human
Honor, _dear_! You--you mustn't, really----
gpt
Don't _you_, Muzzie? Don't you like him better? the child wanted persistently to know.
human
He was very nice, of course; I did like him awfully. But he was always 'way off Down Town ... at The Office. We didn't have any fun with him. Stepper's always home. I'm glad we married a newspaper one this time.
gpt
Stephen, that dreadful name.... What will people think?
human
Let's see, Honor. 'Stepfather' as a salutation sounds rather accusing, doesn't it? 'Step-pa,' now, is less austere, but----
gpt
Oh, Stephen, _dear_!
human
I've got it! It's an inspiration! 'Stepper!' Neat, crisp, brisk. Means, if any one should ask you, 'Step-pa' and also, literally, stepper; a stepper; one who steps--into another's place.
gpt
Well, haven't I, my dear? He considered the three young Carmodys, nine, seven, and five.
human
Steps yourselves, aren't you? Honor's the top step and----
gpt
Oh, Stepper, call me Top Step! I like that.
human
Right. And Billy's Bottom Step and Ted's the Tweeny! Now we're all set!
gpt
Yes, said Honor, contentedly. She herded her little brothers out of the room and came back alone.
human
But--what'll I tell people you _are_?
gpt
Why, I think, he considered,
human
I mean, are you Muzzie's step-husband, too?
gpt
No. _No._ I am your moth--I am her husband. There is no step there. He got up and walked over to where his wife was sitting and towered over her. He was a tall man and he looked especially tall at that moment.
human
Her plain--husband. Extremely plain, as it happens --he was himself again for an instant--
gpt
It seemed to the child that he had forgotten which one of them had asked him the question and was addressing himself to her mother by mistake. He seemed at once angry and demanding and anxious, and she had never seen her mother so pink. However, her question had been answered and she had affairs of her own. She went away without a backward glance so she did not see her stepfather drop to his knees beside the chair and gather the quiet woman roughly into his arms, nor hear his insistent voice.
human
Her husband. The _first--husband--she--ever had. Say it, Mildred. Say it._