Sitting beside Misty on the swings, Patch realizes that Misty left school because she was pregnant. When Patch says Misty could have told Sammy, Misty explains that she did not want to pull Patch back into a responsibility neither of them was ready for, especially with her mother involved. Misty adds that her mother does not want Patch around Charlotte.

Misty tells Patch that she had wanted to tell him the truth, but first she needed to know him again. When Patch asks what Charlotte is like, Misty describes her as tough, smart, animal-loving, foul-mouthed, and prone to stealing small things like candy bars and trinkets. The details quietly show Patch how much of himself he can already see in Charlotte, and Misty confirms it by saying the girl is so much like him that she can hardly bear it.

That resemblance does not comfort Patch; it frightens him. Misty says Charlotte needs certainty, roots, and stability, and Patch agrees that he cannot give her those things. Ashamed of his life and convinced Charlotte deserves better, Patch begs Misty not to tell Charlotte that he is her father. As Misty calls Charlotte outside and a storm gathers over the yellow house and neat garden, the scene ends on the sense that this revelation has arrived, but any real resolution must still be weathered.