As a newlywed, William tries to make Julia happy and fulfill her dreams of his becoming a professor and a father. However, as Julia’s pregnancy progresses, he is unable to imagine himself in the new role and finds Julia becoming unfamiliar to him. He resists the new changes by postponing the move out of their one-bedroom apartment into a two-bedroom home despite knowing it is an irrational decision.

On his lunch breaks, he starts going to the athletic building to watch basketball practice. Although he cannot play, he still feels a sense of connection and camaraderie with the other players. Arash joins him in the bleachers, and the two strike up a friendship based on their shared interest in the game. Arash tells William that because of William’s knee injury, Arash has decided to try to prevent future injuries by learning more about the players’ past or preexisting injuries. William asks if he can shadow this work, and Arash assents.

At home one night, Julia tells William that she’s finished reading his manuscript and thinks it’s good, but William can see that she is secretly worried about him and their future. He realizes when he sees Sylvie on their couch that his wife would have given it to her literary-minded sister to read so that she could get her opinion.