Jimmy squinted at her, got in his car, and left.

Joan finally pulled the teddy bear out of the backseat and tried to lower her heart rate. She planned on telling Vanessa later. But Donna looked so happy, and Hank and Vanessa seemed to be having such a great time talking about their upcoming mission, and Thea felt so good in Joan’s arms. It reminded her of when Frances was so light that Joan kept worrying she would drop her.

The day was such a good one that Joan just put it out of her mind. There was so much to do. She could not be worried about Jimmy Hayman.

—

The rest of October passed by so fast she felt dizzy. It was wild to Joan how long you could wait for something—how much you could ache for it to hurry up and happen—and then how it could come too quickly.

The simulations the crew had tackled over the past months had gone well. Joan felt as prepared as she could imagine herself being. But in early November, she also felt like each moment was carrying more and more weight, the closer she got to the day.

The night before Joan went into quarantine, Joan was waiting for Vanessa to come over when the phone rang.

When Joan realized it was Barbara, she assumed her sister was checking in one last time before Joan’s mission. But no. Barbara had called to talk about Thanksgiving.

“Barb, I have other things to focus on right now other than what I’m bringing to Thanksgiving.”

“Joan, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. We aren’t hosting Thanksgiving this year. Mom and Dad aren’t coming. We’re not doing it.”

“What?”

“Daniel is taking me to Gstaad.”

Joan blinked. “I’m confused.”

“I don’t have to host Thanksgiving for the whole family, you know. That’s not my responsibility.”

“I know, but why are you bringing Frances to Gstaad for the few days she has off for Thanksgiving? You can’t drag a kid that far across the world and back in four days.”

“Don’t be absurd. She’s staying at school.”

Joan gripped the receiver. “What do you mean, she’s staying at school?”

“She has asked to not come home,” Barbara said.

“I don’t believe that for a second.”

“Well, I don’t care what you believe. I asked if she wanted to abide by my rules or stay there and she said stay there. So we booked a trip to Gstaad instead.”

“You can’t leave her alone for the holiday. Even if she said to.”

“Okay, first of all, it’s Thanksgiving, not Christmas. No one likes Thanksgiving. We do it because that’s what people do. And she’s not alone. There’s a whole program there where kids have Thanksgiving together. Lots of her friends will be with her. That’s why she wants to stay.”