Two days later, Julie, Viola, and Victoria came over to join Elizabeth and Jack for lunch. The plan was for the sisters to spend time together before Nathan and Allie would join the group for dinner. Nathan was working during the day while Allie spent time with Carole and Archie. Elizabeth had prepared grilled cheese sandwiches along with tomato soup for everyone. The children split a sandwich and each had a small bowl of soup. The family enjoyed lunch at Elizabeth's kitchen table.

"Beth, I'm so sad that Rosemary has a five show weekend. We wanted to tell her how much we loved Anastasia yesterday afternoon. Didn't we sweetheart?" Viola asked her daughter.

"Yes Mum"

"We've been to the theater in London but this was Victoria's first Broadway show of course."

"And hopefully not the last!" added Julie.

"Funny you should say that Jules," mumbled Viola.

"What was that, Vi?"

"Oh nothing Beth."

"Julie, are you sure Charles can't join us for dinner? He and Nathan have taken a shine to one another and I'm sure Nathan would enjoy not being the only male here."

"Beth, he's not the only male here. We have this little man too," Julie said as she bent over to give LIttle Jack a kiss on the forehead.

The little boy responded to his Aunt Julie with a giggle.

"Point taken! But I just think it would be nice for Nathan to have some adult male company so he's not overwhelmed by Thatcher women."

Julie laughed. "Ok Beth, I'll ask him again. I know he was busy with some cousins today. I was originally supposed to join him but I wouldn't miss sister time for the world."

"Thank you Julie."

"No problem," Julie said as she pulled out her phone and sent a text.

Viola had quietly watched the conversation between her sisters transpire. She had always thought she knew what she wanted in life but being back in NY for almost three days now was telling her otherwise. The eldest Thatcher sister quietly contemplated how to broach the subject of her future. Even with the distance and years apart, her sisters could still read her like a book and would know something was wrong sooner rather than later. The sound of Julie's text message interrupted her thoughts.

"Beth, Charles can't make it. One of his cousins went to Cornell and they are playing a hockey game at Madison Square Garden tonight so they got tickets. We will just have to keep Nathan entertained ourselves."

"Where Nat'an?" Little Jack squealed and looked around the room for Nathan.

"He's working, sweet boy. But he and Allie will come over and play with you later." Elizabeth told her son as she bent over to kiss his forehead. "Why don't you show Victoria some of your toys over in the play area?"

Little Jack responded with a toddler giggle. Elizabeth picked up her son out of his booster seat and put him on his feet. Victoria shyly came over to her little cousin and followed Jack over to the play area. The three sisters remained at the table and watched the children play for a bit. Elizabeth finally looked at Viola and figured it was time for some sister talk. The children had other ideas though.

"Mummy!"

"Yes, sweet girl?"

"Jack is falling asleep!"

Both Elizabeth and Viola were chuckling and on their feet in an instant. Elizabeth quickly scooped up her now drowsy son and held him close.

"I'm just going to take him upstairs to put him down for his nap."

"That's not a bad idea, Beth. I think Jack isn't the only one here who could use a nap. What do you say, Victoria?"

The little girl nodded at Viola.

"Follow me then, Vi."

Viola lifted a now yawning Victoria in her arms and followed Elizabeth and a now sleeping Jack upstairs. After getting Jack changed and settled in his crib, Elizabeth helped Viola get Victoria settled in the day bed that was in Jack's room. This way Victoria wouldn't be all alone in a strange room when she woke up. The sisters walked arm in arm back to the kitchen where they found a now clean kitchen table courtesy of their baby sister.

"I made us some tea. I thought we could enjoy it with the cookies that Vi brought."

"That's perfect, Julie. Thank you!" said Elizabeth.

The three sisters got settled at the kitchen table once again with their tea and a platter of cookies.

"So Vi, I know we haven't been close for a while but I get the feeling there is more to your visit than simply spending Thanksgiving with the family?"

"Beth, you can still read me like a book."

"It's the Thatcher intuition."

"Apparently so," said Viola as tears filled her eyes.

Julie reached over and held Viola's hand while she composed herself.

"I'm glad you're both here because I haven't confided this in anyone yet. Not even Mother and Father."

Elizabeth and Julie looked at their sister with concern.

