"Pay new bills or price old furniture?" "Uh... furniture." "You know, i cannot believe you're canceling drinks with my brother." "Whoa, not canceling." "I changed the location to linda's on the square, ok?" "I want mitch to see your house." "I don't know what you're so worried about." "Melinda:" "We can't have visitors." "We haven't had a chance to clean up." "Ah, the man sells real estate for a living." "He sees all the secrets of people's homes." "Rich people." "People who have maids." "Didn't you just say he was once named one of the 30 millionaires under 30 to watch?" "Actually, it was 25 out of 25, but who's counting?" "Ah, melinda, you should see their penthouse in the city." "And their summer house at the beach." "His wife, maya, the ex-model... i know." "She decorated them both, and she has, of course, impeccable taste." "Ok." "Your brother's definitely never stepping foot in my house." "What are you talking about?" "You guys are almost done renovating." "Your house is beautiful!" "Would you mind telling that to jim?" "Because he now wants to repaint every room." "I swear he likes to live in a perpetual state of construction." "Actually, you know what?" "I better run." "'Cause i told mitch i was gonna pick him up at the hotel." "So he's not staying at your apartment?" "He's way too rich to sleep on my couch." "Yeah." "And to have drinks on mine." "Well, too bad, 'cause mean old moneybags is gonna be on your porch at 9:00." "Bye." "Bye." "I started calling andrea a squeaky wheel when we were kids." "I would follow him around everywhere and talk constantly like a squeaky wheel, and he couldn't get a word in edgewise." "How's my little sister doing at your store?" "Andrea:" "Our store." "Our store." "She owns half." "We're partners." "I... told you that." "You did, but i wasn't sure whether this was a vocation or another one of your avocations." "Yes." "I am the perpetual student." "I did actually manage to learn quite a bit of latin, though." "What was that?" "You guys all right?" "Uh... i was meaning to replace these frames." "I can understand why you'd want to keep the original wood." "I mean, you can't beat that quality of craftsmanship." "Yeah, tim did andrea and melinda:" "All the renovations himself." "So what are your plans for this house?" "Besides living in it?" "I been thinking about repainting all the rooms." "Why do you ask?" "If i had a house like this, i'd flip it." "With the remodeling that jim's already done, put this back on the market for 6 or $700,000." "That much." "If you guys are interested, i could show you how." "You could end up with a much bigger and better place." "It couldn't hurt to find out, right?" "What are you doing here?" "This is my home." "Who are you?" "Is that you?" "Are you dead, too?" "Uh, no." "[Small laugh]" "What is that?" "It's your energy." "You have a lot of pent-up anger, and i would calm down before you short out the whole block." "Yeah, that's me." "With my mother." "I have to talk to her." "Where is she?" "I'm not even sure where i am." "Jim:" "Melinda." "Oh... friend or foe?" "Friend." "I think." "Be up in a minute." "Hi." "Hi!" "You're outside the store." "Yes, i am." "Why?" "Because inside the store, it's gotten a little creepy." "No offense if it's like a friend of yours or something." "I just thought i'd enjoy the day out here until you came." "My friend." "Yeah." "Right." "What's all my furniture doing here?" "I bought it at an estate sale." "What's your name?" "Jason." "Jason shields." "How come you can see me and hear me?" "It's this thing." "It's complicated." "The best part is that i can help you cross over." "I mean, you really don't want to stay here." "You need to get to the next place." "No." "I don't wanna go anywhere until i find my mother." "Picture." "See the tattoo on her arm?" "And if you look real close, you can see that she bites her fingernails." "What's her name?" "I don't know." "I don't know what she looks like, where she lives, or anything about her." "The last time i was with her was when we took that picture." "I was only a day old." "So she put you up for adoption." "I was gonna start looking for her as soon as i turned 18, 'cause then my mom and dad couldn't stop me." "Your adoptive parents." "So... what happened?" "I would have been 18 this week." "How did you find out you were adopted?" "My mom and dad were moving grandma into