Vivian watched the screen as Lucy and Ricky kissed each other before Lucy was taken to the delivery room, knowing that the next time they’d be together, they’d have a brand-new baby in their family. Edward looked from the television screen to Vivian, lifted his hand to his lips, and blew her a kiss. His eyes were shining behind the glasses he wore. Vivian pressed her lips firmly together and looked back at the screen.

Ricky had to use a telephone in the hospital’s waiting room. Since the telephone didn’t have a dial he had to connect through an operator. Even though the operator wasn’t there on the screen, Vivian imagined the girl on the other end of the line and knew she would’ve been wearing the bulky headset and holding the plug cords in one hand, and if she wanted to listen in on the conversation, she could have. Who knew what she would hear? You know somebody named Edward Dalton? . . . He’s married, right? . . . Well, he’s got himself another wife.

Lucy gave birth to a baby boy, and Vivian held herself together until they showed a close-up of a tiny baby on the black-and-white screen, with its tiny eyes scrunched closed and its tiny hands curled under its tiny chin. As the band theme swelled and the credits began to roll, Vivian felt the tears running down her cheeks, and she knew that if she had to speak, her voice would burst from her throat in choked sobs. Holding her breath, she pushed herself up from the sofa and stepped over Charlotte’s outstretched legs, disappearing around the corner and up the stairs before Edward or Charlotte saw her face.

The toilet seat lid was cold under her backside and she pulled her knees up to have somewhere to rest her forehead, although her girdle was cutting into her flesh. The tiny baby. The love between husband and wife. She’d had all that, once. The tears flowed over the rims of her eyes and the choked sobs landed in her lap as snapshots from her life flashed across her mind. Happy! Smiling! Loving!

Vivian’s body shook and she began to rock from side to side, sobbing as tears and drips from her nostrils fell into the valley of her lap. She cried and cried until it wore her out, and until each breath became a big effort. Until she’d figured she’d cried out everything she had, and now just felt empty. Nothing left.

Her feet slid from the toilet seat to the tiled floor with a thud, and she reached to pull at the roll of toilet paper to blow her nose. In the rational part of her mind, she knew she was mostly upset because of that sweet television baby. But it was just a television show. It wasn’t real. Vivian gave a loud sniff, and final wipe under her nose with the toilet paper, then lifted her head, feeling the crackle of dried makeup that had run down her cheeks. She thought about how Lucy was now trapped in that marriage with Ricky. There’d be no easy escape from that. Now there was a baby.