We All Live Here

After telling Eleanor about Gabriel and Jessie, Lila takes Eleanor’s advice and makes plans with Jessie to meet up and tell her the truth. Jessie is shocked but grateful that Lila told her.

Lila decides to write letters to Jensen and Gabriel. She wants to apologize to Jensen and confront Gabriel. On her walk to Violet’s school, she tries channeling Estella from her telenovela while considering what to say to each man. Then, she passes a pub where Gabriel is drinking with another woman. She confronts him for being dishonest.

Lila writes and mails her apology letter to Jensen but decides that she doesn’t need to say anything else to Gabriel. While walking afterward, she suddenly feels determined to fix her other relationships, too. That evening, Penelope calls to say that Bill had a heart attack and is in the hospital. Lila tells the girls what’s happening before heading out. However, she can’t leave because the sick tree fell onto her car. Unsure what to do, she calls Jensen for a ride. He obliges.

Lila stays at the hospital all evening. At one o’clock in the morning, she takes a cab home. At the house, she’s shocked to discover that the fallen tree is gone and that Jensen is waiting inside. He explains that he came back and chopped up the tree so that Lila wouldn’t have to deal with it and so that the girls had some adult company. Grateful, Lila bursts into tears; Jensen hugs her.

Lila splits her time between the hospital and home over the following days. She tries to let everything else go. One day, Lila finally tells Anoushka that she has to pull out of the book deal because she’s worried about hurting her girls with her memoir. Anoushka is understanding.

Lila sells the Mercedes to make up for some of the money that she won’t be making with her book. Then, she takes herself for a massage, crying during the treatment. Afterward, she picks up Bill from the hospital and takes him home. Gene comes over, desperate to talk things through with Bill, but a furious Lila makes him leave.

The narrative shifts back in time. Francesca feels lonely and stuck in her life. Bored with Bill and in need of some excitement, she responds to a birthday text from Gene, asking if they can meet up in Dublin, where Gene is filming. In Dublin, she and Gene spend an exciting night with Gene’s cast members. Francesca feels young and alive again. They go back to Gene’s room and have sex. In the morning, Francesca is feeling peaceful until Gene remarks on how excited he is to be back together. She reveals that she’s still with Bill and has no intention of leaving him. Gene doesn’t get angry but looks sad and disappointed. They part ways, and Francesca spends the rest of her trip venturing around Dublin alone, promising herself to “be the best wife” to Bill from now on (385).

Back in the present, Lila struggles to care for Bill while caring for the girls and worrying about money. At Violet’s school one day, Philippa confronts Lila for failing to do the Peter Pan costumes and disregarding the other mothers. (Lila had completely forgotten about the costumes.) Dan appears and defends Lila. Afterward, she and Dan have a pleasant exchange, and Lila wishes him, Marja, and the baby well.

Twelve days later, Bill moves back into his house, where Penelope promises to look after him. Lila is grateful but feels saddened when she realizes how empty the house is without Bill and his things. He did, however, leave Francesca’s portrait.

Lila is cleaning one day when Jensen stops over to collect his bench from the garden. She invites him in for tea. He thanks her for her note, and the two make amends and agree to go on another date. Lila invites him to Violet’s play that weekend.

Lila visits with Eleanor, and the two talk about Lila’s relationship with Jensen. Back at home, she finds Jane on the doorstep. She’s come over to pick up Gene’s boxes since he’s been staying with her since he left Lila’s. The two carry the boxes to her car while talking about Gene. Jane encourages Lila to forgive him, insisting that he’s changed and that she might not understand what happened between him and Francesca. She admits that she broke up with Gene because he was still in love with Francesca.

Lila is rearranging furniture later when Anoushka calls. Regent isn’t upset that she pulled out of the deal and wants her to ghostwrite a celebrity’s memoir. Lila hesitates but realizes that this might be an ideal project.

Celie accompanies Lila, Violet, Jensen, Bill, and Penelope to Violet’s play. When she sees Dan there, she worries that they will get into a fight. Instead, Gene shows up and incites a scene with Bill. An embarrassed Celie texts Martin about what’s happening. Meanwhile, Jensen mediates a conversation between Gene and Bill. Gene tells Bill that Francesca came to see him because she wanted to have some fun and swears that they didn’t sleep together. Relieved, Bill apologizes for the misunderstanding.

Lila tries focusing on the play but is distracted by what just happened between her fathers. From Jane, she knows that Francesca and Gene did have sex and is surprised that Gene lied to appease Bill. As the play progresses, Lila realizes that the kids are wearing Gene’s old Star Squadron Zero costumes. Then, she and Celie panic when Hugo clams up on stage. Celie stands up and cheers for Hugo, and Lila joins in.

After the show, Lila goes backstage and finds Gene talking to the performers, teachers, and parents. She realizes that he took over costuming for her. Gene apologizes for going behind her back, explaining that he wanted to help and spend more time with the girls. Lila thanks him for being so kind to Bill, too. Then, Gene reveals that he’s going to Seattle for a job but will be back. Lila and the girls insist that he move back in when he returns.

Lila emerges in the lobby, where she finds Jessie yelling at Gabriel. Jessie then asks Lila if she wants to hang out again.

That evening, Lila is overcome with joy. She and Jensen hang out, and she opens up about her recent experiences and revelations. She apologizes for all of the drama, but Jensen likes that her family expresses themselves so unabashedly. They laugh, joke, and kiss.

Gene moves back in with Lila after he returns from Seattle. Bill moves in with Penelope. Meanwhile, Lila works with the celebrity to ghostwrite her memoir. She also finishes watching her telenovela and continues seeing Jensen. Not long later, Marja gives birth to a baby boy. Lila and Celie visit her, Dan, Hugo, and the baby at Dan’s after her hospital release.