CHERRY HELD LITTLE Nina in the crook of her arm. Zhang had explained how to swaddle the infant and now she’d gone to sleep, apparently not remotely interested in this new world she’d entered. Cherry didn’t know who she was more in awe of: Isobel, who had just given birth without any anesthetic and hardly making a fuss, or Zhang, who had directed Cherry through everything while at the same time attending a woman enduring a long and complicated labor. With great timing, the nurse had arrived after the exciting part was over.
Isobel was resting. She’d asked Cherry to wait until morning before going next door to tell Miki it was time to meet her new sister. Cherry thought that was a great idea. She didn’t want to deal with an excited toddler and a newborn, even a peacefully sleeping one. The
