I’ve got 17 something lady cousins, ages 2-25 and they’re all striking. Striking to the point that admist my hetero –normative ‘don’t get crushes on your girl cousins that’s weird’ mentality – I still can’t help but stare. That’s how pretty. Painful. Ow.

Two of the youngest cousins are both age 2. Lilly is beautiful. She has a mouth like a little red bow, long lashes, big blue eyes. Natalie is the one not-pretty cousin. She might one day grow into her face. She is two years old, and as I watched the two play on the beach – as I watched people walk by and muse over beautiful Lilly, ignoring Natalie, I wondered: does Natalie notice? Is she jealous? It was at this very moment that Natalie ran up to Lilly and promptly pushed her in the sand.

She totally knows.