Summary

Penn finds himself too busy to do much writing due to all the time he spends learning how to keep Poppy’s secret and taking on more of the parenting as a result of Rosie’s schedule. As a newcomer, Rosie has much less flexibility at work; moreover, she has a demanding partner named Howie, who insists that she attend Monday morning meetings and promote the practice in their spare time.

Another drastic change the family has gone through since moving is the development of a close relationship with their next-door neighbors, the Grandersons. The chapter “Fifty-Fifty” describes how on some nights, the kids all go to one house, and the parents go to another. On one such night, Frank Granderson gets drunk and asks what the family will do when Poppy starts to go through puberty. Rosie immediately resorts...