She spouts some surprising wisdom at times, but there are also plenty of moments where it's apparent that she's still a little kid. Children Are Innocent: Zigzagged with Willow.Child by Rape: Charlotte's lawyer Marin is revealed to be the result of a rape.Ice-skating being something that Willow isn't allowed to do.And the fact that Sean hasn't had time to seal it. And that's not even including the degree to which she neglects her other child, Amelia. She's so singularly focused on making Willow's life better that she's willing to sue her best friend and risk destroying her marriage to ensure that Willow's care is paid for. The Caretaker: Charlotte, of the narcissistic variety.The one time she actually acts her age, it costs her dearly: out of childish curiosity and fascination for the forbidden, she walks on to the ice-covered pond of her home. Can't Get Away with Nuthin': Willow is portrayed as wise (almost saintly) beyond her years and possibly more sensible than her Knight Templar mother.Black-and-White Morality: Both Charlotte and Piper describe Sean as viewing the world this way.Diabolus ex Machina ensures that her wish is granted - in the most grim way possible. Be Careful What You Wish For: The whole drama of the novel centers around Charlotte claiming, in a court of law, that she wishes her youngest daughter wasn't in her life.Though he does have a human moment when he tells the wayward Amelia to go back to her parents, saying that they have enough on their plates without having to worry about where she's run off to. Amoral Attorney: Guy Booker, Piper's malpractice insurance lawyer.Not to be confused with the short-lived Troy McClure sitcom about Jack Handle, retired cop who shares an apartment with a retired criminal. And the ob/gyn she's suing isn't just her physician - it's her best friend. But it means that Charlotte has to get up in a court of law and say in public that she would have terminated the pregnancy if she'd known about the disability in advance - words that her husband can't abide, that Willow will hear, and that Charlotte cannot reconcile.

If she files a wrongful birth lawsuit against her ob/gyn for not telling her in advance that her child would be born severely disabled, the monetary payouts might ensure a lifetime of care for Willow. As the family struggles to make ends meet to cover Willow's medical expenses, Charlotte thinks she has found an answer. When Charlotte and Sean O'Keefe's daughter, Willow, is born with severe osteogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, they are devastated as she will suffer hundreds of broken bones as she grows, a lifetime of pain.

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