a nursing home." "Her mind was starting to go." "I found the picture." "I asked my grandmother who the baby was, and she said it was me with my mother, except my mother doesn't have a tattoo." "That's when i knew." "If you won't tell me who she is, i'm gonna find her!" "Mother:" "I don't know who she is." "She abandoned you!" "How do you know what happened?" "I'm gonna find my mother!" "I am your mother!" "They denied it." "And then they weren't even gonna talk about it." "They weren't even gonna tell me that i was adopted." "I'm sorry." "I can't go anywhere until i find my mother." "I have to know why she gave me up." "Maybe if i talk to your adopted mother... no!" "She won't help." "Even if she could." "She'll have nothing to do with this." "Will you help me?" "You know these adoption searches take years, and that's with some information, and you don't know anything about this woman." "Not true." "I know that she bites her nails, and i know that she has a tattoo." "Can you imagine finding out that your parents are not your parents?" "Sounds like every angst-ridden teenager's dream." "I know it was mine." "Yeah, mine, too." "But the reality must be devastating." "This is jason's only connection to the woman who gave him life." "No wonder he's attached to it." "Wait." "That's haliston county." "See?" "She's got a hospital i.d. Bracelet on." "I can't see the name, but that's the symbol for haliston county hospital." "Are you sure?" "Yeah." "We had a resident from mercy just take a job there." "So that's where jason was born." "I'm off work tomorrow." "Me, too." "Well... now that that's solved... someday we'll have one of our own." "I'm thinking more like 4 or 5." "Ouch!" "We definitely need a bigger house." "Jimbo!" "Hey!" "Hey, good to see you again." "Dennis nakamura." "Hey, meet my wife, melinda gordon." "Hi." "I really appreciate your help in finding my friend's birth records." "No problem." "Maybe i can ask you for a favor in return." "This is where we keep babies that have been abandoned or are being put up for adoption." "This is where jason must have been after he was born." "You ever heard of f.t.t.?" "Yeah." "It's a failure to thrive." "It's a condition babies develop due to emotional neglect." "Yeah." "Basically, if an infant isn't being held enough, looked at, touched, or given enough emotional attention, it stops growing." "That's why we get volunteers like yourself to come in and hold them." "Oh... hi, little one." "While you're doing that, we'll look for your adopted friend's birth records." "Adoption, huh?" "Tricky business." "Although, from what i've learned over the years, you can always count on the courts to have adoption records on file." "Getting to see them is another matter." "What are you doing here?" "Waiting." "Won't be long now." "Oh, is this one yours?" "She will be soon." "I don't understand." "I have a calling, just like you." "I'm a guardian for little children who don't have anyone to meet them on the other side." "I take care of them." "So, she isn't gonna make it?" "It's ok." "She's not meant to make it." "We have a better place for her." "[Monitor beeping]" "Time for us to go." "Waiting in line is worse than being dead." "Why are you ignoring me?" "!" "I'm not." "I just can't talk with all these people around." "Ok, miss gordon." "I found jason shields' adoption records." "Uh, do you have a judge's signed order for a release?" "Not yet." "I just need to know if the record is complete." "Oh, i can't let you look at it without a release." "What do you want me to do?" "Are you ok, miss?" "Stand behind the counter." "I am behind the counter." "That's what i meant, like that." "You know, you wouldn't be breaking any rules if you just told me that the documents were all there." "Well, what kind of documents are we looking for today?" "Well, can you list what's there?" "Petition to adopt, finalization papers, adoption consent..." "get her to slow down." "I can't see anything." "Could you slow down, just for a minute?" "All right, here's something that says my mother was 17, italian-catholic, unmarried." "That's it." "That's it?" "Is there anything else?" "Only the orders to terminate parental rights." "No, this can't be right." "Melinda:" "What is it?" "Dissolves the birth parents from any legal right to the child." "Right." "Are you ok?" "She gave me up willingly." "I thought she