Eldest

Bridget arrived first, because Bridget always arrived first, and stood in the kitchen as though early were a kind of ownership. She had the kettle on before her coat was off. She had opinions warming with it. "We should be sensible," she said, which in Bridget's mouth had never once meant we should be kind, and Clare, coming in behind her, felt the old familiar tiredness arrive on schedule, like a bus you hated but could set your watch by.