“She'd take these random occurrences and elevate them to oracles; she'd pretend that they were enough to justify her actions.Or lack therof.”

“Your mama finds you like that, she's going to pitch a fit." "The only way she'd find out is if you told her I'd come out here with you, and then she'd be too angry at you to yell at me." "Guess we're partners in crime, then.”

“It was the first time she'd discovered something she really didn't want to find, and she didn't know what to do once she'd found it.”

“Maybe this was the job of a mother: to buy time for her child, no matter what. Even if it meant doing something she'd rather not; even if it left her flat on her back.”

“she told me she'd be a phoenix." The image of the mythical creature rising from the ashes glitters in my mind. "They don't really exist." "She said that depends on whether or not there's someone who can see them.”

“Until then she hadn't considered that there was a trade off, that she might not fit anymore in places where she'd been comfortable.”

“She'd been in labor for nineteen hours; I completely understood why she wanted to pass the buck. 'You are so beautiful,' her husband crooned, holding up her shoulders.'You are so full of shit,' Lila snarled, but as a contraction settled over her like a net, she bore down and pushed.”