"Lionel and I are getting divorced."

"What?" asked Julie.

"You heard me. We are getting divorced. We've actually been separated for six months now. Since we live on a small estate belonging to his family, Lionel has been staying in one of the guest cottages while Victoria and I are in the main house. I only see him when he comes to take Victoria for the day."

"Oh Vi! I'm so sorry. I had no idea." said Elizabeth as she leaned over to squeeze Viola's arm.

"What will you do, Vi? Your whole reason for moving to London was to be Lionel's wife and live the regal life."

"Well Jules, real life is nothing like Downton Abbey. Lionel still had a career running his family's venture capital fund and then still had to find time for all the society invites we got. We hardly ever saw each other. On top of that, I was bored out of my mind entertaining and going to charity events all the time. It just wasn't for me."

"Vi, I'm not trying to judge but, I'm really stunned. You were so excited to move to London with Lionel and you seemed to love playing the society wife role like Mother." said Elizabeth.

"Beth, I was happy at first. I thought I wanted to be just like Mother too. And I was so excited to move to London. It was so different from NYC and I could be out of Mother and Father's shadow. I'm not as brave and independent as you are."

Viola was crying now so Elizabeth moved her chair next to her older sister and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Julie kept her hand on Viola's other arm.

"You are much more brave and independent than you think, Viola. Not many people can pick up and move across the ocean like you did. You built a life for your family and birthed my beautiful niece in London. Give yourself some credit."

Viola smiled through her tears. "Thanks Beth. I am so grateful to be here right now."

"What are your plans, Vi? You and Lionel share a small child."

"Well Julie, I want to come home. I want to be closer to you and Beth and Mother and Father."

"You want to move back here?" asked Elizabeth.

"I do. As I said, Lionel and I have been separated for six months now. We barely see one another or communicate aside from coordinating visitation for Victoria. My little girl has dual citizenship here and in the UK. And at her age, now is the ideal time to make a move like this before she starts kindergarten."

Elizabeth wiped tears from her eyes and spoke quietly. "If I'm allowed to ask, what about Lionel? Doesn't he want to be part of Victoria's life? Don't you want him to? He's her father."

"Believe it or not, this is one of the few things we have discussed. And he is supportive of my decision. He knows that I've been miserable in London for some time now. And he doesn't want that reflected on our daughter. We've discussed a tentative schedule for visitation. It would involve both of us flying back and forth with Victoria for a while but we are prepared to do so. New York will be our primary home and where she is schooled."

Elizabeth and Julie exchanged a look before Julie spoke.

"Vi, we will support you of course. And nothing would make me happier than to have both of my sisters nearby again. But you and Lionel seemed really happy together. What happened?"

"Things were really great when I first moved to London. We were newlyweds and happy settling in. Lionel was slowly taking over the family business and his responsibilities grew more and more. I was busy supporting a long list of charities through fundraising and local events. At first, Lionel would join me but over time, he would always have to work. And he just stopped putting me first.

When Victoria came along, he was a very attentive father at first and then he started working constantly again. It was almost like he was running away from something. And he also wasn't sensitive to my unhappiness. I don't want to say I regret moving to London because I wouldn't have Victoria. But it's just not what I had envisioned for my life. There are only so many charity events one can take. I know Mother thrives on it but it's just not for me. I want my own career like you two have."

"Do you still love him?" asked Elizabeth.

"I'll always love him as Victoria's father but I don't feel like I'm in love with him anymore. Quite honestly, I don't know if I ever was. I think I was in love with the idea of being his wife but I never felt any spark. I watch you with your precious Nathan and I see that spark. The way he looks at you and treats you like you're the most important person in the world to him and vice versa. Julie, the same thing goes with Charles. He is madly in love with you and you with him. Lionel and I never had that. For the longest time, I felt like I didn't deserve that but now seeing the two of you so happy, I've realized that maybe there is someone out there for me too. But it's certainly not a priority. My priority is to settle the divorce and custody arrangements and then start over here. I do want to live in the city so I'll start out at Mother and Father's townhouse and then find a place of my own. I hope you don't think less of me because of all this. I know it sounds selfish but I don't think it is."

