"Hello?" "Jesus, Dad." "What are you doing calling the house line?" "Mom could have picked up." "No, I do not have any news yet." " Gerald, is that for me?" " No, Mom." "Mom, don't worry about it, it's for me." "Look, I'm having everybody come over the house tonight to celebrate Mom's birthday, all right?" "And then we're gonna discuss it then." "Oh, you got her a birthday gift." "Well, that's a first." "What was it?" "Oh, that." "No, no, no, actually she did tell me about that." "Your wedding video." "Yeah, and what, you thought that was somehow gonna help your cause?" "Look, why don't you come by the restaurant tomorrow and..." "I'll let you know what everyone decides tonight." "But, Dad..." "Yeah." "No, I know." "But please, don't get your hopes up, okay?" "All right." "I'll see you tomorrow." "And how many times do I have to tell you, I don't want a party." "Would you please stop fighting this, you crazy old woman." "All right?" "It's already done, it's organized." "Everyone is going to be here except Cyril." "But he'll be home for Christmas," " right?" " Yes." "I already told you he's coming in tomorrow." "And he's better?" "I don't know." "He says he is." "So we shall see." "And you're picking him up at Port Authority, right?" "Because he will need someone there for him." "Yes, Mom." "For the 10th time." " I will pick him up." " All right, all right." "Don't get yourself all worked up." "I'm just double checking." "He is my baby after all." "Look, Mom, I don't want you to worry about this." "All right?" "I already spoke to all of them and they're all very excited to get out here." "Don't try to bullshit me, Gerry." "They're my kids." "Yeah, well, look, whether they like it or not, they're coming out." "I told you I don't want you to make a big deal out of this." "Would you just stop complaining about this?" "All right?" "Look." "Dottie's gonna cook you a nice dinner." "Connie's gonna bake you a cake." "And Quinn said he's gonna come out this afternoon to take you shopping." "So why can't you just enjoy yourself?" "Okay." "Okay, what's really going on here?" "Nothing is going on." "It's your 70th birthday." "I just thought you might like to have all your kids around to celebrate with you." "Enjoy your French toast." "Gerald." "What?" "What are you not telling me?" "Look, there's something I just want to discuss with the whole family and..." "I thought it would be good if we're all together so we could all weigh in on it." "And it has to be done before Christmas." "Did you make the reservations for tonight?" "Mmm." "Did we get the same room at the lodge?" "Quinn, she's too young for you." "What do you care how old she is?" "Well, because it kinda makes you like a creepy old man." "You know, I'm not old enough to be creepy yet." "Oh, yeah, you are." " Did you get the same room?" " Yes." "Where's the ring?" "It's at my desk." "QF Design." "Yeah." "Hold on." "It's your brother." "Um, gonna have to say I'm not here." "Yeah, but I'm not gonna lie for you." "Take the call." "Yo!" "Hey, Fitzy, where are you?" "You just called me at the office, and I'm trying to get out of here." "Oh, okay, good." "Then you should be out here soon, right?" "Change of plan, my man." "I'm taking Abbie up to the Adirondacks for the weekend." "Got some serious plans in place." "You don't think you can just stop by for an hour?" "All right, then we can show all this off to your latest flame." "Hey, Gerry." "This is more than a flame." "Well, even more of a reason to stop by then, right?" "All right." "I'll see what I can do, but no promises." "Look, you don't have to promise me shit, all right." "It's not my birthday." "Just the woman that brought you into this world." "See what you can do." "Oh, no." "Don't stop, don't stop." "No, it's not for you." "It's not for you." "It's the neighbor." "I gotta see." "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." "Oh, shit, it's my brother." " Stay." "I'll be right back." " Okay." "What is this, Gerry?" "What the hell are you doing here?" "What do you mean what am I doing here?" "I got the supplies for Mom's party tonight." "Oh, shit." "Oh." "Gerry, I can't host the party tonight." "What do you mean you can't host the party?" "Why not?" "I'm having all this trouble with the boys." "They're in trouble up at school, and they're not even coming home for Christmas." "So, I..." "I gotta deal with them." "All right." "So what does that have to do with Mom's party?" "Okay, um, there's something else." "I..." "I was waiting to tell the family, but..." "Skippy and I split up." "Like, three weeks ago." "I know, because Skippy was in the bar a couple of nights ago telling me all about it, crying on my