The Dearly Beloved

Jane Atlas goes to the hospital for chest pains and dies later that evening. Charles and James give eulogies at her funeral and then send out an ad for a new secretary. They hire a young, Black, church-going student named Marcus, who reorganizes their files. Lily attends Jane’s funeral and admires Charles’s people skills and compassion, which will make him a good father. She does not believe that she will be a good mother, though, and she is dismissive of the idea of joy in life. Though Nan returns to the choir, she remains sad, which worries James. He asks her about God’s plan and expresses his belief that it is up to people to fix situations like her suffering. Nan plants a tree but feels like everything she does is meaningless because she cannot have the thing she wants most.

Lily gives birth to twin boys: Benjamin, “Bip,” and William, “Will.” Nan and James visit and hold the twins. Later, James suggests that he and Nan go to doctors for fertility treatments. Nan initially rejects this, believing that life is a miracle and that God must give it to her. James tells her that sometimes God wants people to do things for themselves.