Everyone talks to Maizy about her quote in Mayor Whitlock’s article about moving past prejudice. However, Maizy does not remember saying this in the interview, so she asks Mayor Whitlock why he wrote that she did. Mayor Whitlock explains that he was paraphrasing her, but Maizy still feels unsettled about it.

Maizy receives a form letter rejecting her invitation for Carlos! to come to the Golden Palace. However, Carlos! includes a personal note wishing Opa a fast recovery. Opa looks so happy over the note that Maizy starts to cry. Opa tells Maizy that she can cry when he dies, and Maizy asks him why he always jokes about dying. Opa explains that he does not like that Maizy, Oma, and Charlotte are already sad about him dying while he is still alive.

Opa tells of a huge earthquake that hit San Francisco in 1906. The earthquake destroyed birth records, allowing a new wave of paper sons to enter the country. As the years go on, Lulu writes to friends in San Francisco and arranges a marriage between her son, Philip, and a woman named Ana.