All of the above went into the win column. Each day Poppy bathed and fed the girls and Mimi went to bed early and left for the hospital each morning. With small children around, an extra pair of hands was essential. How did Mimi manage this every day? Poppy scanned the playground, where Laura stood at the top of the slide waiting her turn while Hazel napped in her stroller. Today Poppy had packed a picnic lunch for all four of them. Mimi wasn’t leaving for the hospital until late afternoon. “Mom asks about you.” Mimi sat on the blanket beneath a giant willow tree and picked at apple slices. Poppy’s stomach tightened. She’d been avoiding conversations about Therese and her health, not because Poppy didn’t want to listen to Mimi, but because Poppy really didn’t want to hear about Therese. Mimi’s gaze latched onto Laura, who now threw her body onto the slide and, with a gargantuan grin, giggled all the way down to the spot where she landed on the sand. She looked at Mimi and Poppy and held her arms above her head.
