Those were typical occurrences in my day-to-day life. So, too, were my friends stopping by after school. I couldn’t take Cass out yet for fear of exposing her to unnecessary germs her little body couldn’t fight off, nor could I bring myself to leave her for any extended amount of time, so they came to me on a rotation. Mondays, Erin and Morgan hung out, Erin always producing the coolest onesies for my kid. The most recent one was a cartoon Frankenstein with Mommy’s Little Monster screen-printed underneath. It was so cute, I wanted to die. Morgan also brought gifts—usually books from library sales that I could read to my little monster when she was old enough to appreciate story time.

Goodnight Moon and Where The Wild Things Are were joined by other classics such as Everyone Poops and Horton Hears a Who!

“Dr. Seuss was kind of a racist but he sorta turned it around on Horton,” she said. “I figured it was a safe call.”

Noted on the Dr. Seuss thing.

Apparently, all our faves are problematic.

Tuesdays were Aunt Devi days. Devi was always so careful, insisting I take a nap while she watched the kid and entertained Mormor. She was all about making sure I got a break, too, even if that break was just an hour of shut-eye in my room followed by a long uninterrupted shower. I got to rest with her around, which made Tuesdays one of my favorite days for reasons that went beyond having my best friend nearby.

“So I picked a school,” she said quietly, a couple of weeks after Cass was born. “And my parents are on board. We’re going to officially accept the offer this weekend.”

“Oh?” A knot of dread formed in my gut at the possibility of Devi time reduced to holiday breaks and a summer when she had to split time with Bubbe, but then she said, “Yeah. Curry for the RN program. They have a campus in Plymouth I can commute to, no problem. That way I’m still around for you and her.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I said. “I appreciate it, but it’s your life. You can go anywhere you want. Don’t hold yourself back ’cause I got knocked up. I thought you wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Excuse you. It’s not all about you, Sara. I want to go to Curry in Plymouth so I can spend more time with my wifey and niece.” She smirked. “Curry has an awesome nursing program. The fact that it’s local is just bonus points. And there’s this thing about astronauts being in danger a lot. I’d rather not leave my family behind. Especially not this little cutie. Huh, cute thing?”

She coochie-cooed under Cass’s chin.

I was so happy about it, I cried.

...again.

Come to find out, crying was not just a pregnancy activity. It extended postpartum, too.