"Tell me about the dishes," Peggy asked, tucking the afghan around her feet. "Tell me about the red dishes you bought Mama when she married Daddy Joe." She opened the notebook, pen poised expectantly.

Grampa snorted, his cheeks sucking in sharply. "Oh, your Mama...she liked to broke my heart when she runned off with your daddy. She was my only girl, my little baby. I knowed I oughtn't, but I guess I loved her a little more than I loved your Uncle Carl. She looked so much like my dead sister Martha, an', of course, I almost lost both your Gramma and your Mama...Louisa had such a hard time with babies. Your mama comed early, too. In the spring, it was, and the rains were so hard. Well, Louisa went into labor the same day the crick overflowed. Weren't no cars could go over the bridge, so I runned over to my cousin Hank's to borry his horse and wagon. The horse could swim if the water was too deep, but no car could get over the bridge, it bein' underwater an' all.

"Hank, he hitched up that horse and found some canvas that we could put over the back of the wagon so the rain wouldn't drown Louisa. It was just an old hay wagon we used, and we throwed all the quilts we could find in the back, tryin to make it soft for Louisa. Alberta, that's Hank's wife, she rode in back with Louisa an held her hand. I could hear Louisa moanin, and Alberta would holler, 'Mac! Whip that horse! This baby's comin!'

"Well, your mama waited until we got to the hospital before she popped out. Louisa lost a lot of blood, though, and your mama was so tiny. The doctors didn't know if either one of them would make it. I thought I was gonna lose them both.

"The rains quit and the sun come out. I'd been at the hospital for three days, but I didn't know it. I was in the waiting room when I saw Brother Taylor, the preacher, walkin down the hall to me. He was carryin an Easter Lily in a pot. I started cryin, thinkin they'd sent him to tell me that Louisa or your mama had died. He put the lily down and hugged me, sayin, 'Brother Hamilton, the doctors tell me that your wife is doin' fine an' that your new baby girl is doin' fine! We've all been prayin' for them, and God has answered our prayers!'

"He pointed to the lily and told me it was Easter Sunday, the day that Jesus rose from the dead to save us all. He told me that I should always remember that God had given me my wife and daughter back from death. That's why I named your Mama Lily, so I'd always remember."

Grampa fell silent, staring at the ceiling.

"The dishes, Grampa," Peggy prompted.

"I'm gettin' there, I'm gettin' there. Well, your Mama started datin' that Joe Cunningham when she was sixteen. Joe, he was a wild one, he was. I know he's your daddy, Peggy, but he wasn't the boy I wanted for my little girl. I know he's smart, but he was always restless, always movin' like he had to get to someplace better. I just knew that he'd break Lily's heart, but oh, Lily wouldn't listen, no. No, she had her heart set on Joe Cunningham, and Joe Cunningham she had to have. Louisa an I fought with her about it, we told her that Joe couldn't make her a good husband. You know, Joe's daddy died when Joe wasn't but fourteen, left Joe an your Aunt Elaine an your Uncle Jack alone, 'cause your Gramma Cunningham just fell apart. I knew there was bad blood in Joe, unstable on your Gramma Cunningham's side. You know, they had your Gramma Cunningham locked away for fifteen years, they did. Those kids were parceled out to relatives, an' Joe just never got over it. Oh, we begged Lily to stop seein' him, but the more we pushed, the stubborner she got..."

Peggy knew the story, had heard it all her life. She could picture it, like a play, in her mind.

Louisa was sitting at the kitchen table crying, her hand covering her mouth to muffle her sobs. Mac stood helplessly in the doorway, clutching his steel lunch box.

"Louisa? What's wrong? What's happened?"

"It's Lily," Louisa gulped, pushing a piece of paper across the table to him. "She's run off with that Joe Cunningham to get married."

Mac sat down and read the note, his lips moving. "She's gettin' married?" He dropped the note, looking over at Louisa. His eyes looked unfocused, as if he'd just been stunned by an unexpected slap. "She can't get married, she's only 17. She's just a baby."

"They can get married in Danville," Louisa reminded him. She started crying again. "She's gettin married an her an Joe are gonna live in Indianapolis with Joe's Aunt an Uncle. That's so far, Mac. We don't hardly get up to the city, we won't hardly see her."

"Maybe that's what she wants," Mac mumbled.

"I never knowed why your mama felt that way, Peggy," Grampa continued. "But she just runned off like she didn't want to be around us."

"Grampa," Peggy protested, "Mama didn't want to leave you and Gramma. She just wanted to be married to Daddy."

"I guess...all I know is that your Gramma an I was hurting bad. Lily called us after her an' Joe got back from Kentucky...that's where they went on their honeymoon, you know. She called an invited Louisa an I up for the weekend. She said that her an Joe had found a little house to rent on the Southside of Indianapolis, an they had an extry bedroom for us.

