Mom has been enjoying her time home alone with Alice. That’s over now, because Corwin and I have returned to plague her.
Alice has been in for a checkup. The doctor claims that Alice is borderline failing her billirubin test. Corwin and Charles had similar problems when they were wee mights as well. Charles ended up getting tested a lot (Mom still remembers trudging out in the snow on Christmas week every day to get Charles tested).
As part of her treatment, she need to get extra light exposure. The doctor ordered it because it can’t hurt, so why not in a borderline case? He gave Mom a strap on “billi-blanket” for Alice. The blanket is hooked via fiber optics to a bulb in a machine that sits on the floor. The fiber optics carry the light from there to the blanket which glows at Alice’s skin.
Mom is supposed to strap Alice in to this glowing blanket 24 hours a day, although in practice it’s somewhat less than that. You can see Alice being held by Mom (the yellow blob in the background is Corwin). Shortly after this, Mom handed Alice over to Corwin, who was willing to hold her for a bit. This is really something for Corwin, who refused to touch Charles at all for years. I’m not sure if it’s the brother / sister difference or Corwin is just older.