Whatever the reason eight year old Herb always felt a little skittish inside his great aunt's big cold house He looked forward to the moment their dad would say it was time for his family to pile into the car to head back across town to their own small comfy house It was always a relief to get home This was unfortunate since it sounded like his family family might be moving in to the creaky old mansion Welcome welcome Aunt Lucinda flung open the brick mansion's enormous front door She stepped out onto the front stoop and pulled Herb into a hug squeezing squeezing him so tight that he squeaked a little bit I've missed you so much Herbie muffin Mfff mu too Herb said wriggling out of his great aunt's arms Next Aunt Lucinda turned and kissed Herb's big sister Lucy once on each side of her face Kisses kisses like they do in France ma chérie she announced After offering her great aunt a huge smile and hug in return twelve year old Lucy set to work trying to wipe the bright red lipstick prints off each of her cheeks And look at you Aunt Lucinda gasped stepping across the large covered stone patio She grabbed ten year old Freddy's shoulders before pulling him in for a hug that looked slightly less squeezy than the one Herb had gotten You've grown so much over the summer
You should see my toenails Freddy murmured into Aunt Lucinda's shoulder his voice muffled by the enormous black and silver curly wig Aunt Lucinda had perched atop her head Aunt Lucinda's hair was never the same Herb had noticed She had a seemingly endless endless collection of wigs that she traded out depending on her mood and outfit Herb's dad climbed up the steps and joined his three kids on the mansion's front porch offering his aunt a formal handshake Even though Dad had known Aunt Lucinda his whole life she was his aunt after all Dad always greeted her like she was some distant relative he only saw at weddings and funerals Great Aunt Lucinda took his hand in hers and in a friendly voice said Wally dear How are you Herb giggled No one called their dad Wally except Great Aunt Lucinda Most everyone called him Walter or Professor Peach since he was a geology professor at the university in their hometown of Duluth Minnesota Herb and his two older siblings just called him Dad Dad held out a golden brown peach pie and said It's good to see you We brought a pie He held it aloft and Herb took a quick step back Even looking at pie still made him feel a little bit queasy After spending part of the summer traveling around the country with his family family selling pie out of an old beaten down food truck
Herb was pied out He never wanted to eat pie again in his entire life Oh you shouldn't have Aunt Lucinda said But even as she said it Herb watched her tear off a small piece of the pie's crust and pop it in her mouth She winked at Herb Before their big summer road trip the Peaches had visited Great Aunt Lucinda fairly regularly once a week usually and always brought her some sort of little hostess gift A book a fake plant or comfortable socks with funny sayings on them In exchange Aunt Lucinda cooked the Peach family delicious homemade meals and had endless supplies of chocolate on hand Come in come in she said ushering them inside Before Herb had even taken off his shoes there was an explosion of yaps and barks as four small energetic dogs skidded into the front entryway Their tiny toenails toenails made pat a pat a pat sounds as the dogs raced across the hardwood floors They greeted the Peaches with a lot of barking and jumping and one of the pups even managed to dip his furry snout in the peach pie Aunt Lucinda had carelessly set on a bench just inside the door Dasher Get away from my snack Aunt Lucinda scolded shooing him away Donny Vix Rudy behave Herb plopped down onto the floor and let the dogs
run all over him He hadn't seen Aunt Lucinda's pups in nearly two months not since before his family had left for their monthlong great food truck adventure When they'd finally gotten back to Minnesota at the end of July Aunt Lucinda was away and the pups were at camp which is what their great aunt called the kennel kennel But now that summer was almost over everyone was back home in Duluth and Herb had a lot of missed cuddling and playtime to make up for Truth be told Aunt Lucinda and her dogs were the only things that kept Herb coming back to this big scary mansion Aunt Lucinda had always felt more like a grandma to him than a great aunt Herb's actual grandparents had all passed away long ago and after their mom died of cancer two years earlier Dad's Aunt Lucinda had become an even more important part of the Peaches lives She was the only other family they really had And the pups were an added bonus Herb squirmed around on the wooden floor trying to give equal belly rubs and ear scratches to everyone The four little pups loved Herb and Herb had lots of love to give back The pups climbed over one another eagerly sniffing Herb's face nibbling and tugging at his shirt and poking their noses into his pockets Aunt Lucinda's pack of pups was very naughty but also very sweet
