"Ah." "Good morning." "Hope the couch wasn't too uncomfortable." " Uh, it was fine." "Thank you." " Heat wasn't too much?" "This room has always had the most obstinate draft even with the storm windows." "Sorry, I should have warned you." "Uh, my dad's pretty much the definition of a morning person." "Oh." "You sleep okay?" "Uh-uh, not really." "Well, you can stay as long as you want." "We can make up the guest room, right?" "I'm not sure that's such a good idea." "I spoke with your father last night, Ephram." "He's very concerned about you." "You can probably file that one under "too little, too late. "" "Well, nonetheless, I did promise him that I would..." "That's okay, I'm not staying long." "Thank you for letting me crash last night, though." "I, uh..." " I really appreciate it." " You're more than welcome." "Well, then, should anyone care for a tofu scramble I'll just be in the kitchen." "Are you sure?" "Because I can overrule him." "He just thinks he's in charge." "No, it's okay, I mean, I can't stay here forever, so..." " Feeling any better?" " Not really." "Last night, I was a wreck." "Now I'm a tired wreck." "Maybe I can catch a 24-hour bug and be a sick, tired wreck." "I just keep..." "Kept laying here, replaying the scene in my mind like, trying to picture it, how she told him." "I mean, was it at our house?" "Did she come by the office?" " Ephram." " Three days ago, everything was perfect." "I was in New York, pumped for my audition, then it's, "Nope, you're Ephram Brown things are going way to good for you right now. "" "You realize that you're the only person left I can trust?" "I don't know if that's, uh, sad or poetic." "I just wanna help." "But I don't really know what to do so you're just gonna have to tell me, okay?" "Just gonna have to figure it out on my own." "What are you gonna do?" "I don't know, but I gotta do something." "Whoa." " That would be one word for it." " And this all happened last summer?" " Yep." " And now you're just like:" ""Hi." "My son got his girlfriend pregnant, I sent her away, but now he knows and he thinks I ruined his life. "" " I should've told you." "To be honest, I'm grateful not to have been in the loop on this." "Can't believe you've been carrying this around by yourself." " It must have been awful for you." " Yeah, it was." " But I'm fine now." " Really?" "I could wallow in self-pity, but what would be the point?" "Oh." "Oh, you don't need a point to wallow, that's the beauty of the wallow." "Maybe." "But I spent so much time worrying about Ephram this year and, of course, hiding myself in one of my emotionally unavailable relationships." "Your words, not mine." "I know." "They sound a lot meaner when you say them." "Well, of course they do." "What are you gonna do now?" "Well, I wanna refocus." "Catch up with what's going on in my daughter's life." "And, uh, in yours, for that matter." "Why don't we cash in one of those rain checks and have dinner tonight?" "Um, I can't." "It's, uh, movie night with Jake and Sam." "That sounds like fun." "How about tomorrow?" " Tomorrow's good." " Great." "Oh." "No, wait, I can't." "It's, um, concert tickets, he's just big with surprises." "Oh." "Well, it's no big deal, but you see what I mean?" "I've been out of it, I had no idea you and Jake had gotten serious." "No, we've just been hanging out a lot." "It's just been nice." "Oh, my gosh, I'm gonna be so late for work." "If you still wanna talk, I can rearrange my schedule." "No, it's fine." "I'm sure that Harold's filling out my tardy slip as we speak." " But thanks for the coffee." " Okay, make yourself at home." "Feels like I've been gone forever, heh." "Thank you." "And thanks again for the ride." "I'm sorry my plane was late, but I thought it was gonna be Amy." "Hannah, if you say thank you or sorry one more time I'm gonna have to kill myself." " Sorry." "Oh, sorry." "So how was home?" "Hard." "Seeing my family again, then having to leave." "My mom cried, which was weird since she didn't cry the first time I left." "Plus, sleeping in my old room was so weird." "Everything is exactly the same as it was like..." "Like this whole other life I left behind." "Hmm." "Looks like you brought most of it back." "Oh, no way, is this your diary?" "Fourth grade." " Huh?" " Go ahead, it's really not that interesting." ""Dear diary, I think I, like, love Robby Schnitzer." "He has smooth muscles and alabaster skin." "P.S. I finally went to the bathroom at school today. "" "I had difficulty with public restrooms." "You knew the word "alabaster" in fourth grade?" "It's probably spelled right too, huh?" "It's so weird reading those