shoulder." "He also told me that you've been having an affair for six months." "Yes, I..." "I've been seeing someone and, um..." "You know, Skippy and I tried to work it out, but it's just..." "It's not gonna happen." "Who are you having an affair with?" "Do you remember, um, Jimmy Esposito's little brother Johnny?" "Johnny Esposito, the gardener's kid?" "How old is he?" "Uh, I don't know. 20s..." "maybe 30s." "How did you end up hooking up with Johnny Esposito?" " He cuts my grass." " He cuts your grass." "That's fantastic." "Hey, Sharon." "How about I just pop out and drop you at your mom's on my way to East Hampton?" "No, you don't have to do that." "Not a big deal." "I'm just gonna take the train or I'll call my brother or something." "Not the brother that I met?" "No, that's Gerry." "He's an asshole." "I'll call Quinn." "I wouldn't mind just, like, taking you." "I could see the house." "I could meet your mom, say "Happy birthday."" "No, that's definitely not happening." "I haven't brought a boy home since my junior prom date." " I learned my lesson then." " Wow, luckily I'm not a boy, honey." "Promise you I'll do better than your junior prom date." "All right." "So...why don't we do that?" "Do what?" "I'll drop you off." "Meet some of the brood." "No, you're not seriously asking to come meet my family today." "Are you?" "Is that such a bad thing?" "No, I just..." "I didn't think we were, you know... at the meet-the-family place yet." "I mean, I'm having fun and you're having fun right now..." "Yeah, I'm having fun." "I didn't mean to make it so complicated." " Good." " It's fun, it's good." " Okay, good." " Yeah, that's fine." " Great." " Call your bro." "Hey, Erin, the house looks real festive." "Perfect place for a party tonight." "We can't have everybody over here." "I have to put the baby down at 7:30." "Mom said that she wanted to celebrate at one of her girls' houses." "Now I've explained to you why we can't do it at Dot's." "Connie's place is too small," "Sharon's apartment in the city is obviously not an option." "So that leaves you." "Well, we can't do it here." "And could you keep your voice down?" "The baby's sleeping." "I don't understand why no one seems to think that their mother's birthday is a big deal." "Because she deals with you one way and the rest of us another way." "You're the golden boy, you can do no wrong." "She treats the rest of us like shit." " I hope you know that that is total bullshit." " Is it?" "Do you know she actually suggested that I let her sneak the baby out one day and get him baptized." "Yeah, she told me and I think it's genius." "We're not baptizing the baby." "Why not?" "Because Corey's Jewish." "I thought Corey's an atheist." " He's still Jewish." " Look, just let Mom take the kid up to church and have her do it." "You don't need to participate, Corey doesn't need to know about it, and that way the kid is not stuck in Limbo in case you two heathens are wrong." "You're all crazy." "We're crazy?" "You're telling me you're an atheist." "How do you explain the Christmas tree?" "We have a kid now." "Where else am I gonna put the presents?" "Why don't you just blow this thing off?" "You know what?" "That is not a bad idea." "Sharon, it's your mom's birthday." "You gotta stop in for a drink at least." "Oh, no." "There is no just stopping in for one drink with my family." "Yeah, that's true." "And let's all be made aware if we go there at all, we're gonna be there all night." "So let's not go." "The less I have to deal with Gerry, the better." "What is this beef with Gerry?" "I'm just..." "I'm tired of him pretending he's the patriarch of our family." "First of all, he's not my freakin' father." "And second of all, he's hardly qualified for the job." "He's a grown man and he still lives at home." "You know with fairness to him, he's got his reasons for that." "Whatever." "The point is, if I don't have to go to Mom's house tonight," "I am more than okay with that." "I have an idea." "Why don't Sharon and, um..." "I'm sorry, what was your name again?" "Francis Xavier, but my friends call me FX." " Oh, okay." "I like that." "It's a good name." " Thank you." "So why don't Sharon and FX come upstate with us, get a room at the same hotel." "We'll get dinner, hang out for the weekend, and we'll drive back Christmas morning." "Honey, you know, it's really not a great idea." "It's not considerate." "Sharon doesn't ski." "It's a ski resort." "Neither do I." "You don't ski?" "You know I got an idea." "I'm headed out to East Hampton this weekend." "You guys want to come with me, you're more than welcome." "I've never been to the Hamptons." "That sounds awesome." "Does it sound awesome?" "Yeah." "Big