Summary

In the spring, all of Luke's classmates have birthday parties. The father and mother welcome the parties because they give them time to "have sex" and be "alone in the house" (96). It makes them feel like teenagers (96). The imagine the day they will have to tell Luke about sex.

Meanwhile, Luke is still full of energy. The parents continue enjoying sex, except for those moments the wife worries the condom "might have broken" (98). It is difficult to imagine having another kid.

Sometimes the husband considers having an affair. Yet he cannot imagine having sex with someone else. He starts masturbating regularly. It feels as if he's "coaxing" shame "from himself" (101). Marital sex has become so intimate, it feels shameful to imagine with a different person. Although he thinks about affairs, he "doesn't doubt" his wife's love (103). He sometimes questions his own manhood. He...