now." "I found one thing actually." " What is "halitosis"?" " Here, give me." " Do you still have it?" " No." "Okay, this is from 1997." ""Dear diary, I found out today that my dad is sick." "If God will make him better, I promise to eat all my vegetables." "Love, H."" "I was 9 when I wrote that." "I didn't know about science or medicine or anything." "I just thought all I had to do was ask God for help." "Yeah, that's what all kids think." ""Dear God, let me make this free-throw, I promise not to snap Amy's bra for a week. "" "Yeah, but I really believed it." "Like, I actually thought God could cure something like Huntington's." "Well, you know, nobody knows what God can or can't do." "I think that's why we pray, you know, for insurance, like, just in case it works." "Maybe it did work." "Maybe what worked?" "Maybe I'm like that person that didn't realize that God sent him the boat or the helicopter." "When the flood came, you know, it's a story?" "Okay, the point is maybe God did answer my prayer but I just didn't realize it because it didn't come in the form I was expecting." "Well, I don't know what the helicopter has to do..." "I was too late on my dad but maybe God saved me instead." "Ahem." "Well, I think your test was negative because you don't have the gene." "Maybe but maybe not." "And just in case I owe God some serious vegetables." "So how hard you think it would be to find him?" " You mean...?" " Yeah, the baby." "Why would you wanna do that?" "It's like, I don't even know if I wanna see him, I just wanna make sure he's okay." "What did Madison say?" "Nothing much." "This couple, the Wagleys they came to the hospital and took him." "That's it." "Well, if she met the couple, I'm sure she knows more." " You could just ask her." " But I don't wanna ask her." "If I ask her, I have to talk to her." "If I talk to her, I forgive her." "I can't forgive her even if part of me wants to." "If I forgive her, it's like I forgive him." "Yeah, I get it." "I can't imagine what it feels like to be you right now, you know?" "I wish that..." "I just, uh..." "I wanna..." " I wanna make it better, you know?" " Yeah, I know." "Me too." "That's..." "Is it complete crazy to wanna try to find him?" " If it's what you want." " I think it is." "Well, then I'll help." "This is so confusing." "Mm." " Um, how do you feel about dark purple?" " I think it's great for a bordello, honey but, uh, for your room, I was thinking more along the lines of, say, a natural linen?" " I can work with that." " Great." " You know..." " Mm-hm?" "I could just move into Ephram's garage." "It'd be less work." "It's not like he's gonna be here next year anyway." " Did he say something?" " He didn't have to tell me." " I already know he's going to college." " Oh, right." "You know, you may have noticed that, uh, Ephram hasn't been around much lately." "Not really." "Check out the brushes." "Well, that's because, you know, he's got a lot going on." "He's got graduation, final exams, he's under a lot of pressure." "He got to go to New York, see Poppy, have Ray's Pizza you guys were gone for four days so I get at least that many for this, right?" "I don't think it's gonna take four days to finish your room, but..." "Okay, all right, four days sounds good." " Hey there, happy family." " Hey, Jake." "This is my daughter." "Super Delia, yeah, I know." "She took Sam and I to school on "Tony Hawk" last week." "I'm getting a new room." "It's gonna look like linen." "Awesome." "Is that all your paint?" "if you're going with a latex base, you want a synthetic roller." " Natural ones soak it all up." " No kidding, I didn't know that." "Mm-hm, go into plastic surgery, you gotta be in touch with your inner decorator." " Comes with the territory." " You are gonna be a very rich man." "Heh." "Well, I'm off to find the carbon-monoxide detectors." "Nina wanted smoke alarms but I figured, why not go all out." "I mean, there's a kid in the house, right?" "Jake, I know this is a crazy idea, but why don't you guys come help?" "You mean with the painting?" " Yeah." "Nina's like family." "You guys are seeing each other." "Chance to know each other outside the office." "A little late to check my references, but sure, I'm down." "Okay." "Dad?" " Huh?" " I get an extra day for this." " That's a lot of days, that's five days." "Amy?" "It's 3:00 a. m." " You still doing homework?" " No, I was just doing some research." "I couldn't really sleep." "How's he doing?" "Not good." "He's just really fragile, you know?" "I'm trying to be supportive, but I feel like if I say the tiniest thing he's just gonna go twisting off in the