time." "Oh, well, you gotta come then." "You're gonna love it." "What do you think, babe?" "I got plenty of room." "Ah, as long as we're all agreed that we don't have to go to Mom's," "I mean, I'm up for whatever." " Babe, that sounds like so much fun." "Mmm." "Please?" "I don't wanna go skiing." "But I want to be with you." "Okay, fine." "But you're calling Mom." "Hey!" "Hey, Mom." "Happy birthday." "Hey, Sharon!" "Oh, am I gonna see you tonight?" "Yeah, you know, that's what I was calling about." "You know, there must have been some sort of misunderstanding with Gerry or something." "I didn't know he wanted us to come out tonight for a party and then also again at Christmas." "That's what I thought." "But you know Gerry wants to make a big deal out of it." "Yeah, but it's not a big deal to you, though, right?" "Well, I mean, it is my 70th but..." "Well, you know how I feel about birthdays, right?" "Yeah, yeah." "See that's what I thought, that's what I told Quinn." "I mean, he had these plans and then he invited me, so..." " So Quinn's not coming either?" " No." "But... we'll both be out at Christmas." "Like we always do, you know." "And we'll celebrate your birthday then." "Yeah." "Yeah, okay." "We'll--We'll do it then." "Okay, great." "I'm so glad you're cool with it." " Look, I gotta go, Mom." "I love you." " I love you, Mom." "Happy birthday." "I love you both." "Love you, too." "Bye." "Okay, bye." " We're good?" " We are so good." "Let's go." "Hmm." "Hey, Mom." "You home?" "Oh, I'm upstairs, Gerry." "Little change in plans." "We're gonna do the party here tonight instead." "Okay?" "I already called the restaurant, and they're gonna bring over a bunch of food." "The food is terrible." "And the takeout is even worse." "Oh, really?" "Is it?" "Then why do you insist on eating there every night?" "Because it's free." "And otherwise, I'd have to eat alone." "But what is Dottie's problem?" "I mean, why..." "Why isn't she cooking?" "Dottie has more drama going on like always." " But she's coming over?" " No." "No." "And neither is Erin." "I guess she has her hands full with the baby." "Well, uh, Sharon and Quinn have blown us off as well." "Apparently, they made other plans." "Are you kidding me?" "I spoke to Quinn earlier today and he said he was coming." "Ah, you know what?" "I'm gonna call that son of a bitch right now and make sure they get their asses out here." "No, no, no, don't do that." "No, it's--it's..." "Hon, I'm fine." "Listen, when you have a birthday two days before Christmas, you get used to eating your cake alone." "Mom, you're not eating your cake alone." "I will, uh..." "I'll be right back, all right?" "Hey!" "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I'm Gerry Fitzgerald." "I'm an old friend of Mrs. McGowan's." "Just wanted to stop by, wish her a happy holiday." "Oh, yeah, yeah." "Um, I'm Nora, I'm one of her nurses." "Come on in." "Nancy?" "Oh, Gerry." "It's so good to see you." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, you want a drink?" "Nora, get this boy a drink." "Oh, yeah." "What do you want?" "No, actually I'm all right." "Thank you." "Okay." "So how are you?" "Well...you know." "The holidays are hard." "Well, look, that's why I'm here today." "I'm gonna invite you over the house tonight for Rosie's birthday." "I know she would love to see you." "Oh, no." "I don't think so." "I don't have the strength these days to leave the house." "But I'll call her, I'll wish her a happy birthday." "Yeah, she would love to hear from you." "And I'm gonna make sure that she gets over here on Christmas Day to at least stop by and say hello." "Oh, I don't know about that." "I got a phone call from your father." "Really?" " Mm-hmm." " This guy is unbelievable." " What did you say?" " I told him there's not a shot in hell that she is gonna let him into that house again." "Especially, at Christmas?" "I know." "I told him the same thing but he is insisting, so tonight we'll see what she decides." "What do you think that she should do?" "What do you think in your heart?" " It's Christmas." " Yeah." "If ever there was a time for some forgiveness..." "And mercy." "You're not gonna believe this." "I got this card from my sister, and it just made me think of this whole situation." "Just listen to this." ""Lost friend, lost child, lost parent, sister, brother," ""husband, wife," ""in the season of immortal hope" ""and on the birthday of immortal mercy we will shut out nothing."" "Mr. Charles Dickens." "Great sentiment." "But I think you know how my mother feels about the English, right?" "Now go." "Let me know how it all turns out." "Will do." "Great to see you." "All right." "Try to have a