"Viola, I've always felt that true love is worth fighting for. And sometimes I need to be reminded of that too. In fact, I had to be in order to let down my walls and accept being with another detective after Jack. But if you feel that you and Lionel didn't have that, then you have to do what's best for your mental health. That's what will ultimately be best for your daughter. My son will never know Jack and Allie lost Colleen when she was Victoria's age so I'm glad that you and Lionel are figuring out a way to keep him in Victoria's life."

"Beth, I would never deprive him of his daughter. You have my word on that."

The three sisters hugged one another.

"I'm going to go and freshen up and splash some water on my face." said Viola as she stood up.

After she left the kitchen, Elizabeth and Julie looked at each other again and spoke quietly.

"Beth, I was not expecting this at all. It's sudden to us but it sounds like Vi has been thinking about this for a long time now."

"I know Julie. And I'm still stunned. I know what Vi said but I just have a hard time believing that she and Lionel weren't in love. They certainly looked like they were."

"I agree but it's ultimately not our decision."

"What's not your decision?" asked Viola as she walked back into the room.

"Vi, are you sure this is what you want? I don't mean to press but something feels off."

Viola bit her lip to try to prevent the tears which started falling anyway.

"Beth, please don't…"

"Vi, what is it?" Tell us the truth, please…"

"Ok fine. Lionel cheated on me with his assistant. Everything I told you was the truth. We really did drift apart and I was unhappy. But I didn't realize he was too."

Elizabeth pulled her sister into a hug and held her as she cried.

Eventually, Viola stopped and took a step back. Julie motioned to her sisters to join her in the living room where she had three tall glasses of water ready. The three women sat in the living room. Viola took a long gulp of water and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I had suspected for a while that Lionel's attention wasn't on me or our marriage. Last Christmas, we attended his office's annual Christmas party and I could tell there was something going on between him and Rebecca. He looked at her in a way he has never looked at me so I just knew. After the new year, I confronted him and he denied anything was going on. About a month later, I found a set of keys in his car and I confronted him again. They were the keys to Rebecca's apartment. He finally came clean and that's when he moved into the cottage."

"Oh Vi, I'm so sorry!" said Elizabeth.

"How awful, Vi. He's lucky he's not here right now or I'd give him a piece of my mind!" added Julie.

Viola finally chuckled. "You two always know how to make a girl smile. That's why I want to move back here. I want to rebuild my life on my terms and be around the people I love."

Julie leaned over and pulled her sister into a hug. "And we will help you do that, Vi."

"I agree with Julie. But you're going to have to tell Mother and Father too."

"I plan to do that tomorrow. I wanted to tell you both first. Thank you for not judging me. I've been blaming myself for all this for months now and I wasn't close enough to either of you to share remotely. I finally summoned the courage to come here last week when Lionel asked about filing divorce papers. I just can't live there any longer and watch him with Rebecca."

"We get it Vi. You'll always have a home here. And you're welcome to stay here with Jack and I as well."

"Oh Beth. Dear Beth. You'll be happily married to Nathan before you know it and I don't want to intrude on that."

Elizabeth laughed. "Vi, we've only known each other since August. It's November now. I'm sure that's a ways off. Though I did overhear Father giving him his blessing a few weeks ago but Nathan doesn't know that I know that. I don't want to pressure him at all if he isn't ready."

"My naive little sister, Elizabeth. You always were a bit of a romantic albeit a practical one. There is no right moment for love. You and Nathan are head over heels for one another. It's obvious. And you two need to create a blended family with those two precious children and any more that come along. It's perfect. Don't deprive those children of that beautiful family any longer than necessary. And you and Nathan deserve it too. You've both been through so much heartache–it's time for hearts to heal together. Trust me, Beth. I may not be a marriage expert but I know a great love story when I see it."

Elizabeth simply blushed as the doorbell rang. She smiled at her sisters and got up to answer the door. Nathan and Allie were standing there with big smiles on their faces. After they walked into the house, Allie was immediately fussed over by Julie and Viola while Nathan stayed close to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's breath caught as she took in her handsome boyfriend.

"Hi love," said Nathan.

"Hi yourself," said Elizabeth.

"Did we miss anything interesting?"

"Yes! But it's a long story. For now, I'll just say that it's all perfect."

Elizabeth ignored the confused look on Nathan's face and leaned up to kiss him tenderly.