wrong direction." "The boy has suffered quite a blow." "It's like I can see him losing it right in front of me." "It's painful to watch." "Maybe you shouldn't have to." "I mean, if you step back, try to view the situation objectively maybe this is something that he does need to work out on his own." "In his own time." "What are you saying?" "I should break up with him now?" "I'm saying that you're right." "Everything has changed." "No one could fault you for reassessing the relationship." "You didn't sign up for this." "Oh, my God." "Is that seriously the advice you're giving me?" "Abandon him when he needs me the most?" "It's the middle of the night." "Perhaps I'm not making myself clear." "You're making yourself really clear, Dad." "You think Ephram is damaged goods." "And you're worried that he's gonna rub off on me or something." "Sorry, that's not how relationships work." "You don't just disappear on someone when things get hard or when they stop being fun." "I think it's pretty sad that it's the adults who don't seem to grasp that." "All I see is my child in pain." "Forgive me if my instinct is to move her away from the fire." " Coming?" " Uh, no, I don't think so." "There's no way I could handle school today." "Uh, this stuff you got last night is great." "There's an address here for Child Placement." "I was thinking about going down there and asking a couple questions." " You realize it's in Denver?" " Yeah, but, you know I think my car can make it." " You want me to come with you?" " Yeah." "Yeah, sure if you want to." "I don't know what I'm looking for so it might be a long day." "Long and boring." "It's okay, I've got a presentation in fifth period anyways." " You sure?" " Yeah, um, but can you do me a favor?" "Keep your phone on." "I'm working on other stuff, I might need you." "Sure." "Yeah, and thank you again for the help, I really appreciate it." "You're welcome." "See you later, okay?" "Okay, so we already know how you met, so why don't we skip to the first date?" " Where'd you go, what'd you do?" " I thought Sam was gonna be here." " He's at home watching a movie." " I'm interested in this." " I thrive on minutiae." "Well, uh, we went to dinner." "But not just dinner." "I took her to Julia Robinson's in Longmont." "Wine, fresh venison a lot of sparkling conversation, she never stood a chance." " It was the deer meat that sealed the deal." "Love that place." "Great desserts." "Hey, watch the splatter, honey." "Okay, so then what about the second date?" "Still trying to impress or a bit more casual?" "My wall looks lumpy." "You have to squish out more paint in the pan then you won't get so much on the wall at one time." "Come on, I'm curious about this." "I wanna know what happened." " Andy, you might need to slow down." " Why?" " Is this some big secret between you two?" " No, I mean, your painting." "Here, you start up at the ceiling, work your way down move over to the next column, otherwise you get blotches." "Great, I'm going to have a bumpy, blotchy room." " Refill?" " You know where you ought to go?" "The farmer's market in Durango, they have Sunday brunch, it's great, you'd have fun." "It says he was scheduled for the 19th, I think, at 4:00." "His name is Ephram Brown." " I'm familiar with the name." " You are?" "We've been prescreening applicants for 15 years." "I can count on one hand the number of times anyone's skipped an audition." "He didn't skip, there was an emergency at..." "There was a death in the family." "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see that in his file." "Usually, there's a death certificate." "Hmm, do you require a death certificate?" "Or a copy of the obituary." "Okay, nobody died, it's just as bad." "Trust me." " Who am I speaking with again?" "He was there." "If he doesn't get a shot at making his dream..." "He had a shot." "At 4:00 p. m. last Sunday." "Hello, broken record." "Come on, I'm trying to tell you he's brilliant." "Other schools are trying to recruit him." "Just schedule a makeup..." "He should find a recruiter at one of the other schools." "Oh, yeah, well, perhaps you should just grow a heart, ass-face." "Hannah?" "Hey, I thought that was you." " Why are you standing over here?" " I'm just hanging out over here." "Wow, you look so dressy." "I know, I thought church would be more..." " I look like a doily, don't I?" " No, I just meant that you look nice." "So, uh, do you go here?" "Yeah, this is where I go." "Are you thinking about going here?" "Uh, no." "Well, maybe." "I..." "Right now, I'm just here looking for something." " It's kind of complicated." " Sounds pretty serious." "I