Robbie Hightower is the baby of his family. His dad is a mail carrier and his mother works part-time as a dispatcher for the de Ramón pest control company.
Mr. and Mrs. Hightower have three children. Older sister Sylvia is eleven when Robbie is born. She is embarrassed to have to admit to herself that her parents actually, well, you know. Sister Linda is eight. Baby brother Robbie is the best gift her mom and dad could ever give her. She dresses him, feeds him, talks to, and adores him from the moment he comes home from the hospital. She uses her doll dishes to feed him when he is outgrowing his bottles. Robbie is always “Linda’s baby.”
When Robbie is three, Sylvia enters high school, and the Hightower family needs to increase their income. Mama (Edna) gets a job as part-time dispatcher for Ramon De Ramón Pest Control. Mamacita de Ramón likes Edna, and insists that she bring her little boy to work with her so she won’t have to worry about childcare. The two women become cross-generation friends: Edna is like a daughter to Mamacita, and Robbie is her honorary grandson. Estrella has known Robbie since his 3rd birthday. She calls him Christopher Robin because he reminds her of the gentle sweetness of the Pooh characters. Estrella gets so used to seeing Robbie around whenever she drops by her family’s business that she sort of takes it for granted that he will always be there.
(continued)
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