My three older granddaughters, Evan, Kasia and Little Mary clearly understood who Rudy was but Ursula had just turned two and I wondered if she actually knew who I was much less that Rudy was new to the picture. I think she understood how he fit in the line up, after all, her other grandmother comes with a grandfather.
Kasia and Little Mary were talkative on the drive from Tampa to Dunedin. Ursula sat smiling quietly in her car seat next to me and once in a while she peered around at Rudy who was sitting shotgun.
At home the girls showed us their rooms and toys and chattered nonstop. Ursula followed us and put in the occasional shy word. Finally we settled down in the dining room to relax and chat a bit. I don’t think any of us noticed Ursula had not joined us.
Suddenly, a tiny vision in a diaphanous mint green dress and black-gold beaded headpiece slid quietly into the room. She handed her sister, Kasia, a cd and waited for the music to begin.
Head down and hands in front of her, Ursula began to dance. Her tiny bare feet patted the floor as she moved sideways across the room. She raised her arms over her blond head and twirled. She swayed; she lifted first one leg then the other. She glanced upward, she glanced to the left then the right; she moved to the music. That baby worked that room like Salome dancing for the head of John the Baptist. She turned and pirouetted with the ancient awkwardness reserved for baby femme fatales. The beads on her headdress clicked as she spun. She held the tip of her tiny pink tongue between her teeth and concentrated on her next move. She whirled, she circled the room and suddenly I realized… she was dancing for only one person! Rudy! My new husband! She clutched her little hands firmly then threw them wide as she approached the object of her desire. Finally, she turned, glanced over her shoulder and gave him her most dazzling smile! He smiled back. She placed a miniature elbow on his knee and he gently adjusted her headdress. Not a word passed between them. He picked her up and put her on his knee. Breathless, she whispered, “Hi Guppy,” sighed and leaned back on his chest.
In that moment I knew I had lost my husband to my youngest granddaughter.