saw you in the front row." "Usually nobody sits there, heh, heh." " Father Ivers is a major spittler." " Yeah, I noticed." "Ha, ha." " A close-taker too." " Oh, there he is." " Um, I gotta go." "It was nice to see you." " Yeah, you too." "Excuse me." "Hi, could I speak to you for a minute?" " Of course." " Okay, thanks." "It was Clapton." "We used to play it in the surgeon's lounge." "Clapton made it famous." "It's Bob Marley's song." " Bet you 100 bucks." " Ephram would know this." " Ephram knows everything." " Who do you like, Marley or Clapton?" "Is this like an Elvis-versus-Beatles thing?" "I'm, uh..." "I'm gonna go check on Sam." "So how is Ephram doing?" "I heard about what happened." "Must be pretty rough." "Honey, why don't you go wash your hands before all that paint dries, okay?" "I know, the second it came out of my mouth, I knew I messed up." " Since when do you know about Ephram?" " I don't, really." "Just the basics, just what Nina told me." " She discussed it with you?" " Of course she did." "Why wouldn't she?" "Look, sorry." "I have no idea what it's like to have kids." "I think I made that pretty obvious." "There's a lot you don't know." "A lot Nina doesn't know." "How about we leave my parenting out of this, that work for you?" " I never said anything about your parenting." "Hi." "What's going on?" "I left my keys." " I was just helping Andy clean up." " That's okay." "Thanks, guys, I got it from here." "This stinks." "Yeah, it does." " Should we start on the door?" " You know what, Delia?" "I think I still have the number of that contractor that did Ephram's garage." " It's time the professionals take over." " We're stopping now?" "Yes." "I'm tired, sweetheart." "Sir, you've been in and out of here all day." "We're about to close." "If you need something, now's the time." "Uh..." "Yeah, I'm looking for somebody, but I don't know if I'm in the right place so I didn't wanna bother you." "It's a, uh..." "It's a kid, actually." "It's my kid." "Uh, my son." " Uh, he was put for adoption." " Name of birth mother?" "Uh, Kellner." "Madison..." "Uh, Madison Kellner." " You say you're the father?" " Uh, yeah, uh, Ephram Brown." "Is it in there?" "I have a record of Kellner here but it says father unknown." "I'm looking at a docket entry order terminating parent-child relationship of unknown birth father." "It was signed the same day as the adoption decree." "I don't know what that means." "I don't see a petition to contest it." "You appear in court?" "I didn't even know there was gonna be a trial." "Nobody told me." "When did that happen?" "I'm sorry, these files are confidential." "It's against the law to give out information unless you're a party or attorney of record." " Even if I'm the father?" " But that's not what it's..." "I have to go by what's on the record, I'm sorry." "I can't believe that she said that she didn't know who the father was, okay?" "It's like what?" "Does she wanna just pretend I don't exist?" " I wish I could help you." " I'm sorry, all right?" "I know it's not your fault, but I thought if I just came down here that I could maybe figure out where he was and put some of this behind me." "I know it's a stupid idea..." "Don't feel bad about what you're trying to do." " I'm not trying to get you in trouble." " I know." "I know." "It's just I have a kid, all right?" "I had a kid and I've never met him I have no idea who he is and I just wanna make sure he's safe." "Listen to me." "Any child growing up in Marin County you know he's gonna be just fine." "Okay?" "Thank you." "It's all right, sweetheart." "I wish there were more like you." "So she just told you where they live?" "Uh, kind of." "I mean, I kind of had a little bit of a meltdown." "I don't know if she felt sorry for me or wanted to get me out there but I know where he is now." "You don't know the specific address." "But how many Wagleys can there be?" "Ahem." "I don't know, maybe a lot." "When I got home, I could get on the Internet narrow down the search, check, uh, ticket prices to Marin County." "You're thinking about going there?" " You wanted to find him, not go see him." " That's before I knew where he was." "So you're just gonna walk up to their door and knock?" "Well, I hadn't thought about it that far ahead yet." " Hey, I thought you were okay with this." " No, I am, I..." "I'm trying to be supportive, Ephram." "It just seems like..." "I mean, how far are you planning on taking this?" "Are you actually thinking about contesting the adoption?" " Of course not." " Well, then why are you doing this?" "There's so much that's out of my hands right now." "At