Chapter 26 Summary

Yvonne has only eight weeks to go in her pregnancy, and Astrid can't imagine her getting any larger. Sometimes Astrid imagines having a father who works nights for the railroad. Then her mother would be someone who waits for his return and then they would laugh and speak softly together. She has put her mother's unread letters full of fluid lies under the bed.

Yvonne talks about her babies only late at night when they are alone. Rena doesn't let her and tells her not to think about them, but Yvonne needs to talk. She thinks it's a girl and hopes that her daughter will have all the good things. When Yvonne dozes off, Astrid's thoughts drift to her mother. I am your home, she has once said, and it's still true. She pulls out her mother's letters from under the bed and...