Emma

"Emma lay very still, her eyes tightly closed. Sometimes - if she concentrated - she could make out her Momma's face.
She was the youngest child of eighteen. She had barely been two when her beloved Momma died. Papa had managed to keep body and soul together for a little more than a year, not an easy task with four little ones underfoot. The older children had been a help to him, especially Betsy and Maggie. The bigger boys had helped with the farm's never-ending chores, but it was never enough.
Papa was different. Losing Momma had hurt him deeply. His gentle eyes were sad. Even when he had given her horsey rides, his smile had never quite reached his eyes.
Emma supposed they shouldn't have been surprised when Papa had come home one day and brought them a new 'mother.' Honestly, her memories of that day were fuzzy. She knew much of what she recalled was from what the older children had said in hushed voices behind 'Mother's' back.
No one had wanted Papa to be sad, but why did she have to be their new mother?"

Based on her maternal great-grandmother and some of the events in her life, much of the story is fiction. However, there are threads of reality woven throughout Emma's story.
The real-life Emma was, in fact, the youngest in a family of eighteen children, which included three sets of twins and a
set of quadruplets. Yes, the article in The Austin Weekly Statesman suggested the fair association should invite the
family to attend as "honored guests" when the quadruplet girls were born.

As to the rest, it is up to the reader to decide, fact or fiction.