Weeks later, Ryle shows up at Allysa’s apartment after Lily’s baby shower. Lily hasn’t spoken to him for three months. She allows him to help her take the gifts to her apartment and feels nervous, knowing that they need to talk about the baby and their future. Ryle offers to assemble the crib and while he does, Lily thinks of how much she misses him and how easy it would be to take him back. She reminds herself of what her mother told her: that if Ryle loved her, he wouldn’t let her take him back. Ryle, however, appears to want Lily to forgive him, even though he doesn’t broach or press the issue. It saddens Lily because “even though he’s responsible for the situation he’s in, [she] know[s] how sad he is about it” (342). He leaves without discussing anything. 

Two weeks later, Lily finishes the mural at her baby’s nursery and asks Allysa and her mother to see it, but they are both busy. She contacts Ryle, who comes over. They discuss his temper and his relationship with the baby. Lily admits that she is thinking about divorce but needs to make that decision when she’s no longer pregnant.