[1][2][3] Set in late 1999, the story concerns itself with the interjection of Annabelle, the illegitimate daughter to the now deceased Harry Angstrom, into the life of his middle-aged son Nelson, now separated from his wife Pru.

Ronnie, who had an affair with Ruth before Harry did, asks Annabelle how it feels to be "the bastard child of a whore and a bum?"

Christmas is then marred by news of Michael's suicide, dispelling with finality the widely shared impression that his condition had been improving.

Nelson, Annabelle, Pru, and Billy, see the film American Beauty on New Year's Eve 1999, but get stuck in traffic as the new millennium dawns.

The novella ends with the hope that the marriage of Nelson and Pru may recover and that Annabelle may marry Billy.