good holiday." "I'm trying." "Well, look, how is she doing?" "She's good, she's good." "I think the holidays get her a little down sometimes." "You know, I used to come by and visit all the time but..." "I guess I gotta make more of an effort." " Yeah, that would mean a lot to her." " Yeah." "You should definitely visit." "All right, and, um..." "What's your deal?" "You're here with her all the time or...?" "Yeah, yeah." "Definitely." "So, so if you come visit, I'll see you." "All right, great." " I will definitely do that then." " All right." "Okay." "Uh, Mrs. G, happy holidays." " I love you." " Love you, too." "I might come by again, maybe, uh, tomorrow." "Just check in on you." "All right, see you tomorrow." " All right." " Okay." " Good to meet you." " You, too." " Bye-bye." " Bye." "Hey, baby." "How did it go?" "It didn't." "What happened?" "I thought it was a done deal." "So did I." "What did they say?" "They didn't say shit." "They just don't have any spots open, that's it." "I don't understand, I thought your brothers..." "Oh, what does it matter what happened?" "The point is that they have no work, end of story." "Let's go inside, have a beer and get ready to go to my mom's, huh?" "Yeah, I'm not going to your mom's tonight." "What are you talking about?" "It's her birthday, you have to go." "It's bad enough I got to spend the day with your asshole brothers on Christmas." "JJ, why are you being like this?" "This is it." "This is us." " Right here's good." " Oh, my God." " This house is insane." " Oh, thank you." " This is bigger than my college." " Oh, thanks." "Yeah, it's not bad." "No, it's not bad at all." "Oh, no, no." "I got it." "Yeah, okay." "Is this yours?" "I can't believe how big this house is." " Ah." "Well, let me give you the grand tour." " Oh, thank you." "You ain't seen nothin' yet." "So, what's this guy do for a living?" "I don't know." "Nothing." "It's just, uh, family money." " Family money?" " Yeah." "I'm not familiar with that concept." "So do you have a pool?" "Uh, we got a pool and a pond." "Pond's good for you." " You didn't think I'd know that, did you?" " That's good." "Now come this way, come here." "So, what do you think?" "What?" "My girl." "The girl." "Oh, I think she's great." "Well, I'm glad you approve, 'cause I'm gonna propose this weekend." "Pr-Propose what?" "Propose marriage." "What?" "Really?" "You just met her, didn't you?" "Yeah, but I'm gonna propose tomorrow night, Christmas Eve." "What is she, like, 12 years old?" "You should talk, you and Money Bags Methuselah over here." "Yeah, true, but I'm not looking to get married, far from it." "You know, when baby's all growsed up, you're gonna realize." "When you know, you know." "Hey, guys." "Come on up." " Hello?" " Hey, Mom." "So I have some bad news." "I'm not gonna be able to come over tonight." "What's wrong?" "Are you crying?" "No, no." "No, I just, uh..." "I bought you a cake and I'm not gonna be able to bring it over, so I feel bad." "I don't care about the cake." "Why are you crying?" "It's nothing." "It's just, uh..." "Uh, JJ didn't get that job so..." "Look, look, baby." "Why don't you come over and-- and stay with me tonight." "Okay?" "No, I should stay here." "I'll, uh, I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" "Have a happy birthday." "Well, looks like it's just you and me, kid." "So I heard." "Look, Mom, the reason that I wanted everybody out here tonight-- and for the record, I am furious with all of them-- was, there is something the family needs to make a joint decision about." "Then we'll discuss it at Christmas." "Nah, it can't wait till then." "It's..." "It's about Dad." "What about Dad?" "Well, he wants to spend Christmas with us here at the house." "Gerry, as I told him when he walked out on me, on us, 20 years ago, the man will never set foot in this house again." "I know, I know." "But in his defense, all right, he has had a pretty tough year." "Yeah, and I've had a tough life." "Mom, his company went belly-up." "I mean, he lost almost everything." "Good, good." "I'm glad." "He deserves it." "Yeah." "Well, then you'll love to hear that his divorce with Carol got real nasty and..." "Now that is a birthday gift." "I'm gonna celebrate with a beer." "So, you're not even gonna consider it," " are you?" " Nah." "What about the Christmas spirit?" "Why don't you just give it a little bit of time, think about it and then make a decision." " Okay." " All right." " I'll think about it." " Good." "Okay, I've thought about it." "And the answer is still no." "Now that that's settled," "I think you should go down to the restaurant and check on things." "The restaurant can wait." "Come on, it's your