Present Natalie reveals she is pregnant with Old Caleb’s child, despite having prayed for anything but pregnancy. She reflects bitterly on the saying about making God laugh with plans, feeling only rising panic as she performs her homesteading chores. Her prayers go unanswered, leaving her feeling abandoned. She views the pregnancy as an extension of God’s test and wonders what will happen to her if she passes or fails that test.

In the past, Natalie meets Shannon at a coffee shop. Natalie is 30, newly pregnant with her fifth child, and her Instagram account has just passed two million followers. Shannon explains that her friends see Natalie as a feminist icon whose lifestyle represents freedom from the maze of traditional corporate structures. Impressed by her rhetoric, she hires Shannon.

A week later, Shannon arrives at Yesteryear and tours the ranch. She notes the house is smaller in person and learns she will share a cramped bedroom with two nannies. When they visit Caleb in the fields, Caleb makes odd comments about rats in New York. As Shannon photographs the hired workers, the mechanical sound of the camera makes Natalie realize she has made a mistake.