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studies. We’re both healthy. The specialist in New York said my heart rate and blood pressure and diet and exercise habits put my body at age thirty-eight.”
    “That’s true,” Christopher said, thoughtfully.
    His tone was different. The note of pessimism that had been there since yesterday was gone.
    “So if the real problem is the process, and how I handle it, let’s try to fix that. Not throw the baby out with the bathwater.”
    Christopher was silent.
    “That’s a joke, Christopher.” She elbowed him gently.
    Obligingly, he turned up the corners of his mouth.
    “What are you thinking? Doesn’t that make sense? Especially since we have the three remaining embryos?” She waited, willing him to see it the way she did.
    “It sounds good. But tell me what it means.”
    “I’ll get rid of all the fertility books. Drop out of the Facebook groups. Take up yoga, maybe. And we’ll have mandatory date nights. After every doctor’s appointment,” she added.
    This time he smiled for real.
    “And I don’t think you give me quite enough credit for seeing the forest. Sure, I wanted to visit Helen and the girls on the trip. But I wanted to go wine tasting and bike riding and bird watching with you, too. I found some good places on the Seattle Audubon site.”
    He exhaled. “That sounds nice.”
    “And last summer I did get out of the house at least once. We went to the dean’s summer picnic. That’s where you and Michael hatched the plan for the big Fish and Wildlife grant. The one that’s pending right now, isn’t it?”
    He nodded.
    “Any updates?”
    “I checked before we left the hotel. Not yet.”
    “You’ve been waiting for what, like, three months?”
    He nodded. “And it was three months of writing before that.”
    “Which could also be contributing to your stress and fatigue, right?”
    He nodded again.
    “So. Let’s finish what we started. Try one more cycle. If it doesn’t work, then we’ll stop. I promise.”
    She couldn’t bear to watch him decide and turned her gaze back to the window. The landscape had softened as they approached Ithaca. She watched a flock of birds soar through a cleft between the hills.
    Christopher was silent for another frozen mile, then finally spoke. “All right. Make the appointment with the clinic. We’ll try again. One last time.”

SEVEN
    R obby stroked the black wing of the taxidermied bird. The feathers felt so sleek. And it was so big. Dr. Felk said it was a male. So that made it a gander, not a goose. Watching from a distance, he never would have thought one could be so big. Their neighbors at home, the Petersons, had a little dog, Trixie. She was one of those yappy dogs that tore all around the yard a lot. This gander was way bigger than Trixie.
    “Look at the time. I told your parents a half hour, and here it’s past an hour. They’ll think I’ve apprenticed you.” Dr. Felk glanced at his watch. “We’d better go.”
    Robby kept his hand on the gander. “Don’t want to go.” The archives were crowded with shelves stuffed with bird skulls and models of wings and boxes of books, papers, maps, and more that they had barely begun to explore. Old dust hung thick. Even the city’s noises were muffled here below the street. He hadn’t needed his headphones once.
    Dr. Felk adjusted his glasses, gazing around the room.
    “I know. Heaven down here, isn’t it?”
    Robby nodded. The gander’s beady eye seemed to meet his. Wouldn’t the geese have seen the plane? Couldn’t they have diverted?
    “Robby.” Dr. Felk’s hand touched his shoulder, and he flinched involuntarily. “I’ve enjoyed having you here. I wish we could stay longer, too. But you live in Detroit. If I’m going to help you learn more long-distance, I have to talk to your parents. Convince them. You understand—” A coughing spasm seized the rest of Dr. Felk’s sentence.
    His parents, Detroit, home. All far away.
    “You understand, right, Robby?” Dr. Felk stifled another