least this way, I feel like I'm doing something." " You know, maybe I can get some closure." " I mean, you got what you wanted." "You know where he is, you know he's in a good home surrounded by billionaires." "I don't know that they're good parents." "What they're people that send their kids to school with nannies?" "What if they are?" "What, steal the kid away and raise him?" "This is insane." "You're right." "I'm sorry, you're right." "I've been so caught up in all this, I didn't think about how weird it must be for you." "No, no." "I'm..." "Your problems are my problems." "This all happened before we got together, you didn't know about it." "You shouldn't have to deal with it." "You love me and you wanna be there for me, which you totally have but, you know from here on out, I think that I should just handle it alone, okay?" "Ready?" "Ta-da!" "Isn't it amazing what a few days and a couple thousand bucks can do?" " It's blue." " Actually, it's robin's egg." "It's ugly." "Okay, well, so we can always change the color." "That's not a problem." "Look at these." "Aren't they cool?" "You could stuff stuff inside them, you can stack them however you want." "Where's my dresser?" "We took it out, we can put it back if you want it." "I wanted to paint my room!" "Excuse me, but aren't you a little old for temper tantrums?" " You treat me like I'm 5, anyway." " That's not true." "You're acting like a spoiled brat and I get enough of that from Ephram." "I don't care about Ephram!" "Can't you talk about anything else?" " What is that supposed to mean?" " He gets everything." "A new garage with, like, a hundred computers, a Trio, an iPod, a new car." " That car was not new." " But he still got it." "He had three piano teachers and I never even got my horse, which you promised." " I just got you everything in this room." " So?" "I don't want this crap!" " You wanna be 18, move out of the house?" " Yeah!" "Too bad." "You can't, so stop acting like a big baby!" "You're the one who's acting like a baby." "You throw this painting party and all you do is fight with Dr. Jake." " We weren't fighting." " Yes, you were." "We were supposed to do my project, you invite a million people over and spend the whole time blabbing with them." "And now I'm stuck with this dumb egg room and it's all your fault!" "That was the only part I liked." "Well, I see you haven't moved." "It's the Sunday funnies, you have to take your time." " Is your mother still upstairs?" " Yeah, and she looks like crap." "I'm sure she appreciates your concern." " Thank you for your company." " You're welcome." "Thanks for lunch." "Yeah." "Problems?" "I'm just a little frustrated with God right now." "He talks to Joan of Arcadia, like, five times a week, tells her to go out for cheerleading." "My problem is way bigger and I can't even get his attention." "Well, I can't see how he could miss you, you're there all the time." " How many times have you been this week?" " I don't know, nine." " If you count the pancake supper." " Exactly." "Wow." "You know, you should really get your frequent-worshipper card." "Well, I'm sorry, but it just seems pretty logical." "If you wanna talk to God, you go to church." "That's where he works." "Yeah, but that's not what's going on here." "You're not looking for answers." "You're hiding out." "From what?" "Oh, I don't know, uh, having to live your life?" "This disease has been hanging over your head since you were a kid." "That sucks, but it's also been this excuse to not have to do stuff, okay?" "Now, that excuse is gone and you don't know how to deal, okay?" " So you're still afraid..." " I am not." "All I'm saying is if it was me, I'd be stoked." "I'd be out, I'd be celebrating." "And not hanging out with a bunch of Bible-thumpers." "I'm sorry, what should I be celebrating exactly?" "The fact that my dad's on a respirator and can't get out of bed?" "That my brother knows I took the test but he won't because he's freaked out?" "And now he and my mom aren't even talking." "Excuse me that I think that maybe there's some meaning in what happened." "Just because you've given up on looking for a purpose does not mean I have to." "No, no, no, this is not about me, Little Miss I-Like-To-Turn-Things-Around." "Fine, forget it." "I'll pray for you, Bright." "Thanks." " Amy's not home." " Shut up." "Okay." " Hey." " Hey." "Doing a little spring cleaning, thought it was time to bring back some of your stuff." "From the days when carbs weren't cool." "What's wrong with you?" "Delia's room turned out to be a disaster." " Well, periwinkle was a bold choice." " Robin's egg." "But it's not