"Well, when we got there, they didn't have hardly anything else. They had found a sofa at a garage sale, an they'd gone through your great-gramma's attic an' borryed some chairs and a kitchen table from her. But it was just sad lookin', real sad."

Lily set the table carefully, chattering away to Louisa. "Joe's Gramma gave us these dishes, she had them when she married Grampa LLoyd. They're awful chipped, but I figured Joe and I can get our own after we save up some money."

"You want me to get the silverware out?" Louisa volunteered. She pulled open a drawer by the sink. "My heavens, Lily, where'd you find these?"

Lily flushed. "Oh, some of them came from Gramma's, and Joe's aunt and uncle gave us some of their old stuff. Isn't it awful? Nothing matches." She giggled sheepishly. "Wait till you see the glasses. There aren't any two the same color, and all of our juice glasses are jelly glasses."

Louisa pursed her lips, saying nothing as she put the silverware on the table. All of the utensils were thin pieces, like those found in cheap diners. The tines on most of the forks were bent, spoon bowls were dented, and the knives were strictly for show, not for cutting. Louisa had met Joe's family before, she knew that they had money. She couldn't understand why they couldn't have given Joe and Lily something a little nicer, or at least something newer.

Lily flushed again as she watched Louisa pulling the glasses down from the cabinet. The silence was awkward as they waltzed around each other in the kitchen. "I'm really glad you and Daddy could come up," Lily finally offered.

"I am too," Louisa answered. She looked around the kitchen. "I wanted to see where you an' Joe was living."

Lily put a few hot pads on the table. "I don't have any serving dishes, we'll have to dish out of the pans." She and Louisa carried the pans over to the table. Lily called out, "Joe? Daddy? Dinner's ready."

Joe and Mac walked in from the living room. Mac's expression mirrored Louisa's, the pursed lips and set jaw. "Joe and I was listening to the game on your radio," he said. "He seems to think that Cincinnati doesn't have that good a team this year."

Lily frowned at Joe. "Oh, Daddy, Joe doesn't really follow baseball. Basketball's more to his liking. You know, before Joe's Daddy died, they lived in the same neighborhood as Oscar Robertson."

"Well, I'm not much into basketball. All the Hamilton men are baseball fans. You remember, Lily, your Grampa Jake, my Daddy, he played for Cincinnati. They've always had a good team, 'least as long as they had a decent coach."

Louisa began dishing food on to Mac's plate. "Here, Mac," she said, "This is Lily's first company dinner. Eat up."

"Company, huh?" Mac grumped. "Good God, what does your every day dishes look like?"

"We're just starting out, Daddy," Lily protested. "We got these things from Joe's family, until we can get our own."

"Your people couldn't give you nothing better than what they'd toss into the garbage?" Mac asked Joe. "I wouldn't feed a dog on these dishes."

Lily burst into tears. "Daddy, why are you being so mean? You and Mama haven't hardly said one nice thing since you got here. Mama complained about the silverware and you're complaining about the plates. Can't you just be happy for me?" She ran out of the room, sobbing.

Joe stared down at his plate, silent. "Lily was really looking forward to your visit," he finally said. "She was scared that you'd still be mad at her for running away with me, though. I guess you are." He pushed his chair back and followed the sound of Lily's sobs.

Louisa and Mac stared at each other. "I didn't mean to upset her," Mac said plaintively. "I didn't mean to hurt Lily, I just thought Joe's people could afford better."

"I know," Louisa sighed. "But I don't think Joe's family's got much charity in them. You know, when Joe was living with his aunt back home, I never once saw him in new clothes, just his cousin's hand-me-downs." She shook her head. "Lily's going to have a hard time with them."

Joe and Lily reappeared in the doorway. "I'm sorry I ran out like that," Lily said unsteadily. "That wasn't very gracious of me, was it?" She sat back down at the foot of the small table, Joe resuming his place at the head.

"I'm sorry, too," Mac said, patting her hand awkwardly. "It's just hard to see my little girl..." he flinched as Louisa kicked him under the table. "...all grown up, I guess."

Dinner, like the rest of the evening, passed with stilted conversation. Lily showed Louisa and Mac to the spare bedroom before following Joe into their own room. She blushed a little as she closed the door. "I feel funny," she whispered to Joe. "I feel like I'm doing something bad, with my Mama and Daddy here."

Joe kissed her on the cheek. "Well, we just won't do anything while they're here," he promised. "Your daddy would probably just take me apart if we did, even if we are married."

Lily giggled. "He's going to know we did something when the baby comes."

"Then he really will take me apart," Joe said. "'Cause we weren't married then."

"Do you think they're still mad at me for running off?" Lily asked.

"They came, didn't they? It'll be okay, Lily. You worry too much."

"Mama always wanted me to have a big wedding, like Carl and his wife had," Lily said wistfully. "I feel bad that I cheated her out of it."

"You worry too much," Joe repeated. "Go to sleep."

