I know I am absolutely the worst with updating, so hopefully you all haven't given up on me! I won't promise the next chapter will be soon but I will try!

Grace Florrick opened her bedroom door slowly and peeked out, checking for signs of her brother. Seeing that his door was shut, she made her way down the hallway, following the muffled sounds of her parents' raised voices.

"This is about Will, I know it is. It's always about him. The only reason you want to get a divorce is so you can stop feeling guilty—"

"Grace!" Zach said as he grabbed her arm. "Stop eavesdropping!"

"But they're fighting! They're talking about getting a divorce! And Dad said something about mom and her boss and he sounded really angry—"

"Grace, stop. You can't eavesdrop. Go back to your room."

Grace angrily tore her arm out of her brother's grip and ran to her room. Didn't he care about their parents? Didn't he want them to be together? And what had they been talking about anyway? What was going on with her mom and Will? Were her parents really divorcing?

The questions swirled around in her head and eventually she began to cry. What would happen to her and Zach if her parents divorced? In her head she saw flashes of news reports: "Gubernatorial candidate Peter Florrick's marriage comes to an end. Wife involved with boss." Everyone in school would be talking about her again. She would have to live through the whole scandal all over again. Didn't her mother see how all this affected her? It just wasn't fair!

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Alicia walked wearily back into her apartment and into the kitchen. God, she could really use a glass of wine right now. She was emotionally and physically exhausted from her fight with Peter and all she could think about was the fact that that was only step one. There were still so many more obstacles to overcome. She just wanted to forget about it all for a second, but Zach and Grace would inevitably have questions about the fight. She was sure that they heard yelling; they hadn't exactly been quiet. She started to make tea in the hopes that she could have a moment of peace, but when she turned around, Grace was standing before her with puffy eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"Y-you and dad are getting a divorce?" she asked through her tears.

"Oh, Grace, honey—"

"Dad was yelling about it! He said you wanted to get a divorce."

For a moment, Alicia was struck with sheer panic. Just how much had her daughter overheard?

"Grace, I told you to stay in your room while your father and I talked!"

"I told you you shouldn't have been eavesdropping," Zach said as he joined them.

Grace chose to ignore their comments. "Why are you divorcing him? Why can't you just stay together with him? He said he was sorry!"

Alicia sighed, half exasperated and half relieved that apparently Grace hadn't heard too much.

"Grace, it's not that simple. I wish it were, believe me. Our relationship is…complicated. And it's not just about saying sorry. I will always love your father because he gave me you two, but we don't love each other in the same way anymore. We tried to make it work and it didn't. That's the best we could do. And I'm sorry—" by now she, too, was tearing up. "I'm sorry that this is so hard on you guys…" Alicia broke down in tears. She hated doing this to her children and her exhaustion along with the hormones raging in her body were making her a wreck.

Zach, always more levelheaded than his sister, embraced his mother. "It'll be okay, mom. We'll be okay."

Alicia smiled at him through her tears.

"Did you ask Dad for a divorce because you're in love with Will?"

Alicia froze.

"Dad said 'This is about Will.' What was he talking about?" Grace asked. "Why would you get a divorce because of Will?"

Alicia was at a loss for words. She wasn't prepared for this. She was going to plan out this conversation ahead of time, think about what she was going to say to them. Now, both her children were looking at her, demanding an answer. How could she hurt them? But, she couldn't lie. She would have to tell them about her and Will soon and they would only be angrier if she lied now.

"Well, uhm…your…Look, your father and I's marriage was never the same since… well since his…scandal. We tried to make it work, but it never really did. We just couldn't fix something that had been broken so badly. Your father, well, he really hurt me. And trust isn't an easy thing to get back. Our marriage hasn't truly been a real marriage since then."

"So what, you thought you could cheat on Dad because he cheated on you?!" Grace asked indignantly.

Alicia fought the urge to scold Grace for being so disrespectful. She knew how hard this was on her.

"Will and I have known each other since law school. We were very close back then and yes, I've spent a lot of time with him because we work together. And….we had a relationship."

Grace had had enough. "I can't believe you would do that!" she yelled before running to her room.

Alicia sighed and buried her face in her hands. Admitting that to her children had been one of the hardest things she had ever done.

She looked up at Zach, who had been so quiet throughout the ordeal. He was much more mature than Grace. Alicia could see the conflicting emotions on his face as he tried to process the information.

"Zach," she said, "I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to hurt you or Grace. I just love you two so much and I didn't mean for this to happen."

"We love you too, mom. It's just, really a lot to take in."

"I know, honey, I know."

He was silent for a while and then asked, timidly, "So, you and your boss, uh, Will, are you still…?"

It was an odd question to be asked by her son, but he deserved the truth, even if it was only part of the big crazy truth.

"Yes… I am… in a relationship with him. Things are…complicated, but, yes, I suppose Grace was right."

When Zach didn't answer, she continued, out of nervousness, "Zach, I'm so sorry. I hate doing this to you and Grace, I really do. But, I hope you can understand that I can't make a marriage work if it isn't meant to be. I know it's a lot, just don't hate me, please," she begged, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.

"I don't hate you mom. I just need some time to get used to it, I guess. And Grace will come around too. You know how she is."

"I know," she said, wiping away her tears. She was proud of her son and how grown up he seemed.

He came to her and embraced her again. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, concerned for his clearly distressed mother.

"Yes, I will be. Thank you, Zach," she half-smiled at him.

He returned the halfhearted smile before heading to his room.

Alicia, left alone in the kitchen, slumped down in a chair. She wasn't sure how she had any tears left, but they came. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and let sleep help her forget her troubles for a while; but, it was early in the afternoon and she knew she still had a long day ahead of her, with a shell-shocked son and an angry and hurt daughter to deal with. She sighed. She knew this was going to be hard, but she had no clue it was going to be this bad. And it was only just beginning.