Henry’s first meeting with Alba

Henry’s first meeting with Alba occurs in the future, before her birth in his present, and makes his time-displacement condition an intimate family encounter rather than an abstract possibility. At the Art Institute of Chicago, he sees his ten-year-old daughter, learns that she remembers him from earlier visits and that he died when she was five, then disappears moments before he can reunite with Clare. The scene gives their connection a joyful, embodied reality even as it reveals how little time they have together.

Circumstances and Setting

Henry arrives in the future while Clare is about to give birth to Alba. He finds himself in the Surrealist Galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago, wearing borrowed clothing and unsure exactly when he has landed. He plans to find ordinary necessities and spend time in the museum, and is surprised to feel unusually strong and present. The chance to see a future version of the world exhilarates him, but it is shadowed by the knowledge that Clare may be giving birth in his present and that he wants to be with her.

In a dark gallery, Henry watches a school group discuss the boxes of Joseph Cornell. A girl in the group argues that Cornell made them because he was lonely and wanted to love something, to be known, and to make a safe place for birds. She connects the birds’ freedom with the artist’s own desire to be free and safe. The teacher thanks the girl, Alba, for her perceptive answer. Henry recognizes his daughter in this unexpected account of loneliness, love, and refuge: before he knows her as a family member in person, her way of seeing the artwork gives him an impression of her character.

Recognition and Reunion

Henry steps toward Alba; she sees his face, leaps up, and knocks over her folding chair. He catches her in his arms as she repeatedly calls him Daddy. Their spontaneous recognition and embrace transform a school visit into a meeting between a father and daughter who have not yet met in the order of Henry’s life. The teacher, unsure who he is and unwilling simply to let him take a child away from the group, asks for confirmation.

Alba resolves the uncertainty by calling her mother on her cell phone. She tells Clare that her father is there and asks her to confirm his identity to the teacher. The practical safeguard matters: Alba can recognize Henry and explain who he is, but the adults around them need reassurance that this startling reunion is real. Her calm initiative also makes her an active participant in bringing her parents into contact, not merely the child at the center of Henry’s discovery.

What Alba Knows

Once the teacher’s concern has been addressed, Henry and Alba sit together on a bench in front of a Tang-dynasty porcelain dragon. Henry tells her that this is the first time he has met her. She responds with composed politeness, then explains that she has not seen him much: their last meeting was about a year earlier, and she had seen him a few times when she was eight. Their family relationship therefore already exists in Alba’s experience, although it lies ahead of Henry’s present and remains unfamiliar to him.

Henry asks how old she was when he died. Alba answers that she was five. Her matter-of-fact reply makes his future death a fact known to his daughter, while it remains a terrible discovery for him. She immediately worries that she should not have told him; Henry reassures her that he asked. When he asks how Clare is, Alba says that she is okay but sad. Henry cannot bear to learn more. In a few spare exchanges, the scene establishes both a future bereavement and the continuing emotional cost of Henry’s absence for Clare and Alba.

Separation and Significance

As Henry and Alba wait for Clare outside, his time-displacement begins to pull him away. On a rainy day, they stand together at the museum entrance; because Alba has no coat, he wraps his own around them. He clings to the opportunity to see Clare as well, but cannot control how long he remains. When Alba spots her mother arriving in a white car, Clare jumps out and leaves it blocking traffic as she runs toward them.

Henry tries to reach Clare, collapses on the steps, and stretches out his arms toward her. With Alba holding him, he manages to tell Clare that he loves her before he disappears. The reunion thus ends not in a shared family meeting but in another abrupt separation. Alba’s account has given Henry a glimpse of their future closeness and his own death, while his final seconds with Clare repeat the central condition of his life: love is made vivid in moments of presence that time can suddenly take away. The event also reverses the usual imbalance between parent and child. For once, Alba knows the history Henry does not, and her recognition gives him a place in a family future he can only visit briefly.