birthday." "I appreciate everything you're doing, Gerry." "But I'm not asking you." "I'm telling you." "Okay." "I got it." "Happy birthday, gorgeous." " Hey, Brian." " Hey." "What's up, Gerr?" "KK, how we doing tonight?" "Eh, pretty quiet, given it's the holidays." "But that's to be expected." "All right." "Well, look, maybe we'll, uh, close up early tonight, all right?" "Sounds good." "I'll be in the office if you need me." "Oh, yeah, and, KK, if my mom calls make sure you put the call through, all right?" "No problem, Gerr." " Hey!" " Hey!" " I know you." " Yeah, yeah." " How are you?" " I'm good." "Thank you for asking." "Good." "Gerry." "We have met." "Right." "Nora." "I'm Mrs. McGowan's nurse." " Of course." " She, uh... said I should just stop by while I'm waiting for my train." " Speaks highly of the joint." " Oh." "Well, what time is your train?" " Oh, in 10 minutes from now." "So, yeah..." " Oh, shit." "I know, I've been here for a while." "Well, you know they run every hour." "They do." "So if you wanted to catch the next one maybe you could stay and you could have a drink?" "Thought you'd never ask." "It was complete insanity." "Because you gotta remember we had nine people living in a three-bedroom house." "Good Lord." "Bloody Irish." "So actually it was a good thing that our father left." "We really needed the extra space." "Whoa, back up." "You shared a room with three of your sisters?" "Yeah." "Four sisters in a room about the size of this coffee table right here." "And our oldest sister Dottie, she used to bring her boyfriends back from college and have sex with them in the room, while we were all there sleeping." " Did she really?" " Yeah." " I never heard that." " Yeah, she did." "And I've got the emotional scars to prove it." "You know I'd like to meet this sister of yours." "No, I don't think you would." "She's over 30." "Stop it." "Anyway, meanwhile, this whole time the boys have the big room all to themselves." "You sound particularly resentful when you say that." "We deserved it." "What did you do to deserve it?" " They were boys, lass." " That's right." "It's exactly correct." "Thank you, Francis Xavier." "Man who understands." "And for a while it was just me and Gerry in the room." "Then Gerry moved to the basement when the baby came along." "The baby became Cyril, who became my indentured servant till I went to college." "Yeah, and maybe that's why C turned out the way he did." "I have to admit." "I was not very kind to the little guy." " You were terrible to him." " He was my little brother." "It was my duty to abuse him at all times." "Yeah, I beat the crap out of my little brother" " every day of his life." " Of course you did." "So just all older brothers are assholes." " No, little brothers are punks." " You know I'd take offense at that." "I was never an asshole to you." "Oh, my God." "I'm not even talking about you, Quinn." "Well, it's clear who you are talking about." "So would you give me a little more detail as to what Gerry did to piss you off so much?" "I don't even wanna talk about it." " He told her he didn't approve..." " It's not even worth going into." " Of her dating a..." " It's not." "...dashingly handsome," " materialistically wealthy..." " No, that's not what he said." " Slightly older gentleman." " He said something more to the effect of," ""Why are you dating that old fucking creep anyhow?"" "Oh, that would piss me off." "Wait a second." "He called me a fucking creep?" "Yeah, I didn't want to go into it." "That doesn't sound like Gerry." "I've always dated much younger women." "He never said anything like that to me." "Yeah, that's called a double standard." "Too much information." "Don't want to know about all the women you've dated." "Just don't..." " You've only dated younger women?" " Yeah." "How old are you, Abbie?" " 22." " Really?" "Wow." "Sweet." "You are a fucking creep." "Stay over there, my friend." "Okay." "Here's Mr. Whale." "Took forever." " Is he down?" " Finally." "How come you don't want to go to your mother's tonight?" "We could have called a babysitter." "'Cause she drives me crazy." "In fact they all drive me crazy." "Besides we're gonna see them on Christmas." "Speaking of Christmas, I was wondering..." "Oh!" "Oh, God!" "Can..." "I can't deal with it." "Can you..." " I got it, I got it." " try?" "JJ?" " JJ?" " Hey-." "Hey." "Baby, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "Where did you come from?" " Boston." " Boston?" "Boston." "So that means you're a..." " Red Sox fan." " Mm-hmm." "Red Sox, Pats, Celts, yes." "Now, why did you go and do that and ruin what I thought was a pretty good thing we got going on here?" "What makes you think this