“You know, for Satan, she’s a pretty good cook,” Devi whispered right before she took off for the night. I waved at her retreating taillights and then went back to my room. Mom had left a couple more boxes of my stuff in my new room to unpack, but I was too tired. At least I had an explanation for my toddler-like need for all the sleep, forever. Who knew a newbie fetus could be so demanding already?

Now, imagine them at two and smearing poop on the walls. Poopcasso, the mural artist.

...am I ready for that?

Wait. Is anyone ready for that?

These were the thoughts that plagued me as I drifted off to sleep.

The sound of a lawnmower outside of my window plagued me the next morning.

A glance at my phone told me it was seven in the morning. When I shuffled over to the window to see what kind of weirdo started their day that early that way, I was completely unsurprised to discover Mormor riding a dinosaur-sized John Deere around, a brimmed hat on her head and her nose covered with a strip of that white sunblock stuff.

A pee, a hair brushing because curly hair and bedhead were the worst, a bevy of yawns and I went downstairs. Mom was in the kitchen, sitting at the kitchen island, her body huddled around her mug like she’d devolved into a coffee troll in the nine hours since I’d last seen her.

“She gets up at five, Serendipity,” Mom said. “Who does that?”

“Mormor.” I couldn’t have the caffeine—doctor’s orders that I had to limit my intake—so I started the water for decaf tea and popped some toast into the toaster. I wasn’t super nauseated yet, but time would tell on whether or not my gut rebelled. At least I was on the cusp of the second trimester. According to the internet, that was the “good” time when nausea decreased and you got to “enjoy” the baby growing inside of you.

I wasn’t sure enjoyment had factored into any of the baby business yet, but if the part about being extra horny was true, at least I’d be smiling a lot more.

Mom grumbled as she got up from her stool, shuffling over to the cabinet and preparing a teacup for me because she loved me. “We’ve got your ultrasound at ten. I guess she could have picked a worse day to drag me from the crypt early.”

“Hey, just remember, you picked living here.”

“No, our finances did, when I thought I was sending a kid to college next year.”

Mom was just playing around, yet that stopped me cold. Her, too, for that matter. I glanced back at her, at her profile. Her brow was furrowed, the corners of her mouth dipped into a frown.