Cathedral

“Why do we need other people? she seemed to be saying. We have each other.” 

Jack believes that his wife agrees that the two of them are complete as a couple. She has no interest in going to dinner at Bud and Olla’s home, and he is certain that she does not want children. But that night is also the night that they stop being a two-person family. After playing with Olla and Bud’s baby, Fran either changes her mind or shows that she wanted children all along. She becomes pregnant and later, both agree that it would have been better to remain alone together.

“They don’t call them birds of paradise for nothing.”

Bud refers to their pet peacock, a strange, out-of-place bird in the middle of country farmland. But Bud procured the peacock because Olla always wanted one. The peacock represents the escape to paradise that they will never be able to achieve. In photos, the bird is exotic, beautiful, and majestic. But in real life, Bud complains that the bird is smelly and demanding, and Jack and Fran find him terrifying when they first pull into the driveway.

“This has been a happy home up to now, he said.” 

Wes just learns that Chef needs the couple to move out of his house. And although Edna attributes their happiness to his sobriety and the rebuilding of their relationship, Wes demonstrates that he believes that the reason they were happy together was that the house was an oasis away from their troubles.