Nancy walked into the kitchen to see Laura pull a turkey from the
oven. As Nancy waked over Laura basted the turkey back in the oven and
reset the timer.
" Nancy go in the refrigerator. On the middle shelf you'll see a
covered bowl. There's dough for rolls in there. Could you roll it out
on the counter over there. Place the rolls on the baking sheet."
Nancy nodded and set about her task. As she worked the dough, she
realized she underestimated the work she and her father made for
Hannah. This was hard work she realized as she formed the knots and
placed them on the tray.
" No no!" Gertrude yelled looking at the rolls. She had just entered
the kitchen, and unfortunately for Nancy the first she noticed was
Nancy's rolls. "
Nancy jumped surprised. She hadn't been paying Gertrude any attention.
She was rolling and making rolls just as Hannah would at home.
" Who taught you how to make buns?" Gertrude scolded going over to
undo Nancy's work.
" Don't." Nancy warned. She turned to Laura. "This is how Hannah does
it. " Nancy explained.
" They look good. " Laura answered overruling Gertrude.
"Well, I don't know if there will be enough they're so big." Gertrude
complained.
" They're fine." Laura stated finally ending the argument.
Laura reached in the refrigerator and took out salad ingredients. She
figured if Gertrude was in the kitchen that meant she was going to help.
Usually in Christmases past Gertrude had done more advising then
actual work. Laura usually didn't care, but insulting Nancy was
another thing entirely.
"Here you go Gertrude. Laura handed a bunch of vegetables with a
cutting board and knife to her.
" What is this ?" asked Gertrude surprised. She usually watched just
in case, but left the dinner preparation to her sister-in-law.
" That's the salad once you clean and chop everything." Laura
volunteered.
" Well, there's no place for me to...."
Laura cleared space on the table and motioned for Gertrude.
Gertrude sighed defeated. She could tell her sister-in-law was mad.
She still thought the dinner rolls were too large, but realized Laura
thought otherwise.
Gertrude silently attacked the head of lettuce with the chopping
knife. She knew Laura was angry, but an adult should never be
corrected in front of one of the kids.
Laura sometimes wondered at the nerve of her sister-in-law. Berating
Nancy like a child, when she herself had offered no help.
Frank and Joe came back into the house an hour later. Both men came
stomping into the kitchen sitting at the table.
Laura put the kettle on the stove to heat water for cocoa. Both were
rosy cheeked from the cold.
Nancy had to laugh as she approached with two mugs of chocolate. Both
boys had severe cases of hat head. She couldn't help it, and ran her
hands through both boys heads.
" Hey, what...!". Joe yelled.
Frank just looked at her curious.
" Nice hat head both of you." She laughed and went to help Laura take
the rolls from the oven.
Laura took the turkey from the oven and basted it once more. There
were two pies cooling on the counter.
Joe got up and went over to the pies.
" Oh, no you don't buster." Laura warned.
" Mooom, " Joe groaned. "We worked all morning shoveling. We need
sustenance to rebuild our strength."
Frank just roiled his eyes and looked at Nancy, while sipping
chocolate from his mug. She smiled and set the rolls down on the table
to cool.
From the front room they heard the doorbell ring.
" Joe get that. That's probably Vanessa and her Mom." Laura told him.
Joe bounded through the kitchen door without a word. Nancy laughed
out loud.
" He can really move when he wants." Laura noted amused.
" It's all about the motivation." Frank answered.
That brought a huge laugh from both women.