The first weeks with Marco were, in many ways, easier than the first weeks with Charlotte had been — not because Marco was an easier baby, exactly, but because Mia and Dante now knew, in their bodies rather than just their minds, what the rhythm of those weeks looked like. They'd done this before. They knew it would be hard, and exhausting, and that it would also, eventually, settle.
What was different, this time, was Charlotte.
She had taken to her role as big sister with the specific total commitment she brought to everything, which meant that within the first week, she had developed Opinions about nearly every aspect of Marco's care, most of which she expressed with great confidence and varying accuracy.
"He needs more rabbit," she informed Mia one morning, when Marco was fussing. "R
