She looks at the children in the backseat as the car pulls out of the driveway. Signe pushes Andreas, Baby B sucks energetically on both his pacifier and his thumb, and Tobias, who's put his hood on, presses his head against the window. "We're going to be late," says Nikolaj. "Why did you take so long?" "My mother called. She's still in the hospital." Mia turns on the radio. "I said we'd stop by on our way home." Nikolaj isn't listening to her. He leans forward to see the road better. It's raining. The windows steam up quickly and they have to open the window a crack even though they're driving on the highway and Mia's neck is getting rained on. She passes out candy. Signe says she's car sick. Andreas says he has to pee. And a little while later: "If you don't stop now, I'm going to pee on the seat."
At the gas station Tobias climbs out and lights a cigarette with his back to the car, bending over his phone. By the time they're ready to go, he's drenched. "Tobias reeks of smoke," says Signe, holding her nose. "And wet dog," says Andreas. "Leave Tobias alone," says Mia, who's in an awkward position with one arm reaching into the backseat to give Baby B a bottle. "Can't Signe do it?" asks Nikolaj. "I don't want to," Signe answers. "It's not about wanting to," says Nikolaj, and Mia says, "It's all right. I can do it." The rain is really coming down now. Big trucks pass them, spraying their windshield with dirty water. "We'll never make that ferry." Nikolaj is chomping anxiously on a piece of nicotine gum. "Let's see," says Mia. At last, Baby B falls asleep. Mia watches his pale face and the blood vessels that tint his eyelids blue. She rubs her aching arm and hand. Tobias's phone is constantly making noises. "How come Tobias gets to use his phone in the car and I'm not allowed to?" Signe kicks Nikolaj's backseat rhythmically. "Why aren't you answering me?" "Stop kicking your father's seat," says Mia. "If he can then I can, too," says Signe, taking her phone out. Intolerable noises from Signe's phone mix with noises from Tobias's. "Stop KICKING, Signe," Nikolaj says. "Put your phone away," says Mia. But Signe, who has now stopped kicking continues to play different ringtones. "You're going to wake up Baby B," says Mia, turning around so she can grab Signe's phone. Laughing, Signe lifts it up so she can't reach it. Mia loosens her seatbelt and twists her body around, she's practically on her knees, pressing herself between the two front seats. "I can't see shit when you're sitting like that," says Nikolaj. Mia grabs Signe's arm and wrestles the phone away from her. "Ow! Ow, shit, my fucking arm!" "Watch your mouth." Mia is sweating. Signe pretends she's crying. The baby wakes up with a scream. Mia lifts her hand as if she's going to give Signe a hard slap on the head. "Look what you've done! Give him the pacifier, Andreas." Andreas gives Baby B the pacifier and pats him mechanically on the cheek as he continues reading the comic book. "I want that comic book, it's my turn," whines Signe with a tearful voice. "Mom said we had to share it." "Leave your brothers alone, Signe," says Mia. "I'm not doing anything! You said yourself we had to share it!" She's becoming hysterical. Mia gives her a candy. Then it becomes quiet in the backseat, the only sound is Baby B's wheezing inhalations. "I hope he's not getting sick," Mia says to Nikolaj. "He was coughing so much last night." Nikolaj doesn't answer. She notices how his jaw works when he chews. Mia presses her cheek against the cold damp window. She listens to the windshield wipers and drifts off a bit. Dreamlike thoughts dart around like restless insects. There's something with Nikolaj's hand sliding up in her. Her own mouth that's sucking on his fingers. A bird landing in a treetop. And there are dark images of herself moving down a long corridor where doors on both sides are banging open, but there's no one else there, only these empty offices that open when she walks by and the sound of her shoes hitting the shiny floor. "Are you sleeping?" asks Nikolaj. "No, no." "I don't think he's getting sick," says Nikolaj. And after a brief pause: "When we get there we should make a plan." "A plan?" "For how we want the vacation to go." "What do you mean?" "It's important that we lay down some rules." "What?" "For the kids." Nikolaj glances at her. "Yeah, which chores we want them to do, how far they can go alone, and when they need to be home by." She watches Nikolaj's profile, and reaches over to touch his hair. He glances at her again. She smiles at him. He puts his hand in her lap, and she puts her hands over his. "Tobias is going to babysit once in awhile so we can have some time to ourselves," he says in a low voice. "No way," says Tobias. "I'm leaving on Friday. Niki's getting back from her vacation, and there's no way I'm going to rot in that summerhouse." "Tobias," says Mia, "we've already talked about this, now stop it. Niki's welcome to join us." Tobias shakes his head under his hood. He stares at her coldly in the rearview mirror until Mia slides over to the side so that she's out of his view. "That's what I'm talking about," says Nikolaj. "We need to make clear agreements." "But we've already done that," says Mia. "I want that comic book now. That's what we agreed on," shouts Signe, who has apparently finished eating her candy, judging from her long silence. She rips the magazine out of Andreas's hand and begins kicking the front seat. "I'm hungry," says Andreas. "I'll die of starvation if you don't stop now."
They can see the ship far out at sea when they drive down to the ferry landing. The rain is letting up, and there's one hour before the next boat leaves. "We should've taken the bridge, that's what I said," says Nikolaj. "How much money do we get for candy?" asks Signe. "You said we were going to get money for candy." Mia gets out. Signe pulls on her coat. "Give us the money!" Nikolaj heads for the bathrooms, and Andreas is nowhere to be found. Mia looks down the long row of cars. She looks over at the waiting room where Nikolaj just opened the door and is walking in. "Where's Andreas?" Tobias shrugs his shoulders. She looks toward the sea. "Where IS he?" She calls out. She yells his name. She runs past the cars. She goes all the way over to the first car in line and then runs to the gangplank connecting the harbor to the ferry. Andreas isn't there either. She hears the waves hitting hard against the pier and stops, out of breath, to look up and down the coast. There's no sign of his green windbreaker, or his blonde hair. She now imagines the boy dead, the funeral, her own derangement, and she even starts to imagine how she'll lose interest in the other children if Andreas is gone. She'll lose interest in Nikolaj, and won't be able to live with him or anyone else. The wind rips through her coat and blows her hair in her face. Suddenly a red burning hate for all of them surges through her, then she breaks down and starts crying uncontrollably with strange, ugly sounds that are quickly carried away by the wind. Then she can't breathe in between the wails, as if the wind is preventing it, and she becomes overwhelmed by an even greater and terrifying anxiety for her own life, her own death. That's how she's standing there, swaying with her coat flapping, one hand on her mouth, her eyes wet and wild, when Tobias appears, walking toward her at a very slow pace. He has his hands in his pockets, his hood tied around his face, and the wind fills his oversized pants with air. He looks ridiculous. He stands next to her. Mia is overcome by a new fit of crying. She tries to say Andreas's name but all that comes out of her mouth is sobs. "Calm down. They found him." She takes her hand away from her mouth. "Where?!" she screams. "Who knows. He went down to look at some car." "A car?!" she screams. Tobias gives her a look of contempt. "Yeah. A car." He pulls his shoulders up and lets them fall, then he turns and begins to walk away from her at the same slow pace as before, back toward the endless row of cars. One last time, Mia looks out across the water. She sighs deeply and rubs her eyes. Then she staggers back after him.