I smiled "Great! It should be a great day."

Marie ran to my mother to kiss her goodbye

"Bye Grandma! Thanks for a great afternoon! I had fun!"

My mother pulled Marie and Harry in on either side of her. "I'm so glad you all came today. It's been such a long time."

Billy kissed my mom on the cheek. "We love you Ma. Don't be a stranger alright? We'll see you soon."

As I tucked Marie into bed she was bubbling over with happiness.

"Mama I had so much fun today. I never know I had so many cousins!"

I smiled at her. "I'm glad you had a good time sweetheart. I told you when you got to Grandma's that you'd have a lot of fun."

"Aunt Grace invited us to go shopping on Sunday. Would you like to go?"

Marie nodded. "Yes! I can't wait to see Annie and Molly again. Is Kathryn coming too?"

"Yes. Grandma is coming also. It will be a nice girls day out for all of us."

"Mama am I ever going to have a little brother or sister? Sometimes I get pretty lonely."

"I hope so sweetheart. You would be a wonderful big sister."

"I love you Mama."

"I love you too angel."

I went to bed incredibly happy that night. Grace was the sister I had been waiting my entire life for. I was so happy to finally meet her and have her be part of my life.