Alex, a 32-year-old Russian-American man, greets his 22-year-old girlfriend when she arrives at their new house outside of New York City. She arrives with packages, fresh laundry, and other items. Alex's girlfriend tells him she is exhausted from their move. She also says that she got ice cream for their daughter, Heloise. For two years, Alex and his girlfriend have had an inside joke about Heloise. They would call every bundle the girlfriend would carry "Heloise," whether it's salt, laundry, flour, or corn meal. But as Alex is ten years older than his girlfriend, he now began to feel tired of keeping up with it. Alex's girlfriend wishes they could raise Heloise in the country, but Alex reminds her they don't have the money. His girlfriend looks outside at the windy and dark weather and speaks to an annoyed Alex as he tries to read the newspaper. She asks Alex if he wants to go swim, but he says it's too cold. She argues that they won't have another chance to swim until the following summer. After a while of looking outside, Alex's girlfriend exclaims that she hates moving and hates autumn. She begins to speak to Heloise, and muses that someday they will move to the country and live a peaceful life without the annoyance of city noises and distracting people. She tells Alex that Heloise is a good baby for not throwing tantrums after they moved back and forth between the country and the city. Alex dismissively tells her he is trying to read. She begins to sob and says that she wants a child. Alex reminds her they can't afford one, and there's nothing they can do about their situation now. She reminds Alex that he can marry her, and he questions what difference it would make. She retorts that it would matter to her. Alex's girlfriend asks Heloise to comfort her mother, and says that "father doesn't understand us at all." She begins to speak in French, and Alex begs her to stop. She starts to sing the nursery rhyme "Frère Jacques," and Alex felt the greatest sense of "finality and estrangement" from the song's words that he'd never felt before.