What happens in the Walker House, the day before Christmas Eve

"Stop crying, mother."Mother always cries that she can't see her sisters and friends. She cries that she can't ride down the LIE or the Belt Parkway. She cries that she can't see Ms. Lee or Pam for the holiday. She cries at the little births that she has missed, being down here in NC. Stoney is talking already and Netties tummy is bulging something aweful, I hear. She cries that Santa doesn't have a big enough sleigh to carry her to her loved ones' chimneys. She cries that she hates skype and the phone and will only be comforted when she has her baby nephew in her arms to bite him sorely, as we do. We get ready for church and the children bid their mother not to cry.