Mac was gone when Lily woke up the next morning. Louisa had already made some coffee and was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Where'd Daddy go?" Lily asked, yawning. She ignored the coffee, which made her already sensitive stomach twitch threateningly. She got some milk from the refrigerator and poured some into a plastic tumbler.

"Oh, he had some things to do while we're in the city," Louisa said. "When did you start drinking milk for breakfast? You don't like milk."

Lily flushed. "Well, my stomach's been acting up lately. The milk kind of calms it down."

Louisa stared hard at her, her lips a thin line. "I see," she said abruptly. "That's why you and Joe ran off, isn't it?"

"Because my stomach's upset? Mama, what's that got to do with anything?" Lily hedged.

"No, your stomach's upset because you're going to have a baby. That's why you and Joe ran off to get married instead of waiting."

Lily sat down heavily at the table. "Yes," she said, her voice soft and scared.

"You could have told your Daddy an' me," Louisa said sharply. "We still could have given you a wedding. Brother Taylor could have done the ceremony."

"I was afraid of what you an' Daddy would say," Lily whispered. Her hand rested over her stomach, fingers lightly caressing it. "I was afraid...I was just afraid, Mama. I was afraid you'd think I was a bad girl, like you used to talk about Lyons girl who had to get married."

"You didn't think your Daddy and I would figure it out when the baby comes?"

"Well, I knew you would...but I figured you'd be so happy about the baby that you wouldn't be mad. And besides, Joe and I are married now." Lily explained earnestly. "Your first grandchild! Think about it, Mama, you're going to be a grandma."

"Eileen is pregnant, too," Louisa informed her. "Her an' Carl told us right after you ran away. Her baby's due in January."

"Oh." Lily leaned back. "Mine isn't due until March. I guess it won't be your first grandchild."

"Well," Louisa sighed, "it's still your first baby, even if it's not the first grandbaby." She smiled at Lily. "Have you thought about names?"

"Well, Joe Jr. if it's a boy," Lily said. "And for a girl, we thought about Margarete for your mother...but we can't decide on a middle name." She giggled. "Joe thought we should use his mama's name as a middle name, but do you know what that is?" Louisa shook her head. "Ethel! Isn't that awful! I told him that no daughter of mine was going to be called Ethel!"

"I don't think I'll say anything to your daddy just yet," Louisa said unexpectedly. "He's been so upset about your running off, I don't think I'll add to it. We'll just wait."

Lily bit her lip, no longer giggling. "Will he be real mad?" she asked softly.

Louisa shrugged. "I don't know, honey. He might, and then he just might be real happy about the baby. I just don't know."

"Mama," Lily whispered, "Do you still love me?" She looked down at her lap, at her hands cradling her belly.

"Yes, Lily, I still love you. You'll always be my daughter and I'll always love you."

Mac pounded on the back door, peering through the little window. "I got my hands full!" he yelled. "Open the door for me!"

Lily ran to the door, flinging it open. Mac staggered in, weighed down by a heavy, foil wrapped box. He placed it gently on the table, then turned to face Lily. "I got you a wedding present," he said proudly. "Now, I didn't wrap it, I had the store wrap it up real fancy for you. See?" He lightly touched the center of the box, "They even put a bell on it, 'cause I told them it was for my little girl's wedding."

"Oh, Daddy, it's beautiful!" Lily marveled. "Is that where you went? Out shopping?"

Mac nodded, clearing his throat. "I went downtown to L.S. Ayres," he told her, "And I picked it out and asked them to wrap it." He shifted from foot to foot. "You know, Lily, your mama usually does the shopping..." Louisa snorted at that. "Well, okay, your mama always does the shopping, but it just broke my heart when I realized that you hadn't got no wedding presents. I just thought you should have one, that's all."

Lily sniffled, still touching the bow. "It's beautiful. I'm going to open it now. Joe won't mind." She started tugging on the ribbon.

"Now, remember, if you break that ribbon, it means you'll have a baby." Mac teased her. "An' I'm looking forward to being a Grampa, so you just snap that right off of there."

Lily tugged sharply at the ribbon, breaking it cleanly. She looked at Louisa, holding the broken ribbon in her hand. "Well, Mama," she said evenly, "Looks like I'll be having a baby."

Louisa nodded. "Looks like."

Lily set the bow and bell aside, then ripped the paper off. The plain white box gave no clue to what was inside; when she lifted the lid, tissue paper still hid the contents. She poked her finger down into the tissue, then looked at Mac, smiling. "Dishes? Daddy, did you buy me dishes?" She teased the tissue out gently, careful not to drag out anything with it. "Mama, look at these! Daddy bought me dishes and they're beautiful!" She held up a plate; it was like her mother's blue Currer and Ives dishes, but it was red instead of blue. The edge was gently scalloped, giving the impression of a painted doily. "Oh Daddy, I love them!"