Chapter 14

After discharge, Natalie sits in a wheelchair with Clementine, numbly wishing for escape while her mother hums. Back home, she retreats to her childhood bed as her mother assumes newborn care, and time blurs into a cycle of sleep, breastfeeding, and intrusive suicidal thoughts. Her mother repeats a faith maxim, which Natalie meets with silence.

Abigail visits, quietly admitting exhaustion, Bryce’s sexual pressure, and a possible third pregnancy. When Abigail considers secret birth control, Natalie snaps, condemning it as sin and denying her own struggles, pushing Abigail away despite the rare opening for solidarity.

Ten days in, Caleb arrives with "pick-me-up" gifts: a flip phone, running shoes, and a baby carrier for jogging with their two-week-old. His oblivious suggestion crystallizes for Natalie that he is profoundly unintelligent and that she married status, not substance. She reels at how little she knows or even finds attractive about him, then masks her reaction.

Too recently postpartum to run, Natalie begins long daily walks alone, observing seemingly content, orderly suburban families. The routine slowly reframes her outlook: she concludes that stability and commitment can be chosen and practiced.

Returning home, Natalie deliberately takes Clementine from her mother, resolves to "pretend" affection until it becomes real, and earns a small sign of acceptance from the baby. She then confronts Caleb, standing between him and the football game, and asks when he will get a job, signaling a shift toward agency and accountability.