Roy watched the screen as it popped through its four stations. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t be difficult. I’m talking about you, the job you’re doing.”

“As a father, you mean.”

“I’m not going to paint you a picture,” Walter told him. “I’m saying, it’s good to see. Mind you, I don’t retract anything I’ve already said. If you don’t take care of that lawn, it’s going to be dust one day. But I’m glad to see that, in general, you’re … rising to the occasion.” He straightened up.

Roy followed. “What occasion?”

Ignoring him, Walter asked in a softer voice, “Did their other, uh … Teresa’s first husband—did he send any kind of present? I mean, is he still in the picture?”

“Dermot? He sent a card and a hundred-dollar bill,” Roy said with a certain amount of humility; it was far more than he and Teresa could afford to spend. “Teresa’s got savings accounts set up for each of the kids. She’s already deposited it.”

His father pulled at his nose and pointed a finger toward the screen, as if the television had anything to do with what they were discussing. “Well, that’s good. That’s sensible.”

“What occasion am I rising to?” Roy asked again.

Walter turned toward Teresa, who was now standing just a foot away, offering him a can of beer.

She said, “There’s iced tea, if you’d rather.”

“This is fine, honey.”

“What occasion, Pop?”

“That was a private remark,” Walter grumbled, after bringing the can down from his lips. “You never could take a compliment.”

Roy looked at his father. He looked at his wife, whose arms and neck were moist despite the air-conditioning. He wanted a break from the old man. He wanted to be alone with Teresa. The damp hollow of her neck had an opal glaze.

He said, “I think we should let Matt open his presents before lunch.”

Walter still wouldn’t let them bring the present in from the car, though he went out and fiddled with it while Roy and Teresa dug the other gifts from under their bed and carried them to the backyard. They unfolded lawn chairs. Katherine sat on the grass and tugged up handfuls of it and sprinkled them over her legs.

“We’re doing this outside?” Matt asked. “Makes sense.”