And here it is…the final chapter of Forever! Thank you so much for all of your support and helping me get my first ever FanFic up and running. All of your reviews and following and "favoriting" has motivated me to keep writing all of these chapters for you guys. Thank you so much, and please don't hesitate to give me feedback and suggestions!

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Chapter 28

Alicia, Zach, and Grace were having a yummy pizza and breadsticks dinner at Will's apartment and were laughing in reaction to everyone's funny childhood stories when Alicia's phone buzzed in her purse. Everybody stopped talking almost instantly, and an eerie silence filled the room that was pierced only by the buzzing of Alicia's cell phone.

Alicia went over to pick up her phone, which had been sitting on the kitchen island, and debated whether to answer when she saw Eli Gold on the caller ID. She was having a lovely evening, hadn't had to have a screaming match with Peter today, and Eli could be calling to tell her that Peter was indeed going to take her to court and risk his public image.

Or he could be calling to tell her that Peter had agreed to sign the divorce papers.

After her complex thinking process, only a few seconds had passed and her phone was still ringing. With her back turned to Will and her kids, she put one of her hands on the kitchen counter and pressed answer with the other hand, putting her phone to her left ear.

"Hello, Eli."

"Good evening, Alicia," Eli said in a more positive manner. "I have news for you."

"And that would be?" she asked suspiciously.

"Peter just signed the divorce papers. They'll be on their way to your office tomorrow."

Alicia did a double take and went silent with disbelief. She couldn't believe it. "What?" was all she could get out of her mouth. She was starting to be overcome with joy.

"You heard me, Alicia," Eli replied, "Let's just say I gave Peter a little pep talk and he would rather have this go away quietly. So, you'll have your copy at Florrick/Agos tomorrow."

"Oh my God," Alicia said, smiling. Behind her, Will and both the kids were looking at each other, confused at what was happening.

Alicia finished the phone call soon after. "Thank you, Eli. And tell Peter thank you, even though that sounds weird."

"I will, Alicia," Eli replied, "Have a good night." Alicia pressed 'End' and put her phone down on the table before turning around with a straight face.

"Will, can I talk to the kids for a minute?"

"Sure, sure," Will replied, still confused as he stood up and left the room. Once Alicia heard his bedroom door shut, she sat back down and began to speak.

"As you probably heard, I just talked to Eli."

"And?" Zach asked bluntly.

"Your father agreed to sign the divorce papers that I sent to him yesterday. It will be official tomorrow."

Zach and Grace exchanged looks, and Grace replied, "Okay. So you guys are divorced now."

"Technically, yes. Officially, tomorrow we will be divorced," Alicia replied, bracing herself for what the kids might say. But she was relieved when Zach said, "Okay. I'm just glad you two got it sorted out."

"Is there some sort of custody clause or something? 'Cause I'm still under 18?" Grace asked.

Alicia replied, "It doesn't really matter that much, but until you turn 18, your father and I are splitting custody. But he wouldn't mess with it, I promise."

"Okay, just wondering because you're a lawyer," Grace replied. Grace leaned forward and said, "Are you going to tell Will?" with a raised eyebrow. Zach looked his mom straight in the eye as well, a small smile creeping onto his face.

Alicia said, "Will you go get him, please?"

"Sure," Zach said, leaving the table. Less than a minute later, Zach returned with a still somewhat confused Will and after everyone was seated again, Will asked, "Is something wrong?"

"No, no," Alicia replied in an attempt to reassure him. When her mom hesitated, Grace asked, "Do you want to tell Will by yourself?"

Alicia blanked, and when she couldn't say anything else, Grace knew she had her answer and led her brother out of the room. Once a door shut in the back hallway, Will asked, "Alicia? Are you okay?"

Alicia looked up, unsure of how it was going to come out, and blurted out, "Peter signed the divorce papers. It becomes official tomorrow."

Will was shocked. Peter? Signing divorce papers? Not putting up a fight? Not plotting some crazy, politically smart comeback? "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Alicia confirmed, her mouth suddenly breaking into an uncontainable smile. "Peter and I are done. We're over," she replied, taking off her wedding ring and sticking it in her purse, saying, "I certainly don't want to wear this anymore," as she did so. Will's mouth was now breaking into a smile too.

He stood and after he reached Alicia, he helped her to stand up and gave her a long, happy, and passionate kiss. When they pulled back a little and made eye contact, Alicia could see that a new fire had been ignited in Will's eyes, and to Will, Alicia's eyes seemed clearer and brighter. "You know what?" Will asked.

"What?"

"I think we need some more wine," Will said. As he ran to open another bottle of wine, Alicia called, "Zach! Grace! Come on in here!"

