He wants to continue pleading with her to stay or at least to let him go with her. He can't bear to be without her again. Not after the last time, when she left and didn't come back for four months. During that time he felt an ache in his heart every moment. The pain made every day unbearable. Their conversations by telephone only made the lack of her presence more pronounced.
Instead, knowing a continued argument will only spoil their last moments together, he snuggles against her, resting his head on her bulging stomach. She strokes his hair as they sit there on the hill, watching the sun go down over the waves. He wishes they could go on like this forever. He wishes she never has to leave him again so that he can spend every moment with her.
When she picks him up and swings him onto her shoulders, he tries to hop off. "Can't we stay a little longer?" he says.
"It's getting dark. Your father will be expecting us back soon," she says.
"So what? He doesn't care about me."
"Joe, you don't mean that. Your father is a good man. He loves you very much." She starts down the hill, trying to lighten the mood by making horse sounds.
"Sometimes you act so weird," he says. He laughs and plays along until the house comes in sight. Then they both go silent.
She lets him down and then takes his hand to lead him up the stairs. With each step his heart grows heavier, knowing it's one step closer to her leaving again. At the top of the stairs, she picks him up. He presses his ear to her chest so that he can hear the beating of her heart.
She opens the door to his bedroom and then lays him down onto the bed. She smoothes hair away from his forehead to kiss him there. "I'll be back real soon," she says. "I promise." She pulls the blankets up to his chin and despite his best efforts, he feels himself growing sleepy.
"I love you," he says.
"Goodnight," she says and then turns out the light.
Joey woke up and looked around the bedroom in confusion until he realized it had been a dream. Mommy's gone, he thought. She left me to go take care of other people. It's not fair. I should be with her instead of here.
He climbed out of bed and went into the main room. Molly sat at the table with her head buried in her hands. When he touched her on the shoulder, she looked up to reveal a purple bruise on her left eye. "What happened?" Joey asked.