the room, it's just everything." "Are you finally giving in to the wallow?" "Well, at least when I gave Ephram the studio, I got a hug." "I'm not sure I know what that feels like anymore." "So this is about Ephram?" "Oh, maybe you thought you could avoid dealing with him by surrounding yourself with everybody else." "You can't ignore the problem and hope it'll go away." "It won't." "He doesn't wanna talk." "I can't force him to, so why push it?" "It's affecting everything else you do." "You're fighting with Delia, with Jake." "But he was out of line." "If you're gonna defend Jake, I..." "Now you're trying to pick one with me." "The person that you really need to be fighting with is Ephram." "Well, I can't." "You can, I've seen you do it a million times." "I cannot fight with Ephram because he's right." "I made a terrible mistake and I can't ask him not to hate me for it." "But, come on, don't feel bad." "Everybody swings and misses now and again." "Maybe you should give Ephram his space for a while and concentrate on Delia." "But don't try to get your catch-up time with everybody at once." "She could tell you were half-assing it with her the other day and nobody likes a fake." "Like low-carb lasagna, I mean, really, what is the point?" " You just couldn't stand it, could you?" " I had a perfect record." "I am a goddess." "Do you remember Chris Templeman?" "Guy from Colorado AM who tried to recruit you?" "Uh, I didn't apply there." "Another one of my dad's brilliant ideas." "I remember you saying that he loved you and he grew up in Long Island graduated from Juilliard but didn't like touring so he got into teaching." "Do you remember everything I say?" "It's scary." "I called him." "Told him what happened, the short version." "He remembered you, I got him to call Juilliard and you have another audition." " In three days." " Oh, my God." "I know, you can worship me now." " I love you, Amy." " I love you too." "But I, uh, can't go." "I'm, uh, going to, uh, Marin County." "I already bought my ticket." "I thought you decided not to." "I never said that." "I'm sorry, if you told me sooner..." "Ephram, listen to me." "You have to go to New York." " You need to change your ticket." " I can't change my ticket, I bought it." "Well, then unbuy it." "This is your future." "New York, Juilliard." "You're getting a second chance here." "You have to be the piano genius that you were supposed to be." "It's not who I am anymore." "You know how hard I worked to get you this audition?" "I'm sorry you went to all the trouble." "I'd have explained..." "What?" "That you've lost your mind?" "I think about New York, I get sick." "I look at a piano, I get nauseous." "Okay, Ephram, you need to stop and focus and remember what your life is about." "This life, not the life that you didn't get." "You should have gotten to choose for yourself, but you didn't." " You can't wallow in it forever." " It's been a week." "You're not gonna get another chance at Juilliard." "This is exactly why I didn't tell you in the first place." "I was trying to protect that shot and you're throwing it away, I don't understand you." "Didn't tell me what?" "You knew?" "No, I mean, I..." "Yes, I knew that she got pregnant." "I found out right before you left, but, um..." " My dad..." " Your dad knew?" "I was gonna tell you, Ephram." "I was going to, but I didn't wanna freak you out and I didn't think that you would randomly bump into Madison." " I didn't know your dad's part in it." " You didn't tell me." "I was going to, though." "Don't you remember?" "I told you, "We need to talk, but it can wait. "" "How could this wait?" "How could this be something that could wait?" "You had your audition, the audition that you have been working so hard for all year." "I was just trying to protect you." "To protect me." " Don't do this, Ephram, it's not the same." " It's exactly the same." "You're just like him only worse." "I thought I could trust you." "You can, this is me." "I was trying to help you realize what matters." "You have no idea what matters." "Fine, hate me." "But think about what you're about to give up." " Is seeing the baby that important?" " Right now, it's more important than you." "Just get out." "How long have you been out here?" "Hmm, about 20 minutes." "We broke up." "Oh, I'm so sorry." "I was out of line the other night." " It's okay." " No, no, it wasn't." "You didn't ask for any advice, it was ill-considered." " I only said that because..." " You love me?" "I understand why you did it, Dad, and why you didn't tell me about Madison." "It's, like, when you love someone you just wanna protect them, you