Will had poured two glasses of red wine by the time Zach and Grace returned, and after they had gotten refills on their soda, Alicia said, "To a fresh start, and to moving on."

"Here, here," Will said out loud, and Zach and Grace smiled as the four of them clinked their glasses together. As Zach and Grace started talking to Will about some topic related to the divorce and Will and Alicia being together, Alicia glanced over at the counter at the bottle of wine that Will had just opened.

She recognized the label instantly, and as Zach and Grace ran off to the living room to tune into their Tuesday night TV show, she pulled Will close to her and said, gesturing to the wine, "Why that one?"

"Why not that one?" Will posed in reply. He had been waiting since his first day home from the hospital to open that bottle of wine. When he had bought it during his first trip to the grocery store post-hospital (with Josephine following him, of course), he had promised himself that since the only other time he had drunk it was in Alicia's company, he wouldn't open another bottle of it until they were finally together.

And luckily that day had finally come to drink Valley Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 once again.

With Alicia.

***Four Days Later***

While sipping her usual morning coffee in her kitchen, Alicia heard a familiar bang on the other side of the front door, which usually signaled the arrival of the Sunday paper.

But today wasn't Sunday.

Why is there a paper on a Saturday?

Wait, it isn't the paper, silly you. That was a knock.

Which meant that someone knocked on the other side. What?

She finally walked over to the door and look through the peephole.

And there he was. In the flesh.

The one and only Will Gardner.

Alicia couldn't help but smile as she opened the door and said, "Good morning."

"Good morning," Will replied with a smirk as he held up a paper bag that read Panera Bread on both sides. "I thought I might get you some of your favorite sesame bagels."

"Oh my gosh, thank you," Alicia said, happily taking the paper bag and turning for the kitchen, leaving the door open for Will to follow. Once she had sliced two bagels and put them in the toaster, she turned around as Will pulled something out of his jacket.

"I saw this at one of the newsstands this morning, and while I don't usually read the Saturday paper, this morning's Illinois section headline is quite interesting."

"What do you mean?" Alicia asked before she remembered. The State Dinner was last night. And you didn't go - even though Zach and Grace still went. "Did Eli come up with some creative excuse for the absence of the First Lady?" Alicia asked out loud, tilting her head before continuing, "Oh right. There is no more first lady as of three days ago." This made Will smile and walk over to stand beside her as she opened to the front page of the Illinois section.

Just left of center was a photo of Peter shaking hands with the Mayor of Chicago. Big smiles, albeit somewhat fake, graced both of their faces as their eyes focused on the camera. The caption read, Governor Florrick and Chicago's Mayor Emanuel announce plans for new funding of public transportation and social services at Friday's State Dinner.

But the picture hadn't been what Will was referring to. He pointed Alicia to the headline and the sub-headline. The headline read, in big capital letters: STATE DINNER AN APPARENT SUCCESS.

What did the sub-headline read? The only downer? The absence of Alicia Florrick.

Alicia chuckled at the reporter's tone as she scanned the article looking for her name. She finally stumbled upon the second the last paragraph, in which the author got right to the point.

Of course, among all the successes, was one important absence that might as well be noted because this person is sometimes more of a pleasure to talk with than the governor himself. Who might I be talking about? The First Lady Alicia Florrick, of course. She did not make an appearance at the highly anticipated State Dinner, and the only comment Eli Gold, Governor Florrick's Chief of Staff, offered was this: "Alicia has taken ill at this time and is taking time off from work and gubernatorial appearances in order to ensure a quick recovery."

Alicia laughed as she leaned against Will's shoulder. Eli had definitely told a cheesy, sugar-coated lie. But it seemed to have worked. Nowhere in the article was the possibility of imminent (or past) divorce mentioned. Not once. "You see what I mean now?" Will asked finally.

"Yeah, I do," Alicia replied, still looking at the sub-headline and the small paragraph about her, "Eli is certainly a creative liar." This made Will laugh as well, and Alicia took the opportunity to put the paper down on the table and wrap her hands around Will's neck to pull him in for a kiss. Will happily obliged, and pulled away to put cream cheese on the bagels when they were done toasting. They had the place to themselves because Zach and Grace were spending the weekend with Peter. I wonder if they got a kick out of this headline, Alicia thought to herself, fully knowing that Zach and Grace were siding with her more than their father at this point. She just hoped that Peter would eventually adjust to this new reality.

Because she already had.

As she looked at Will, who was sitting next to her and chowing down on his bagel and cream cheese, she smiled to herself as she internally rejoiced at where she was.

She was finally free of Peter and his crazy ways.

Zach and Grace still loved her and supported her.

Florrick/Agos and Associates, thanks to the help of a few contacts, was finally taking off.

But most of all, she was deeper in love with Will than she had ever been before.

And now, they were free.

To be together.

Forever.