Niece

• Ms. Mush is three and proud of herself. She will tell you that when it was her birthday her Mum made a cake. It was in the shape of a flower, and iced in pink and yellow. She picked the colors herself and they matched the party plates.

  She always pretends not to know what all the fuss is for but she is three and she knows exactly what's going on. Her high voice chirps nonstop and she is a smiler. Also she is spoiled and we say it like it's okay.

• I have already told you about the punklin but here is more. She is two and full of twinkles. She will tell you that her pajamas are red and they have pictures on them and she will come running to show you this in the morning like the best sort of wakeup call.

  Hannah is her baby and not yet one, she cries when the punklin leaves the room. When they grow up I would like the two of them to be sisters like Sara and I are. Easy need and talkative.

• Moose is five and smart smart smart. She will tell you things like the best way to take toys away from her sisters, and that you need to give them something else to distract them. This never works but one day it will when she learns to be smooth about her sneakiness.

  Rikki is three and adores her big sister. She will tell you about her Red Hair Just Like Moose and Just Like Daddy and she is soft plump CUDDLY. She needs to be watched because she almost smothers the baby with her blanky. The baby is 2 months and it is too soon to see whether her hair will be red like her sisters.

• I have told you about Mickie too and she is special because she is the oldest, the first. She is responsible and in Third Grade and Wears Glasses and this never ceases to amaze me. She is beautiful. She will tell you about Hinny is four and a blabmouth. She talks nonstop from waking to sleeping (like me) and it is still cute for her. We will have to discuss things like appropriateness and restraint when she gets older.

• Miss Em is 7 and going on 13. Responsible and full of wisdom words. Her sister D.L. is five and she is Tough. We pretend to blame her fighting spirit on her orange orange hair but really we are proud of it. She sports plastic surgery scars so gracefully that we forget they are there, and this is her gift to us. Her mouth is beautiful and We Do Not Care. Still, her mother counts all her babies' toes and fingers and checks their chins when she meets them new.

Niece (?), n. [OE. nece, F. niece, LL. neptia, for L. neptis a granddaughter, niece, akin to nepos. See Nephew.]

1.

A relative, in general; especially, a descendant, whether male or female; a granddaughter or a grandson.

B. Jonson. Wyclif. Shak.

2.

A daughter of one's brother or sister, or of one's brother-in-law or sister-in-law.

© Webster 1913.