had to give me away." "L... i thought someone was forcing her." "My mother didn't want me." "she gave me away when i was a day old." "What's wrong with me?" "Nothing." "We don't know what her situation was." "I can't tell you how many hours i studied that picture looking for clues." "I was psyched she had a tattoo." "I mean, how cool is that?" "And the fingernails." "I figured they were bitten down 'cause she was all upset about having to give me away, like, maybe she was too young and her parents were forcing her to give me up." "Pretty stupid, huh?" ""Willingly relinquished" is just a legal term." "We don't know what other kind of battles she was fighting." "I don't know who i am..." "or who i was." "Hey, i know how hard this is, but you're forgetting about the 2 people who did want you." "They chose you, they loved you, they raised you." "You don't keep secrets from people you love!" "How could they not tell me?" "How could they let me find out like that?" "Let's ask." "I can't." "I don't wanna talk to her." "If we're gonna find your birth mother, i have to see if they know anything that can help us." "Can't you just, like, read minds and stuff?" "Can't you just look into the past and see what happened?" "No." "I'm not a fortune teller, and i'm not a psychic." "I have my hands full as it is, believe me." "Where can i find your mother?" "Hi." "I'm looking for diane shields." "Look no further." "You found her." "My name's melinda gordon." "I'm a friend of jason's." "Forgive me for being so blunt, but there's really no easy way to say this." "Jason's passed away." "Last year." "I know." "I'm very sorry." "Has it been a year already?" "Shoot." "I've got something in my eye." "Um... excuse me for a minute, would ya?" "I plant trees for him." "I planted one at the high school, one at the skateboard park, and 2 in the girls' soccer field." "It's a beautiful thing to do." "What can i do for you, melinda?" "Well, this isn't such an easy thing to say either." "Um... i've seen jason." "I spoke with him this morning." "I have an antique store in grandview, and somehow i ended up with jason's furniture." "You've seen jason?" "Spirits are sometimes very attached to their personal things, furniture, jewelry." "You're talking about ghosts." "I can see them." "And help them." "Oh, my dear girl." "People say i have a twisted sense of humor, but this is in incredible bad taste, even for me." "Who put you up to this?" "I found a picture of him when he was a baby with his real mother, and... i'm his real mother." "Who in the hell are you?" "Sorry." "I didn't mean it that way." "I really took him home from the hospital, and i was really there when he was crying and when he was laughing, and i really lived through his loud music." "And then i really had to bury him, and now i have to endure a very real silence because the crying and laughter and music has stopped." "So don't tell me i'm not his real mother!" "I didn't mean to offend you." "I'm just trying to find his biological mother." "Jason wants to know where she is." "You're telling me... that from beyond the grave, my son wants to find out who gave him up?" "Pretty much, yeah." "He needs closure." "My son is dead... and that's hard enough to live with." "Leave me alone." "You know i missed you, squeaky." "And the girls are always asking about their aunt andrea." "Next time, you have to bring them." "Yeah, yeah." "I mean, everybody's schedules are so crazy, but... so, what are you gonna do with this place?" "You gonna flip it?" "Well, i could." "I got a waiting list of clients looking for homes just like this." "Do you like it?" "Are you kidding?" "I'd love to live in a place like this." "Good. 'cause i just made an offer on it this morning." "You're moving to grandview." "I wanna open up a second office." "Part-time, of course." "So i'll live in one of the bedrooms, and that leaves the rest of the house for you." "Oh, but i have a place." "With all due respect, squeaky, what you have is a shoe box." "I like my place." "You just said you'd love to live here." "It'll be fun, just like when we were kids, spending summers at the beach house." "Jason?" "Are you... are you here?" "I know it must have taken a lot for you to come and see me." "He was there with me in the house." "I can't deny it." "And it was not just the music, either." "I felt him." "He feels a lot of anger and