American society has undergone seismic shifts in the last century, but despite them all, our dominant social script for what it looks like to be a Mature Adult in America remains strong. The signifiers are solid, the trajectory more or less assumed: In early adulthood, we live alone (if we can afford it), or maybe with friends (how fun! Extra perk, save money). Over time, those of us who lived alone couple up into domestic romantic partnership, and those of us who lived in groups do the same, or — as we grow our income and develop our own aesthetic taste and living standards and lose some of our social energy — we seek out our own place. This is understood as a temporary step, until we meet our comrades in romantic partnership. And there we stay, unless or until we and our partner decide two people is not enough people, and then we get more, in the form of kids. (Or, we split, re-entering narrative limbo until we safely recombine again.)