- Whisked back to Los Angeles in 1949, we find Laura Brown, Dan, and Richie sitting at the table together as Dan blows out the candles on his birthday cake.
- As Laura watches her husband, she struggles to reconcile herself to the fact that she'll be "trapped here forever, posing as a wife" (19.3). As she does, she returns to her earlier thoughts of suicide.
- Dan and Richie slice the cake, and Laura brings dessert plates and dessert forks to the table. For a brief instant, she suddenly feels happy and hopeful, but the feeling passes just as quickly as it came.