And then, just like that, they're naked in front of each other for the first time, and Joyce feels like a teenager again. She's sort of relieved that he's hard, that he looks at her and sees something worth wanting. He holds his hand out to her and she takes it, threading their fingers together.

"Please tell me that you've got a condom on you," she says, getting back onto the bed on her knees, her fingers still twisted with his. "We are both too old for newborns."