“I’m not just your sister this summer,” Jess announced on Day One. “Call me Mom Sis. That means I cook, clean, worry, and boss you around — but I’ll also stay up with you during thunderstorms.”

Jess teared up. “See? You’re pretty useful yourself.”

Jess didn’t get mad. She just said, “You’re right. So let’s make our own rules.”

Mia groaned. Jess was fun as a sister — late-night snacks, silly dances, secrets. But a mom ? Jess didn’t even know how to fold a fitted sheet.

“This is useless,” Mia whispered one night. “You’re not Mom.”

One afternoon, their neighbor Mrs. Alvarez fell in her garden. Jess froze — but Mia ran for the first-aid kit and called Mrs. Alvarez’s daughter. “Mom Sis taught me emergency numbers by the fridge,” Mia explained later.

Mia thought. “Hard. But good-hard. Like learning to ride a bike and realizing you didn’t fall because someone was holding the seat.”

Every summer, ten-year-old Mia stayed with her grandmother in the countryside. But this summer was different: her older sister, Jess (twenty-two and fresh out of college), was in charge while their mom worked abroad.