Summary

In Chapter 14 the mother bakes a cake for Christmas Eve, but it does not come out as planned. Nikolai tells her there are no do-overs in baking. She contemplates a monument to fill the void Nikolai has left, but Nikolai prefers a piece of cheesecake because it is perishable. They debate the difference between the words inevitable and perishable. The mother relates a dream where Nikolai and she are walking; when she hears his voice, she wakes up. While some may believe such dreams are the departed trying to communicate, the mother does not. She once asked a colleague what she does all day because she feels others may have answers to questions she does not know. She asks Nikolai if he still suffers; he says some things are always with him, even without a body. They discuss how they often argue, but...