Who would have thought that between the two women, Val would turn out to be the maternal one? “No,” Sherri says, not expecting such a direct, personal question, but then again, this is Val. “I wasn’t cut out for kids.” That’s what she always says when people ask, which they do. The truth is that Violet saved her. Once, when Sherri was a girl, she watched a story on the news about a woman who’d jumped off the observation deck of the Empire State Building, but she was saved when a gust of wind pushed her onto the ledge on the eighty-fifth floor. Violet had altered Sherri’s path the same way that wind did, blowing up out of nowhere at just the right moment, even though it felt like the wrong moment back then.

“Well, it’s too late for me to change your mind about not being cut out for it. None of us are, but we make do. Come on, let’s go inside. I won’t keep you long. You probably have people to see, things to do. Everyone’s so busy these days.”

The television is on in the living room. On top of the coffee table Sherri eyes back issues of Better Homes and Gardens and Highlights for Children and a plastic bottle of spray butter. “Take a seat.” Val gestures at a massive Barcalounger where a curled-up dog raises its furry eyebrows to register Sherri’s appearance. “Tommy, get down!” Val barks, shooing the dog away. “He’s Tommy Two. Tommy One ran into the street and met his maker in the grille of the recycling truck, so we recycled the name.”

“Oh God, I’m sorry.”

“Honestly, Tommy Two is better. He’s a good boy, aren’t you? Let me get you a soda.” The dog leans into Val’s legs the way Goldie used to. Sherri envies Val. Her house is a mess, and her body is blown out, but she seems so comfortable with who she is. Not since she was a girl has Sherri known comfort like that.

Val returns from the kitchen and sets a can of soda on the end table. Sherri’s eyes have adjusted enough that she can just barely make out the seam running down her pair of lightly pressed slacks. She’s ironed for her. Val pulls a framed family photograph off of the wall and hands it to Sherri. Her entire family is dressed in jeans and white shirts. “That’s from a few years ago.”

“Five kids, huh?”