When Denver and Beloved are upstairs together, Beloved invites Denver to dance with her by saying, "'Come on, you may as well just come on,'" Chapter 8, pg. 74. That's the phrase Denver and Sethe used when they were calling to the ghost after Baby Suggs died. The ghost didn't answer them then, but now Denver believes Beloved to be their answer -- she is the ghost. Beloved talks to Denver about what it's like where she's been -- where it's dark and hot and so small that she had to curl up in a fetal position.
Denver believes that Beloved is describing death, and when she asks why she came back, Beloved tells her that she returned to see Sethe's face, that Sethe had left her behind. Convinced that Beloved is the flesh version of her murdered sister, Denver reminds her of a time when they played by the stream together, but Beloved remembers only being left behind. Denver tells Beloved not to reveal her identity to Sethe, and Beloved is rankled by the idea of Denver telling her what to do. Beloved says Sethe is the only one she needs. Then Denver, looking for some way to regain Beloved's favor, tells the story of her birth because Beloved likes it. She recounts how Amy Denver found Sethe in the grass and helped her to the Ohio River. Denver was delivered in an old boat in the middle of the river that night.
