They are the reason Nicole kept going.
Rowan is the older one — observant, dry, the kind of teenager who appears in doorways with perfectly timed commentary. When Nicole changed her outfit three times before her first date with Daniel, Rowan looked up from her phone and said: "You look like you're trying too hard." When Nicole asked if she looked fine or good, Rowan said fine. Then watched her mother change again without saying another word.
Emmie is younger and warmer and asks the questions Rowan is too cool to ask. When she found out about the English guy, her first concern was whether he had a bad accent. When Nicole assured her all English accents are good accents — even the ones from the murder shows — Emmie accepted this as fact and moved on.
They fight over the remote using increasingly elaborate logic. They disappear into packs of other kids at backyard gatherings. They light up at Warner Bros. studio sets and laugh the kind of laugh that makes everything feel normal again.
They didn't ask for any of this. Neither did Nicole. But they became a family of three and figured it out together, one imperfect day at a time.
The Mutual Appreciation Society — available May 5 at papertiger.store.