The Expatriates

The expat community is sparse in the summer as people travel for vacation. Clarke suggests that they go to California and visit family. Margaret doesn’t refuse but privately wonders if she will be able to do it. She thinks about the aftermath of the party and wonders if she is capable of forgiving Mercy. She types a hasty email to her on her phone.

Hilary has been moving forward with the adoption. She meets David for lunch, and he apologizes for blowing up their lives so hastily but admits that they are better off divorced. He also agrees to remain her husband on the adoption paperwork to make the process go smoothly.

Reluctantly, he confesses that he met Mercy (whom Hilary does not know) and got her pregnant. Hilary manages to get over her initial hurt and is indignant when she learns that he has been so absent from Mercy’s life. Unwittingly echoing Mercy’s words, she urges him to be a “good guy” and do the right thing.

Mercy gets a part-time job working at an antique store owned by a woman from the Korean church. While working there one day, she receives Margaret’s email. Margaret tells her that she is trying to find a way forward and wonders how Mercy is doing. She says she is not sure why she is writing but says that “[m]aybe this is just a hand lifted up to see what is out there” (300). Mercy is shocked to hear from Margaret but thinks that theirs is a relationship with no rulebook.

Margaret runs into Hilary on the street, who tells her about moving forward with the adoption. She also tells her that David has gotten a young woman named Mercy pregnant. Reeling, Margaret leaves without a word.

Hilary is shocked by Margaret’s departure and abruptly realizes that Mercy is the babysitter who lost G.

Contemplating Margaret’s email and her future, Mercy returns home to the apartment, where her mother is making dinner. She finally confesses everything to her mother, telling her about losing G and feeling like she is cursed. Her mother insists that she loves Mercy and tells her that fate can be changed. She also thinks that Mercy has a right to be happy, and Margaret cannot deny her that. Mercy does not feel alone anymore.

Margaret plans to meet Mercy for dinner, though she has not told Clarke. The Reades are planning to visit California in July, and Margaret has tentatively agreed to go.

Mercy and Margaret have an awkward conversation at a café. They both admit that they are expecting to have hard feelings toward one another, but neither of them feels that way. Mercy realizes that both of them wish for happiness.

In a daze, Margaret rides public transit to her apartment sanctuary. When she arrives, she realizes that she no longer feels comfortable there. She decides that it is time to return home to her family.

Mercy has decided to have the baby in Hong Kong, accompanied by her mother. Afterward, they might go to the US or Korea, but she no longer worries about the future since she is not alone. Margaret has been kind, allowing her to visit and see Daisy and Philip. She feels so guilty that she starts to offer her baby to them, but Margaret physically stops her, putting a hand over her mouth and telling her not to even think about it.

Hilary is finally content, answering emails about the adoption and converting her office into a bedroom for Julian. She thinks that once the adoption is finalized and they are settled, they will move back to California for a new start.

Margaret and Clarke take their children to the beach. Margaret watches them play and tentatively recognizes that the emotion she is feeling is happiness. She remembers that her therapist told her she would get better little by little, not in one miraculous instant. She thinks to herself that she will hold on to this moment.

Mercy gives birth to her daughter in a Hong Kong hospital. She is full of love but is also overwhelmed by breastfeeding and sleeplessness. She is surprised when Margaret and Hilary arrive with gifts and well wishes. Margaret helps her pump and get her daughter to latch. The women reassure her that they have come with no ulterior motives. Mercy’s mother arrives, bringing food from the apartment. Mercy thinks that all the women recognize each other because of their shared bond of motherhood.