know, like..." "And keep them away from all the bad stuff." "Because you think that's what's best for them, but it doesn't work." "Well, here's one thing I know about you and Ephram, it's that you have a remarkable penchant for working things out." "So perhaps give it a little time." "I don't think so." "I'm pretty sure it's over." "Haven't seen you in church lately." "Oh, yeah." "I, uh..." "I'm taking a break." "Or stopping, I haven't decided yet." "Yeah." "Are you okay?" "I..." "You're gonna think it's stupid." "Try me." "Um..." "Well, I've got this situation at home." " My dad's sick, he's got..." " Huntington's disease." "I know." "I've been wanting to say something, but I wasn't sure." "You don't have it, right?" "No." "But, heh, that's the problem." "When I was little, I prayed that my dad would get better." "He didn't but now I'm fine so I decided I needed to pay God back for saving me." "Only, I don't know exactly how to pay him back." "It's like the guy refuses to take a check." "Anyway, like I said, it's stupid." "No, no, you're just funny." "Uh, the fact that you think you could do more than you already do for God or anyone." "You're the world's most perfect person." "What I mean is maybe he..." "You've paid God back by being the person you are." "Maybe you don't have to do anything else." "So you're saying that the thing I've been searching for this whole time has been right in my own backyard?" "Heh, heh, The Wizard of Oz is cool." "I mean, come on, flying monkeys?" "How rad is that?" "Oh, no, you say "rad. "" "Uh, not usually." "Sorry." "There is..." "There is actually one thing I'm really not great at." "It's kind of a big one too." "Oh, yeah?" "I'm not the bravest person on the planet." "Some people might say I have a tendency to hide so I could probably take more risks." "Sure, I mean, that's a good one." "Always nice to have something to work on." "Topher?" "Yeah." "Will you go on a date with me?" "What...?" "I..." "Is this, like, uh, for the quest or it...?" "No, no, no, never mind." "Uh..." "Yeah, for sure." "Okay." "Oh, thank you." "Great." " What?" " It's time for dinner." "I'm eating it up here." "I'll grab my plate in a minute." "You know what?" "No." "You're gonna come downstairs and sit down and have a meal with your family." " What family?" "It's just you." " I don't care." "The rule is we all sit down at the same table as a family every night and have dinner." " Since when?" " Since right now." "I'm the father and I just passed the law." "It's a very powerful position." "Listen, Delia, I know you think I'm perfect but I think there's something else you should know." "On rare occasions, I do screw up." "The room sucked." "I got it." "And I know that I've been distracted by Ephram lately." " Lately?" " Okay, not so lately, for a long time now but you have to understand something, that fair doesn't always mean equal." "Ephram's older and it's very different." "And I promise you, when you become a teenager you will get the same exact treatment." "So I'll get an ugly car too." "Well, you gotta take the bad with the good." "Okay." " What are you doing on there?" " Just IMing my friends." "Can I see?" " I thought we were having dinner." " It's just Gino Chang's." "Meatball egg rolls can wait." "Okay." "ErinlnArt is Erin." "She likes Reid Nichols, but that's just because Noah likes Brittany." "Really, she likes Noah." "Brittany likes Reid Nichols?" "No, she likes Todd Stagner." "But he barely knows she exists, so it's kind of sad." " Anyway, do you wanna do a smiley face?" " Sure." "Okay." "You said 2239, right?" "Yeah." "Should be..." "Yeah." "Here we go." "You getting out or what?" "I changed my mind." "Let's go back to the airport." " You waiting for me?" " Yeah, I am." "Well, I'm home." "You went to San Francisco." "When you didn't come home last night or this morning, I called Amy." " She told me." " I'm sure she did." "Oh." "So now you hate her too?" "You left the state of Colorado without even telling me." "Well, now you know why." "What if something had happened to the plane?" "It's a good thing it didn't." "I'm gonna say this just once, so pay attention." "I don't care how pissed off you are at me, or at Madison, or the entire universe you can't do this." "I care about you." "I worry about you." "I screwed up, but that's over." "And you and I are gonna have to figure out some way to live with this." "And that doesn't mean that you have to forgive me." "But you don't get to walk all over me either, you understand?" "I'm not trying to walk all over you." "I'm trying to walk around you." "Don't worry." "I'll be leaving soon."