confusion." "The last thing i ever wanted to do was hurt him." "Why didn't you just tell jason he was adopted?" "Well... we meant to... every mother and father's day, every birthday, but... the moment just..." "didn't seem right." "We were afraid of how he would react." "He was bound to find out." "When i brought him home from the hospital, i held on to him for 2 days." "I was terrified the woman who gave birth to him would... want him back." "You know who she is, don't you?" "When jason first found out, i wanted to know who she was." "I tracked her down." "Her name is fran vaughn." "[Paper rustles] This is her address." "If it means that much to jason, i'm not going to stand in his way." "I'm not going to try to protect him anymore." "Protect him from what?" "From his birth mother." "She's not the little angel he thinks she is." "I like what you've done with the yard." "Thought i'd touch up a few little things so, you know, mitch could start showing the place." "I'm glad that andrea invited mitch over." "If he sells this house for as much as he says, we'll have quite the little nest egg for our future." "Yeah, it's a smart move." "It's just... a lotta work's gone into this house." "That's the problem." "You've been too busy working when you could have been playing with me." "Oh, uh, you know, i think i got a little time right now." "Later, tiger." "I have to catch a train." "I'm going to go talk to jason's birth mother." "Wait a minute." "Whoa." "She's gonna be shocked." "Shouldn't you call her first?" "I have to tell a woman the baby she gave away 18 years ago wants to meet her." "Then i have to tell her that he's dead." "Not the kind of conversation i want to have over the phone." "Or in person?" "Yeah, well..." "welcome to my world." "That woman looks like she could be my mother." "Her, too." "Hey!" "I'm walking here!" "Oh, do you believe these people?" "What are you doing?" "Someone might think you're talking to yourself." "Yeah, and wouldn't care." "Half the people in the city talk to themselves." "What do you think she's like?" "You're gonna know in about 10 seconds." "That's her address." "What's the matter?" "What if she doesn't remember me?" "Well, i've never given birth, but from what i hear, it's not something you forget." "What if she doesn't want to remember me?" "Hey, it doesn't matter what she wants." "You need to meet her." "Come on." "No, i can't." "Look, you go on without me." "I'm not ready." "Yeah?" "Is fran vaughn in?" "I'm here on behalf of your son." "I don't have a son, just a daughter." "Well, someone took this photo of you and your new baby 18 years ago." "How do you know that's me?" "Tattoo, amongst other reasons." "Look, i can't be doing this." "Your son's name is jason shields, and he'd like to make contact with you." "I was a different person back then." "I got sent to juvie upstate because i was young and stupid." "I had no idea what i was doing half the time." "Well, you knew good enough to try to make a better life for your son." "My husband's inside, and my daughter's going to be home any minute." "They had no idea i had a kid, and i don't want them to." "They don't have to know." "But jason wants to make contact with you." "No." "I can't." "I'm sorry." "Your son is dead." "What?" "He died a year ago." "Jason was allergic to bees." "He got stung, and he died." "But... you said he's trying to make contact with me?" "He is." "What the hell is this?" "Who are you?" "My name's melinda gordon." "I'm from grandview, and have this... gift to speak with and see... dead people?" "Yes." "People who have died and not yet crossed over." "Ha ha ha!" "Wow." "Hoo!" "Wow." "You really had me going there for a minute." "Um... we're not buying at this house." "Please at least take my card." "You can reach me at my store." "Sure, sure, look, uh, you're a nut job, lady." "Get off my stoop, and don't bother me again." "Right." "I thought you liked living in your apartment." "I do." "I love my apartment." "So much that you're moving?" "Into a house." "Hello!" "I'm the only person i know who has a smaller place here than they did in the city." "Ooh, there you are." "There who is?" "Be right back." "Okey-dokey." "What's she like?" "I'm sure she's a nice person." "She blow you off?" "Pretty much, yeah." "So, melinda." "Either i'm running a fever or i'm starting to see ghosts myself." "Hey, i'm sybil." "Fran