was a good thing?" "I'm a little out of practice, but, yeah, it seems like it's going pretty well." "You're smiling, I'm laughing." "Yeah." "Something tells me you don't laugh very much." "Oh." "Probably not as much as I used to, I guess." "I take it Mrs. McGowan told you about me and her daughter." "Yeah." "I'm sorry about that." "Well, that was a pretty shitty day for a lot of people, right?" "I lost my dad on that day, too." "I'm..." "I'm sorry to hear that." "Yeah." "And she said that you guys were supposed to get married that October." "Look, I don't love talking about this." "If you can..." "I get it." "Yeah, yeah." "So, anyhow, what, uh, what brings you here?" "Uh, nursing school and then I just fell in love with the city." "No, not New York." "What brought you here tonight, more specifically to this fine establishment?" "Um..." "I was waiting for my train." "Well, I got bad news." "You, uh, you missed it." "No, I missed my train?" " It's gone." " Oh, no." "There's got to be another train." "Not tonight." "Hmm." "Where do you live?" "Whitestone." "It's a long cab ride." "Thank you so much for the lift and walking me to the door." " You're such a gentleman." " Yeah, of course." "Anytime." "Do you really mean that?" "'Cause I work five nights a week and I hate that train ride." "Yes, I do mean it." "Hmm, that's good." "Look, I had a great time tonight." "I did, too." "You know I could, um..." "stick around tonight if you want." "Mmm." "I don't think so." "Did I just totally blow this?" "No." "No, no, no, no." "I just, you know." "You sure?" "Yeah." "Just not tonight, I think, you know." "All right, yeah." "Um..." "Still I'd, you know..." "I meant that I would love to see you again." "I would love that, too." " All right, good, good." " Yeah." " All right, then." " Thanks for the drink." "Thanks for the ride and..." " Okay." " All right." "Okay." "Bye." " Hey!" " Hey!" "What are you doing up so early?" "I'm always up this early." " Really?" " What's your excuse?" "Yeah, I mean, me, too." "I'm lucky if I get five hours." "You know, that's funny." "I mean, we're brother and sister and we don't even know each other that well." "What?" "We know each other fine." "Oh, yeah?" "Where did I go to high school?" "Sacred Heart." "No, that was Connie and Erin, the smart ones." "I went to Hewlett." "Where did I go to college?" "I know you went upstate." "Oswego?" "Oneonta?" "You played soccer." "Jesus, that was Cyril." "I went to Purchase." "I was a theater major." "I know all of this." "I'm fucking around with you." "You are so full of shit." "I bet you don't even know how old I am." "You're 20..." "I know you're not 30." "See." "Okay." "How old am I?" "You just turned 38." "You went to Xavier High School." "You went to Fordham for college." "And of the six books you have read," "The Old Man and the Sea is your favorite." "Okay." "So you know some things about me." "Congratulations." "I don't know you from Adam." "But you're my baby sister and I love you to death." "And by the way, don't pay attention to that bullshit Gerry gave you about FX." "You don't think he's too old for me?" "Who's to say who's too old?" "Is he good to you?" "Then he's good with me." "I don't know." "Gerry just..." "He made me feel like such a cliché." "You know, like, girl grows up without a dad so she dates old guys just to replace him." "Sharon, give yourself a break." "You're not the only one in this family with daddy issues." "Yo!" "C!" "Hey, Gerry, what are you doing here?" "How you doin'?" "Good to see you." "Figured you could use a friendly face when you got off the bus." "Thanks." "Did you drive in?" "I did." "I did, you know." "And since we're in the city, there's a little something I wanna show you." "Okay?" "All right?" "You're looking good, man." "Yeah, threw in a couple of pounds." "I think it's good for you." "It's good for you." "Thanks." "So, you recognize this building?" "No." "Should I?" "Yeah." "You know the picture in the living room of Dad with Grandma on his First Holy Communion sitting on a stoop?" " Right there." " Oh?" "This is where they used to live." "Yeah." "Third floor." "Well, if the stoop could talk it'd probably tell us what an asshole Dad was as a kid." "How do you know which building it was?" "You know, he used to take me into the city all the time when I was little." "He wanted to show me where he grew up, how he grew up." "Said, "it's important that you know where the Fitzgeralds are from."" "Never did that shit with me." "Well, why do you think I'm doing it now?" "You know, he didn't call me once when I was up there." "I don't know why that surprises you." "I mean, I keep trying to tell you guys he is who he is." "All