"It's a saying," Annie replied, rolling her eyes at him and similarly still tracking the novelty of her teeny little bump closing the distance between them a bit earlier than she was used to.

Again: this summer was going to be a revelation for Annie, considering how fun her itty, bitty first-trimester bump was.

"You eat an elephant one bite at a time," she explained as she reached up to smooth a hand over his hair. "Same way we'll unpack these boxes: one at a time."