Summary

Back at home, Gracie and Gabe are able to settle in together, “Two kids breathing side by side; ordinary and miraculous” (265).

The next day, Heather takes the children on a picnic, and she expects Brian to “ask why I complicated things; took the kids past their comfort zone to satisfy my own needs” (269). Rather than this, he praises her, and she cuddles closer to him.

Gracie and Gabe spend the day playing in the playground, and Gracie’s later talk about dreaming of being lost in the forest distresses Heather. Brian urges her to see Gracie’s thoughts as what she says they are, just dreams, rather than a greater symbolic event. Brian feels annoyance at Heather’s constant need to feel like the two of them are feeling the same worries. He tells her that he feels their relationship has only endured...