right?" "And he's certainly not gonna change now that he's in his 70s." "Once a selfish cocksucker, always a selfish cocksucker, huh?" "Yes." "Yeah." "You should know, though, he wants to come out to the house tomorrow for Christmas, have dinner with us." "What do you think?" "If he's gonna be there, I'm not gonna be there." "Mom, what are you doing here?" "Dottie just called and she's just busy this morning." "This is so typical of her." "Busy with what?" "She didn't say." "She just asked me to cover for her." "She is so irresponsible." "Oh, everyone has their own issues." "Besides, what's up with you these days?" "Doesn't the holidays put everyone in a shitty mood?" "No, it shouldn't." "it should do just the opposite." "Well, it never has for me." "Is it just the holidays or is there something specific" " got you down in the mouth?" " Mom," " I'm really not in the mood" " I mean, no..." " to have this talk." " I look at this beautiful home, that loving husband, that gorgeous child, and I can't imagine what you've got to be so down in the mouth about." "Yeah?" "Well, as usual you don't know half the story." "Well, why don't you try explaining?" "Mom, we don't have that relationship." "We never did and we never will." "You don't even want to try?" "Consider it the birthday gift you didn't get me." "Guilt trips, they work with the others but not me." " Ah." " Hey, Rosie." " You pinch-hitting?" " Hi, Corey, yeah." " Happy belated birthday." " Thank you." "Where are you two off to today?" "Well, we're gonna have some lunch, see the tree, do the whole Christmas Eve thing." "Aha." "Oh, so even though we don't believe in God we're still celebrating Christmas?" "Doesn't mean you ever stop believing in Santa Claus." "You know, Rosie, today would be the perfect day for you to do that thing you asked me about." " Oh, my..." " Rosie." "If you do it, don't tell anyone." "Especially this one." "It's between you, Aaron and God." " Okay?" " To the grave." " To the grave." " So, Mom..." "Aaron's down now and he'll go back down again" " in two to three hours." " Right." "Okay." "Now, you two just take your time, have a great day." "Aaron's in good hands with me." "Oh, I know he is." "You did such a great job with this one." "I had nothing to do with raising her." "She raised herself." "Bye!" "Father Mike, it's Rosemary Fitzgerald." "Hey, Mom!" "Look who's home." "Hey, Mom!" "Ma!" "Huh." "That's weird." "She must have stepped out." "Uh..." "Well, look, the idea was for you to stay in your old room." "So, you cool with that?" "Yeah, of course." "And you're allowed to just be left here on your own without any supervision?" "I suppose." "Yeah?" "Well, what do you think?" " I think I'm good." " Yeah?" " I don't need to lock up the booze or..." " No." "I'll be okay." "All right, brother." "Look, I got to get up to the restaurant, but it was awesome to see you." " All right?" "You're looking good." " Yeah." "Hey, Gerry..." "Can I borrow a couple of bucks?" "Look, there's plenty of food in the fridge and..." "No." "I want to do some Christmas shopping." "Yeah, of course." "Sorry." "That should cover it." "Thanks." "Hey." "And don't worry about anybody else." "Just get Mom something good." "All right?" "She's gonna be excited to see you, brother." "Welcome home." "I think I'm good." " Hey." " Hey." "What's going on?" "She's asleep." " Shit." "Sorry about that." " No." "It's cool." "It's cool." "Come over here." " How's it going?" " Good." "Good." "What are you doing?" "Look, I just wanted to come by and apologize for last night." "I mean I don't know if that was..." "No, you don't have to apologize." "I had a great time." "It was really fun." "Oh, cool." "And I brought a little gift for Mrs. McGowan." " Oh, you did?" " Yeah." "What a nice boy." "Yeah, well, I figured it'd give me a good excuse to come by, see you again today." "Right, oh..." "I'll be sure she gets this." "So, um, what do you got doing for Christmas?" "Well, I volunteered to stay with Nancy through New Year's so that the other nurse could go be with her family, so..." "Well, what about your family, though?" "You're not going up to Boston or..." "I don't really have anybody left." "Um, yeah, after my dad, it's kinda just me." "So..." "Well, in that case why don't you and Mrs. McGowan come over to my mom's house tonight?" "It's just gonna be a little dinner." "But at least you're not going to be sitting here alone." "That would be great." "But she can't leave the house." "The doctor just wants her to kinda stay put." "So..." "But we're great." "We're gonna order in pizza, eat our faces off till she falls asleep at 8:30." "Then I'm gonna have a glass of wine, maybe two." "I gotta