Lauren writes to her father about loving marriage and her disbelief at her happiness. She recounts having a cough for a month leading up to her wedding day and losing weight, the storm that nearly blew in, and how she missed her father and all the things he would have done that day. Lauren writes that she pretended he was there and asks her father how she could get married without him. Lauren also shares that she and Josh want two daughters, which influenced her dress choice, and neither she nor Josh cried during the ceremony. 

In a flashback, Lauren and Josh honeymoon in Hawaii, where they receive “their first big warning” (294). They spend hours in bed, hike, eat fresh fruit, swim, and try surfing. A hike to a waterfall challenges Lauren, who asks to sit and nap because she is so tired. She falls and has chest pain, and her lips turn blue. The doctors at the hospital believe she has asthma and suggest she drink less alcohol for the rest of their honeymoon. 

Once home, Lauren’s cough returns, but tests yield negative results. This doesn’t stop her from living her life: Lauren decorates the new apartment, limits Josh’s screen time on weekends, and moves from employee to friend with her boss, Bruce. Lauren volunteers every Thursday at the Hope Center and goes out with girlfriends twice a month. Josh cooks breakfast daily and has a weekly flower delivery for Lauren. He tells Lauren he loves her daily and makes small talk with her family. “Life, as they say, was perfect” (300); Lauren imagines children, buying a house, taking vacations, and growing old with Josh. She describes Josh’s “little irritants” (301): his focus on work and loner tendencies. 

Lauren still misses her dad. She tries new medications to control her asthma and becomes attuned to her physical state when fatigued. In the autumn, Lauren faints on a worksite, and Bruce faints from the sight of her blood. At the hospital, Josh hopes Lauren is pregnant and then tells her about a surprise trip to Paris for Christmas. Doctors return to Lauren and refer her to Dr. Bennett, a pulmonologist, because her oxygen is low. Lauren calls and makes an appointment for three months in the future. 

At Christmas, Lauren and Josh travel to Paris and enjoy the sights, markets, crepes, and more. They witness a proposal, and Lauren hopes the couple is as happy as they are. She decides to “ignore that little slither of anxiety” she feels and focus on the trip (307).

Sarah delivers the 10th letter, and Josh balks at Lauren’s request. Lauren instructs Josh to meet his biological father, acknowledging he may not like the request and doesn't have to do it if he doesn’t want to.

Josh remembers telling Lauren in Hawaii that he felt abandoned and “unimportant” and that his father left a “void” in his life (311). Josh also told her that he’s not interested in finding his father, and Lauren assured him that he will make a great father one day. 

Over dinner, Ben and Sumi tell Josh and Stephanie that their daughter, Hana, is expecting again. They congratulate the Kims, and Josh remembers how he and Lauren wanted four children. After the Kims leave, Josh opens up to his mother about feeling sad that he and Lauren will not have kids. As they share apple cake, Josh asks his mother to tell him about his father. Initially upset, Stephanie finally reveals his physical attributes before informing Josh that Christopher Zane, his biological father, knowingly left when she was four months pregnant and never communicated with her again. Stephanie gets upset that Josh wants to meet Christopher, and Josh reassures his mom that she is the person he “most admires in the world” (316). Stephanie explains that Christopher was from Indiana and went to the University of Notre Dame followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she met him while attending Harvard. They dated for six weeks and fought when Stephanie got pregnant. Christopher left for a summer program and never returned. He never contacted Stephanie in the 10 years she held her old PO box. “He sounds like quite a dick,” Josh surmises (319). 

Josh learns through Googling his father that he shares many of Christopher’s physical features, like their crooked left incisor. Christopher is a tenured professor in engineering at the University of Chicago, is married, and has three children. Josh finds Christopher’s current address and the farm where his father grew up, which sold for $12.2 million 14 years ago—when Josh was making college decisions based on financial aid packages. He books a flight to Chicago for the next day.

Josh approaches Christopher when he exits a campus building after his office hours. Josh tells Christopher, “I’m your son,” and Christopher immediately bends over, placing his hands on his knees while repeating, “Oh, my God” (324). Christopher leads the way to an Irish pub, where Josh tells Christopher what he’s learned on the internet. Christopher asks if Josh wants money, and Josh demands to know how Christopher could abandon him and his mom. Christopher says he was immature and decided to stay closer to home. He explains that his father was a Pakistani immigrant and his mother’s Midwesterner family didn’t approve of him. Josh asks if Christopher was ever honest with his parents about what happened in Boston; he wasn’t. Christopher cries and criticizes himself repeatedly. He admits, “[M]y decision haunted me…I hated myself” (329). Josh agrees that Christopher should feel ashamed and then answers Chrisopher’s questions about his life. Josh tells Christopher that he has had a “really good life” and that Christopher didn’t ruin him (333). Christopher talks about his children while crying and then asks again if Josh wants anything. Josh explains that Lauren is the reason he sought Christopher out and he doesn’t need anything. Christopher gives Josh his phone number, and they take a picture together. Josh initially rejects Christopher’s offer for a hug but then changes his mind and embraces him.

