Ann took Davy by the hand and led him into the bedroom. Winthrop listened to the chatter and then to the prayers. He sat and listened as he stared at the three egg-stained plates on the table. The plates pushed into his mind, occupied it, filled it, until there was nothing else. And at that moment the integrity of Jeremiah Winthrop broke.
He was still staring at the plates when Ann came out and sat down beside him. She too looked at her husband, looked, and looked again, closer. There were tears in his eyes.
She leaned toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What is it, Jeremiah?" she asked quietly.
He turned full toward her, started to speak, but could not. He pointed to the dirty plates and then cleared his throat. "Ann, that's the last of it. It's getting worse all the time. There's no work for a man. What are we going to do? Is Davy going to live the rest of his life satisfied with Standard Fare? Can we watch him grow up not knowing what it feels like to work? Ann...." He stopped and sat quietly for a moment. "I've got to go to the Ministry of Government Employment."
She said, "Jeremiah, are you sure? We've always been able to manage on our own. We've never needed help from the government."
"Ann—" He stood up and began pacing across the room. "How can we sit and watch this happen to our boy? We can't take him out in all those people very often. We can't take him to the roof. Ann, he's a good boy. We can't let him live like this."
"But how will you feel? You have to make your own way. You've always believed that."
Winthrop's stooped figure bent even more. He stopped pacing and stood with his hands hanging at his sides, his chin on his chest. "I know," he said quietly. "I know. Help me, Ann. What should we do?"
She flew across the room to him and they clung together. After a moment she said, "All right, Jeremiah. I knew this would come some day. We will go down tomorrow to the Ministry of Government Employment and see if they have any work for you. Maybe they have, and maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe it's good work after all. We'll see."