Hello Beautiful

William watches Sylvie slowly lose weight and strength. In her final days, she tells William she feels like everything that has ever happened to her is there with her. That night, before they go to bed, Sylvie tells William she is proud of herself for living a brave life. Even though she thought she would always hate herself for what she did to Julia, William’s love has inspired her to love everyone and everything in her life.

After she falls asleep, William reflects on his own choices in life and considers himself a coward. While Sylvie risked everything for him, he held her close and shut out anything and anyone that he risked losing. But he does feel proud of his decision to call Julia. He realizes that since he released Sylvie’s love, instead of holding it so close for fear of losing it, it expanded and touched every part of his life.

Alice leaves for Chicago in mid-November. When she arrives, she first goes to the Chicago Bulls facility to look for William. The front desk attendant points out that she looks just like their physical therapist, and she asks if she can see him. The attendant gives him a call, and Alice waits, growing more anxious as time passes. She is convinced that it is because he doesn’t want to see her and eventually leaves.

Before she heads back to the airport, she decides to try calling one of her aunts and decides on Cecelia. When she dials the number, Izzy picks up, and when she learns it is her long-lost cousin, she tells Alice, “We need you. Come home” (458).

While she’s in her office, Julia receives a call from Cecelia to tell her that Sylvie died that morning. Cecelia also reveals that Alice is in Chicago with the rest of them, to Julia’s surprise. Julia packs a few items, including a wrapped package Sylvie had given her a few days prior during their final visit, and leaves for Chicago. Her time with Sylvie reminds her that she is only fully herself when she is with her sisters. Julia is nervous about returning home, knowing that her twin sisters still have complicated feelings toward her for keeping Alice from them. She is also nervous about seeing William again, whom she has not seen in over 20 years.

When she sees her sisters, the first thing she says is “I’m sorry.”

The evening after Sylvie’s death, Kent goes home with William and gives him a sleeping pill. The next morning, Kent tells him that they need to make funeral arrangements and reveals that Alice came to Chicago to look for him. With his old basketball colleagues, he goes to the twin’s super-duplex. Cecelia meets him and tells him Julia and Alice are next door. William chooses not to run away. When he walks into the other house, he immediately pulls Julia aside. He asks her why she never came, and Julia admits that she did visit Sylvie twice before her death but that Sylvie wanted to keep her visit a secret. William sees all of the sisters staring at him with concern, and though he feels deep grief at Sylvie’s absence, the knowledge that she reconciled with her sister before her death gives him solace.

Alice struggles to keep her bearings in her aunt’s house, overwhelmed by all the new family surrounding her. Izzy immediately takes her in, telling her stories of the family. After waking up the first morning in the house, Alice roams the halls and looks at Cecelia’s artwork of St. Clare of Assisi, Charlie, and generations of women in the Padavano family. There are also photos of Alice at various ages, and she realizes her family always loved and wanted her.

When Julia arrives, Alice hugs her but is not yet ready to talk with her. When her father arrives, a rush of nervousness goes through her body. He doesn’t look at her, but she looks at him, observing how similar they are in appearance. She also notes how much everyone in the room seems to love and care about him, to her surprise. After talking to Julia, William goes outside, and Kent introduces himself to Alice as her father’s best friend. He tells Alice her father needs a little time, that Sylvie’s death was unexpected and has shaken him.

When Rose arrives, she completely ignores the way she’s detached from her daughters and pretends they are still a close-knit family. Izzy steps forward, having never been acknowledged by her grandmother, and asks Rose if she wants anything to eat. Reassured by this gesture, Rose addresses Izzy for the first time.

When Izzy and Alice go to get more supplies, Izzy tells her that Cecelia forgave Rose after she kicked her out of her house and asks if Alice will forgive William. Alice doesn’t know how to respond. After dinner, Julia gives Alice the wrapped package from Sylvie, telling her that her aunt wanted her to have it. It turns out to be Sylvie’s manuscript; Sylvie wanted Alice to have it. Alice is pleased with the gift, knowing it will fill in all the history she’s missed.The house fills up and becomes more boisterous, and Alice marvels at how full the Padavanos’ lives are. However, William stays in the backyard, only coming in on occasion, his grief weighing on him. Julia encourages Alice to go talk to him. Mother and daughter hug, and Alice feels full of forgiveness toward her parents and toward herself for locking her feelings away for so long.

Around sundown, William finally feels ready to talk to Alice, but as he is going to meet her, she comes out to him. They say hello, and then Alice tells him that until a few weeks ago, she’d believed him to be dead. This makes sense to William. He tells her he has a lot of explaining to do, but she replies that there is no rush; they have time.

Seeing his daughter again, William is overcome with love. Alice tells him she feels strange, as if she knows all of the family already but is uncertain whether she really knows herself. William replies that for a long time, he felt as though Sylvie knew him better than himself and that sometimes people need another pair of eyes to help them see themselves. He senses that the questions he used to have about who he was meant to be are also inside Alice. He tells her that he knows she can figure things out on her own but that he would like to help.