Jen comes to visit Josh as the holidays are approaching, and he realizes he’s missed her. Jen admires the changes Josh has made to the apartment and then shares that she went to Josh’s psychic, who saw through Lauren that Jen is pregnant—in her first month. Jen hates “that life is going on without her,” but Josh stays joyful for her sake because “she [is] his family” (340). Josh asks Jen if he can call her his sister rather than explain their in-law connection for the rest of his life, and she happily consents. 

Josh invites Radley to his mother’s house for Christmas but gives Radley a gift early over drinks at Eddy’s: a bracelet with Korean Hangul characters meaning friend, kind person, and brother. Before leaving, a waitress bumps into Josh—the same woman from the fun run and the vet’s office. She recognizes Josh and asks how he is, and then Josh asks how her dog and brother are in turn. 

On Christmas Eve, Radley joins Josh; the Kims; Jen and her family; Donna and her new boyfriend, Bill; Sarah and her new boyfriend; and three people from Stephanie’s lab at Stephanie’s house. With everyone preoccupied, Josh grows angry at their “acceptance phase” of Lauren’s death (347), but Ben snaps Josh out of his red-out with a calm hand on the shoulder. Jen announces her pregnancy over dinner, and Sarah hugs Josh, who murmurs a thank you to her. 

Josh drives to the rented Cape house on Christmas Day in the middle of the night. Walking on the beach with Pebbles, he contemplates wading into the water and dying of hypothermia or drowning in the current. When he wonders what is worth living for, he remembers Octavia, Jen, Ben, Sumi, Radley, Darius, and Pebbles. He then imagines everyone being at the Cape house, a pregnant Lauren included. He speaks to Lauren in his thoughts, asking her to come back and saying that living without her is “too hard” (351). Josh steps briefly into the water but backs out when he feels the undertow, not wanting Pebbles to get cold or sucked out into the sea. 

Lauren writes to her dad that she is in love. She feels safe and beautiful in Josh’s eyes, “like nothing bad could ever happen as long as [they’re] together” (352).

In a flashback to when Josh and Lauren begin dating, Lauren thinks about them getting married. She describes their differences in how they work and Josh’s successful sale of his first design project while at RISD for nearly $10 million; Josh used the money to plan for his future and send his mother on a month-long vacation with the Kims. Josh owns his apartment, which is “bleak” compared to Lauren’s “cozy and charming” one (354). Lauren considers Josh “brilliant, philanthropic, hardworking, focused, driven, [and] kind” (355), but he loses track of time easily and is a loner because of his social awkwardness.

Lauren knows she was shallow back when she and Josh met at RISD; family events like her father’s death and her mom’s personality change afterward impacted her. When she and Josh coincidentally meet again at the Hope Center, they quickly form a committed relationship. Seeing him fills her with joy, and they are committed to taking care of one another: “Josh [sees] her…and ma[kes] her feel important” (358). Josh does kind things for Lauren, and Lauren makes sure Josh has scheduled breaks from work. They gaze into each other’s souls, make out often, and have amazing sex. Josh takes Lauren to meet the Kims and his mother, who share baby pictures of Josh and hug Lauren at the end of the night. Josh proposes on May 1 on a romantic walk along the Providence River near RISD, and Lauren vows never to break Josh’s heart. 

Josh waits a few days to read the 11th letter because the year is coming to an end, and only one letter remains. Lauren writes that she is always with Josh and hopes he can feel it. She tries to imagine what his life will be like after she dies and reflects on his messy apartment and reclusive behavior when they met. She instructs Josh to buy a house so he can have neighbors, enjoy family and friends, and get mail. The letter ends, saying, “It’s time to start making something new” (367). 

Josh cannot imagine leaving their apartment, which is replete with reminders of Lauren. He manages his red-out by hitting the punching bag. Josh confides in Ben, who comforts Josh with silence and a hand on the shoulder: “[T]here was nothing to say. Time would pass” (369). Josh says, “[T]hanks, Dad” (369), and Ben asks for a hug. 

Josh takes Sarah and Radley with him to look for a house. Frank, a realtor, shows them houses under Josh’s budget of $2 million. Sarah and Radley pretend to be a couple for whom Josh is purchasing a house and joke throughout the excursion. Frank sees through the ruse and asks Josh questions to help narrow his search, and then he takes them to an old house on Narragansett Bay. Josh likes the odd architecture and craftsmanship and isn’t afraid to do work to remodel the ugly wallpaper and outdated interior. He imagines his future daughter in the house and then tells Frank he’ll purchase it. Josh runs outside because of sudden chest pain and rapid breathing, but he knows it’s not a red-out. He apologizes aloud to Lauren for imagining a happy life without her and then recalls her saying, “[D]on’t be a loser” (377).