vaughn's daughter." "We need to talk." "[Laughing] my mother would have a kitten if she knew i was here right now." "You weren't supposed to hear our conversation." "I'm glad i did." "I have a half-brother, and he's dead." "I think it's so cool that you can talk to ghosts." "How rad is that?" "I love this kid." "What does my brother look like?" "He's handsome." "You guys have the same eyes." "Wait a minute." "He's... he's here?" "Oh ho ho!" "My god!" "what's it like to be dead?" "It's kinda like freshman year all over again." "You're there, but..." "nobody pays any attention to you." "He says it's kinda like freshman year." "Oh, the banality of being invisible." "Oh, that sucks." "What do you miss most about being alive?" "Lots of things." "He misses you and your mother." "He wants to know what she's like." "Oh, um... she's a pain in my butt." "Everything... has to be done her way or no way." "She always wants to know what i'm doing, who i'm with." "But when you need to talk to her, she doesn't have time." "I can't stand her." "I just... sometimes i won't even go inside when i get home from school." "I'll just hide out under the stoop and put on my headphones and listen to some morrissey so i don't have to deal." "Tell her i'd give her anything to be in her shoes." "He wishes he could trade places with you." "Oh, um, yeah, i wish he could, too, right now." "I'd rather be dead." "Hey, sybil, it's not good to say stuff like that." "It's true." "You don't know what it's like." "I don't have..." "anyone to talk to." "You have me." "Tell her she can talk to me." "He wants you to talk to him." "Really talk talk?" "Go ahead." "I'm in trouble, and i don't... really know what to do." "Jim, you asleep?" "That depends if you're coming to bed." "I can't stay." "We have company downstairs." "Living or dead?" "One of each." "Oh, hey, mitch called." "He might have a buyer for the house, and he wants to know if he can show it next weekend." "You ok with that?" "So soon?" "Well, yeah." "I told him you wanted to move out." "Me?" "You're the one that said we should try and flip it." "Only because you said you were interested, you know?" "Now that i know you're not happy... not happy?" "Yeah, you're always tired of me trying to fix things up." "Well, yeah, i am, but that doesn't mean i wanna move." "I love that the doors are crooked and the bannister's broken and the windows won't stay up." "I know that we can make a lot of money if we flip it... just because we could doesn't mean we should." "Ok." "I don't care about the money." "This is our home." "I agree." "But then why are we trying to sell it?" "Because we're so stupid in love that we'd do anything to make each other happy." "This is like an o." "Henry story told by donald trump." "Does that mean that you... will tell mitch that we don't want to sell?" "No." "It means i'll get andrea to tell him for you." "Oh..." "I... sleep." "I don't know if you can hear me." "But i just... i don't know what i'm doing." "I don't want to mess this up any more than i already have." "She's so young." "One year older than your mother when she had you." "Jason, i'm so scared." "where's my daughter?" "Living room." "Come on, syb." "Get your things." "We're going." "Melinda:" "You know, it's late." "Why don't you sit for a minute?" "I'll make you some coffee for the drive back." "Thanks for letting me know that she's here, but we need to go." "If you've got something to say, say it now." "Mom." "I'm pregnant." "Say something." "Mom, talk to me." "Get in the car." "No." "Not until you talk to me." "I have been trying to talk to you about this for the last 2 months." "You've been pregnant for 2 months and you didn't tell me?" "You didn't tell me about your pregnancy either." "It was a mistake, sybil." "A terrible mistake." "Mom, jason can hear you, ok?" "You're hurting his feelings." "Stop it!" "There's no jason." "Listen to me, sybil." "Giving up that baby was the best thing i could have done." "When i got pregnant, i knew i had to walk away from that baby." "But it forced me to grow up." "I finished high school." "I met your father." "I had you." "And that's what you'll do, too." "You'll put this baby up for adoption, and everything will be fine again, ok?" "Now, come on." "Let's go home." "No!" "Um, it's getting late." "Maybe she should just stay here." "You, too, if you want." "What's the