Winter Garden

After dinner, Nina suggests that she and Meredith get drunk. They take shots of tequila and begin talking. Nina asks Meredith if anything is wrong, but Meredith isn’t ready to tell her about Jeff, so she deflects the question. Nina brings up the fairy tale again, but Meredith insists that she won’t listen to any more of their mother’s stories and goes back to packing boxes.

Nina takes the vodka to her mother’s room and tells Anya that she promised Evan she’d listen to the entire fairy tale. Nina’s statement reminds Anya of her own promise: She drinks a shot of vodka and says if she tells the story, she must do it her way. There will be no interruptions, she’ll only tell it at night, and they’ll never mention it during the day. Nina turns off the lights, and Anya begins the fairy tale from the point when Vera is planning to sneak out and see Sasha, the prince.

Vera helps Mama in the kitchen as she prepares food for the winter. Vera is almost 16 and preoccupied with Sasha. Vera asks her mother to tell the story about how she and Petyr, Vera’s father, met. The teen thinks the story is romantic and knows her mother will understand her feelings for the prince.