Pearl, now a small child, played independently in the garden as Lily watched and remembered lockdown days when Bear homeschooled Pearl through practical archaeological adventures and streamed activities online. Their family bond during that period felt protective and joyful despite the pandemic.

On an ordinary Thursday, Bear took Pearl into the loft to fix a noisy water tank. After being stung on the face by a wasp, Bear initially downplayed it, but his throat began to swell. He hurried Pearl downstairs, concealed his growing distress, and collapsed on the sofa as Lily arrived. Pearl reported the wasp sting; Lily called emergency services and attempted to help, but the anaphylaxis progressed too quickly. Paramedics arrived, but Bear died.

Lily and Pearl returned to a home filled with silence and stayed constantly together in the days that followed. Due to pandemic rules, they met family only outdoors. On the promenade with Bees and Charlotte, gallows humor briefly broke their tension. At home, Pearl confirmed details of Bear’s death spot and asked if death was forever; Lily affirmed it. Lily grappled with the incongruity of daily tasks continuing amid profound loss and quietly discarded Bear’s toothbrush.

Cora, unable to say goodbye and barred from physical comfort by restrictions, prepared peonies from a former workplace garden to adorn Bear’s coffin. The funeral was socially distanced and live-streamed, amplifying their sense of exposure and alienation. Cora read despite being unsettled by the camera and mourned the loss of intimacy in public grief.

Later, Maia phoned Lily, expressing emptiness. Lily shared Bear’s long-standing recurring dream in which Maia appeared and comforted him as he faced death, a story that consoled Maia. Lily wondered if Maia had been with Bear “on the sidelines” when he died. In another moment, Lily answered Bear’s still-charged phone and learned he had secretly bought and paid for a black electric car as a surprise; the call deepened Lily’s sense of his loving forethought.

By 2022, Pearl was six. Lily preserved Bear’s memory through stories, aware of mythologizing him. On a walk, Maia and Pearl met an elderly couple with a puppy and discussed how some lives seem to extract joy quickly; Pearl told Maia she was glad Maia seemed serious, wanting those who remain to stay longer. Lily recounted Pearl’s naming—completing their family’s playful “animal, vegetable, mineral” game—and mother and daughter used the game to circle back to Bear. Pearl often needed carrying after school, and Lily found the weight grounding.

Lily and Pearl decided to get a cat; Pearl clarified it was not “instead of Papa.” The cat, named Cat, helped make their house feel like a home again. Maia received a letter during the first lockdown from her estranged father seeking reconciliation and claiming change; after reflection on the beach and confiding in Charlotte, Maia destroyed the letter in the sea and chose not to engage.

Cora, aged by grief, leaned on Mehri for support. Visiting Mehri and Roland one evening, Cora unexpectedly met Felix, a retired vet she had once dated over twenty years earlier. As the four shared dinner, Cora openly spoke of Bear’s death and Cat’s impact on Lily and Pearl’s home; Felix reciprocated with his own loss of a wife before lockdown. Their conversation deepened into the night. Encouraged by Mehri’s warmth, Cora and Felix washed up together and then walked home, beginning a renewed, gentle connection.