point?" "She'll still be pregnant in the morning." "I have to deal with this now." "And frankly, none of this is any of your business." "But i know someone." "Someone she should meet, someone who knows a lot about adoption." "Fine." "One night." "Diane:" "Come on in." "I'll be right out." "I don't understand why we're here." "If you still want to leave in 10 minutes, i'll take you back to your car." "Come on, sybil." "Diane:" "Hello." "My name is diane." "I raised your son." "I owe you an apology." "I never told him he was adopted." "But he found out, and he wanted to meet you." "I wouldn't let him." "That's what we argued about the day he died." "His name was jason." "He was a wonderful kid, fran." "He was smart and funny, and he cared about people." "It's the one thing you can't teach, isn't it?" "And he was kind... and he was gentle, and you would have been proud of him." "Please stop now." "Mom, please talk to me." "Fran, jason's here." "He wants to talk to you." "I didn't believe it either, fran... but it's true." "Jason's here." "And melinda can talk to him for us." "Ok." "That's it." "Come on, syb." "Sybil, right now!" "he looks just like his father." "Why is it that families keep so many secrets from each other?" "Well, because family's so important." "It's the hardest love to lose, you know?" "And that's why it's so difficult to tell your family how you really feel." "And your friends." "Jim and i decided we don't want to flip our house, and we need you to tell him." "Absolutely." "Right after i work up the courage to tell him i'm staying in my shoe box of an apartment." "Whoa!" "Why the change of heart?" "I've changed." "I'm not squeaky anymore." "You know, i wasn't lovin' squeaky." "I have a really hard time being myself around my brother." "You'll always be his little sister." "You're just not a little girl anymore." "Speaking of not being a little girl anymore... so how do i do this?" "Do i look at you?" "You can." "Or you can just look at the picture." "Just say what's in your heart." "She looks so sad." "Yeah." "This is hard for her." "He's here?" "Jason... when i was at your house and i saw those pictures and i heard the way diane talked about you, i was... i am so proud." "I know i don't have a right to feel that way, but... i am." "And i'm so sorry for me that i didn't get to know you." "You may not believe this, but there's always been this empty place in me, and now that i've seen how you grew up and where... and how much you're loved, it feels a little less empty." "What's gonna happen to sybil's baby?" "He wants to know what's gonna happen with the baby." "I don't know." "We have a lot... to work out." "But whatever sybil..." "whatever your sister decides, we will be a part of this baby's life." "And the baby's gonna know about uncle jason." "And diane." "Can he hear us?" "Yeah, he can." "He's smiling." "He has a lot of questions for you." "I thought i did, but there's only one thing i really need to know." "Did you ever think about me?" "Did you ever say a prayer for me at thanksgiving or wonder what kind of presents i was getting at christmas?" "Did you even remember my birthday?" "Do you love me, mom?" "Uh, he wants to know... no, wait." "Um... don't ask." "I don't want to know if the answer's no." "What is it?" "Uh, this is hard for me." "Um... he wants to ask you something, but he doesn't know how." "Tell him... he can ask me anything." "He's my son." "I love him." "He would love to hear you say that again." "He's my son." "I love him." "Give them the picture?" "Oh, right." "That's your brother." "It's ok, baby." "I still have one more person to see." "He wants you to know that he was so hurt and angry over being adopted that he took it out on the one person who was always there for him." "All you ever tried to do was protect me and love me." "No matter how hard i tried to push you away, you never gave up on me." "He feels lucky to have been your son." "I was the lucky one." "For 17 years, you made my life shine." "You were the greatest gift." "He's sorry that he got mad and that it ended that way." "But it's not ended." "And it never will be." "I will always be with you." "And you will always be with me." "What's that light?" "That light's for you." "If you're ready." "I'm ready." "Bye, mom." "He's crossed over." "Good boy." "Shoot." "I've got something in my eye again." "I'll walk with you."