The narrative flashes back several months.

In December 1954, Lulu is often awake during the early morning hours, so she watches the empty house across the street. No family has stayed there longer than one year. The floor plan is the mirror of her own home; Lulu would have preferred it when they moved in five years earlier, but Henry never asked. She likes to imagine that the house across the street is hers alone. She recalls locking herself in a closet after her son, Wesley, was born because she needed a moment without being touched or needed.

The Mayfields are throwing their annual New Year’s Eve party tomorrow night. After Henry leaves for work, Lulu sticks stamps into booklets that she redeems for household goods; this is how she got a lamp, a painting, Wesley’s trike, Henry’s watch, and more. She’s slowly replacing her mother-in-law’s décor choices. She has been saving completed stamp books for a new camera for herself, but the family always needs other things first. She feels weak and sleepy; the scent of Henry’s aftershave makes her queasy.

Lulu’s friend and neighbor Nora arrives to loan her a Jell-O mold. Nora, who is perfectly dressed and coiffed, chastises Lulu for still being in pajamas at lunchtime. Lulu thinks about the Good Housekeeping cleaning schedule that Nora gave her, which she only pretends to follow. Henry might not notice that their home isn’t Good Housekeeping-level clean, but Nora does. Still, Lulu comforts herself with the thought that since moving to Greenwood, she has become a master of molded food, or creative and gravity-defying gelatinous creations. Lulu feels nauseated and realizes that she needs to eat, but she doesn’t want Nora to guess that she’s pregnant. Nora found Lulu in the closet after Wesley was born, acknowledging that “[b]abies are hard” (18). Before Nora leaves, she advises Lulu to put on some lipstick.

Lulu knows she needs to tell Henry about the pregnancy, but she isn’t as excited as she thinks she should be. First, she intends to throw the perfect party to ring in 1955. Henry doubts her ability to get everything done. Lulu tells him to trust her, but he keeps asking questions. She dons her dress, feeling that she typically lacks “the soft, nurturing curves a mother should have” (23). Her thin frame is the opposite of Nora’s curves. Guests arrive, admiring Lulu’s gelatin creations. Her dishes have become part of her role, just as Hatti embodies the ideal mother, Nora acts as the funny one, and so on. At the party, Lulu feels faint, so she goes outside for fresh air.

Lulu considers the fact that she doesn’t really know her guests despite spending five years in the neighborhood. Wesley finds her outside. He reminds her of her younger brother, Georgie. She knows that Henry will be happy to have another child, which he imagines would complete their family, but he’s never had to do the difficult job of taking care of a baby. Back inside, when Lulu refuses champagne, Henry puts the pieces together and makes a toast to his “perfect” wife and her pregnancy. Nora and Lulu make eye contact while all the men toast. Later, Nora reminds Lulu that postpartum depression doesn’t happen every time. Henry goes to bed while Lulu cleans up.

As the months pass, Lulu watches the families that come to look at the vacant house and keeps imagining it as her own. On the day of Wesley’s birthday, a new family pulls into the driveway to tour the home.

Lulu’s mother and Georgie are at Wesley’s party, as are Henry’s parents. Lulu has an impulse to go outside and climb a tree; guiltily, she remembers that Georgie can’t—he has used crutches and leg braces since he was Wesley’s age. Lulu wishes that she could redo the day that Georgie’s life changed. Wearing his braces puts Georgie at risk of sores, but he’d rather risk it than stay in all day with only their mother for company. She wishes he lived closer. When Henry’s mother discusses women’s intuition, Lulu nods. Lulu thinks that maybe her unborn child is a girl because it feels different; she’d like to name the girl Esther if Henry agrees.

The pregnancy was smooth, but Esther’s birth is difficult. Contractions begin sooner than expected, but Lulu returns home from the hospital on the day of the summer solstice. When Henry sees a new family moving in across the street, Lulu thinks that she should make something to welcome them, as her etiquette book says to do. Henry tells her not to rush. Instead, Lulu watches from the window, suddenly self-conscious about her appearance and embarrassed by what the nurses must have thought. Lulu sees the new neighbor mother and a little girl about Wesley’s age.

The next day, Lulu gets up early to prepare Henry’s breakfast, though Esther’s cries kept her awake most of the night. She feels isolated. Despite her exhaustion and the irritating sense of obligation, Lulu wants to take a dish to the new neighbors so that she can see inside their house. Nora calls to check on Lulu and mentions that the new neighbors have three kids, though the two boys are away at school. Nora misses Lulu but tells her to get some rest. Lulu feels close to Nora but alienated at the same time.

Lulu watches another neighbor be the first to deliver a welcome gift. She waits until her Jell-O creation is ready and then turns it out onto a plate as she’s done dozens of times before. Something is wrong, however, and the dish is ruined. Instead, she heats up a peach pie that she froze before Esther’s birth. When she walks it over, she meets the wife and mother of the new neighborhood family, Bitsy Betser, who has a smile pasted on her face. Bitsy judges Lulu’s appearance, especially her lipstick-less mouth. Lulu sees several items that Bitsy must have gotten by redeeming stamps, but Bitsy stiffens when Lulu brings it up. Bitsy’s daughter, Katherine, asks to have some pie, but Bitsy reminds her that sweets will make her fat.

As Lulu looks at the new butterfly wallpaper that Bitsy has put up in the kitchen, she feels the room spin and watches a single butterfly flap its wings in the sunlight. Lulu makes excuses and rushes home, her breasts full of milk. She thinks about Bitsy, who is reserved and whose smile is like a fortress.

Lulu and her father often used to wake during the night; he called this time dormiveglia, an Italian word that means “sleep-wake.” Lulu didn’t mind being awake when she had company. Now, Lulu pours herself a little milk, opens the back door, and sees a gray cat. A light clicks on at the Betsers. When Lulu tastes the milk, she realizes that it’s sour; she hasn’t been to the store since coming home from the hospital. The cat jumps into her lap, and she pets it, deciding to call it Luna. Lulu wonders if her mother ever really loved her. She knows that her mother blames her for what happened to Georgie. Luna falls asleep in Lulu’s lap.