“Jeffrey,” Jill said, “he already said yes. It’s fine.”
Kalina stood and Jeffrey gave her a hug. The three fellows, arm in arm, walked out of Dr. Grind’s office, and Preston understood that the family had expanded yet again and wondered if, as the project continued, how many other people would come on board, how else the world he had created would start to slowly transform into something beyond his control. It was, he knew from experience, not unlike a real family, the ways you accepted the uncertainty and kept your heart open for whatever might follow.
That night, after everyone had eaten and the children had been put to bed, Dr. Grind awkwardly invited the parents into one of the common rooms to discuss, as he called it, “a family matter,” instantly feeling that this phrase sounded overwrought and silly, but he did not amend it. The parents arranged themselves on sofas and beanbag chairs, or leaned against the wall, a few of them holding wineglasses as if they were attending an open-mic poetry reading. Dr. Grind took a seat on one of the sofas and then felt too obscured and stood up to address the parents.
Just as he was about to speak, Harris said, “Are you shutting down the project?” Dr. Grind, dumbfounded, looked over at Harris, who was so pale it seemed that he had lost half of the blood in his body.
“No,” Dr. Grind replied. “Absolutely not.”
A few of the other parents audibly breathed out in relief and readjusted their positions in their seats. Harris, who Dr. Grind remembered had lost his last business to bankruptcy, then said, “You should always make that immediately clear when you call a mysterious meeting.”
“Sorry,” Dr. Grind said. “It’s nothing like that, though. It’s good news, truly. Dr. Kwon is pregnant.” He noticed the looks of surprise on the faces of some of the parents, but he was more curious about the parents who seemed entirely unsurprised by this news. Julie, in fact, had her arms folded across her chest and merely nodded.
“It seems that some of you already knew this,” Dr. Grind said. He then looked around the room as five or six parents nodded in agreement. “Kalina told you?” he asked. Julie shook her head and then said, “I just knew. You guys try so hard to keep your private lives separate from us, but we know things. We’re observant.” Nina then nodded and said, “It wasn’t that hard to notice.” Jeremy admitted that he’d had no idea, and Dr. Grind noticed that Julie rolled her eyes, which he filed away for later examination, as any possible signs of fracturing in the family.
“Well,” Dr. Grind continued, slightly unsteadied by the reception to his revelation, “just so we’re all on the same page, Dr. Kwon is pregnant, which signals a rather interesting shift in the dynamics of the family.”
“Who’s the dad?” Carmen asked. “Is she getting married?”
Dr. Grind scanned the room, looking at all the men, but one of them had an excellent poker face. “Well, that’s complicated. The father will not be in the picture. Kalina will be raising the child on her own.”
Link then raised his hand, and Dr. Grind, feeling awkward, gestured toward Link, who then said, “I’m confused. Is she going to stay?”
Dr. Grind hesitated for a second, trying to parse the emotions within that question. Was he the father? Did he want Kalina out of the project in order to keep his infidelity a secret? Finally, he said, “Well, that’s what we’re here to talk about. I’m afraid I didn’t entirely plan for this possibility, but it strikes me as an extension of the work we’re doing here. In my opinion, we should welcome Dr. Kwon’s new child into the complex, to be an important component of our family.”
There was a palpable silence in the room, and Dr. Grind felt that tinge of expectation, the knowledge that the bad thing was about to strike, too late to prevent it, but enough time to feel the dread of impending pain.
“I disagree,” Link finally said, now standing up, his hand resting on Julie’s shoulder. “A few of us have been talking about this development for a little while now, and I don’t want to force anyone else to have to speak, but we agreed that it would not be in the best interests of our family, meaning the nineteen parents and ten children, the Infinite Family, to have this unknown element in the complex. You have to admit that it brings up quite a few difficult challenges to the project. As a researcher, I would think you would be a little more resistant to adding this unknown element into the project.”