3

Father arrives with a newchild for extra nurturing. Lily blurts that the baby has pale eyes like Jonas, a rare trait that makes Jonas self-conscious and aware of how such differences feel unsettling in their community.

As the family examines the baby and his comfort object, Lily announces she wants to be a Birthmother. Mother sharply dismisses the idea as dishonorable, explaining the three-birth limit and lifelong labor that follows. Father suggests Lily might prefer Nurturer, and Mother encourages trying those volunteer hours when Lily becomes an Eight.

Lily greets the baby—Gabriel—while Jonas, half-distracted, imagines Lily as a future Speaker. Noticing Lily’s untied ribbons, Jonas recalls how public announcements indirectly shame individuals without naming them.

This triggers Jonas’s memory of a recent incident: during catch with Asher, an apple seemed to change briefly in midair. Confused, Jonas took the apple home against rules, examined it obsessively, and found nothing different. That evening a speaker announcement reprimanded the unnamed offender for removing objects and hoarding snacks, producing Jonas’s remorse and apology to the Recreation Director.

Back in the present, Father demonstrates feeding procedures for Gabriel. The family’s evening follows its usual quiet routine, now altered by Gabriel’s presence and his solemn, pale eyes that mirror Jonas’s, hinting at a deeper connection and Jonas’s growing awareness of difference.