Making Space (The Time Traveler's Passport)

by R.F. Kuang

“I just need you to remember that we don’t always know what’s best for a child,” says Brianne. “But more often than you realize, and despite all the mistakes they might make—the parents often know better.”

She’d never imagined she would one day cry herself to sleep, wondering why her body and Chris’s couldn’t come together to make a life.

“If you want,” said Chris, when she raised the prospect. But his heart wasn’t in it. She could tell. He was only going through the motions.

Parenthood is like heaven, a concept they are making desultory gestures toward, but a dream neither of them really thinks might come true.

Jess thinks she is experiencing a pleasure that all parents must feel—the privilege of showing their children the world.