tell you that just sounds, uh, a little bit depressing." " I mean, for Christmas Eve." " It's not depressing." "If you think it's so depressing, why don't you come over?" "Come over for the wine part." "You know what, I would love to." "But I actually..." "It's Christmas Eve." "And we've got this thing going on with my father and my whole family that... that's gonna need to be addressed tonight." "Yeah." "So you're gonna need a drink." "Yes." "I probably will." "So, you know what, maybe when I'm done with them," " I could come by here." " Yeah." "Okay." "All right." "I'll, uh..." "I'll throw a pebble at your window if you're still up." "All right." "Just don't wake up Nancy, please." "What do you say, Dad?" "Hey." "I was hoping to get a decent burger." "But no such luck." "Yeah." "Well, that didn't stop you from eating it." "That's probably why this place is empty." "You know my dad would be heartbroken, he saw the place like this." "Yeah, well, look, you're more than welcome to jump behind the grill any time you want." "Why don't you get some young people in here, you know?" "Bring the kids in." "Hey, maybe your brother, Cyril..." "Good idea." "Dad, Cyril just got out of rehab today." "All right?" "The last thing he needs in his life is this bar." "Yeah." "That's another regret in my life." " I don't even know that kid." " Yeah." "Try picking up the phone." "He won't talk to me." "You know what he told me?" "That I'm dead in his life." "Can you blame him?" "You were a lousy father." "Exaggerated." "I slapped the kids around a little bit." "But... that's the way it went in those days." "I'm not talking about that." "You walked out on us." " I got back when I could." " Yeah." "Which was never." "Look, I don't even wanna have this conversation." "So, what else you got, Dad?" "Ah, I went to see Father Mike." "I had a confession." "You must have been in there a while." "Hmm." "We had a good talk." "Well, I didn't with Mom." "I spoke to her and she does not want this to happen at all." "I don't understand that woman." "All I wanna be is with my family at Christmas." "Is that so unreasonable?" "You're just lonely." "All right?" "This is your first Christmas on your own." "After the holidays pass, I'm sure you will be fine." "No, Gerald." "It's, uh..." "It's gonna be my last Christmas." "Your last Christmas?" "What are you gonna do?" "Kill yourself because of the money?" "Because of Carol." "I mean, come on, Dad." "Oh, it's not that." "Well, then what--what is it?" "I'm dyin'." "Pancreatic cancer." "Very advanced." "I got four or five months, tops." "What?" "I'm sorry." "I didn't know." "What are the doctors saying?" "That I'm dying." "Oh, Jesus Christ." "Who else knows?" "Just Erin." "Driving over to see Dorothy, tell her, then..." "I thought it would be better to tell each of you face to face." "So..." "I need your help." "Can you talk to your mother?" "Tell her this is so important to me." "Okay." "Yeah." " I will." " Okay?" " Yeah." " Thanks, Gerry." "We got a good family." "The best." "The best." " Let me get you a drink." " Yeah." "Skippy, it's..." "What are you doing here?" "It's Christmas Eve." "I've got some gifts for the boys." "I was hoping that maybe we could talk." "No." "I don't want to talk." "I told you if you wanna talk, call my cell." "Is he here?" " There's nobody here." " There's nobody here." "Is he in my fucking bed?" "Because I'd like to have a little chat with him," " rip his fucking head off." " Calm down." "There's nobody here." "All right?" "What is going on?" "I can't do this anymore, okay?" "Our life wasn't bad, but I know that there's more out there." " And I just can't do it." " What is that?" "What's..." "What's..." "What's better?" " I don't know." " You don't know?" "I don't know, but when I find it I'll let you know." "Oh, thank you." "That's very kind of you." "That's extremely generous." "Please, please, let me know when you find it." "Skippy." "Merry fucking Christmas, Dot." "Hey." "Hey." "Where are you going?" " Hey." " Come on." "Yeah." "You know with Mr. Ryan comin'..." "And I gotta go help my mother for dinner tonight." "No, no, no, no." "Come on." "I want some more action." "I would." "I would." "But I gotta go pick up a bunch of fish for my mom and help her with the tree and with the lights." "You know, I'm looking forward to meeting your mom tonight." "Yeah, Dottie, about that..." "Um, you know, it's just gonna be sort of like a little get-together with family." "I'll bring a few decent bottles of wine, okay?" "'Cause it's terrible to eat a nice dinner with cheap-ass wine." " All right?" " Okay." " All right." "Bye." " Ciao,mammone." "Ciao." "Good morning." " Hey." " How are you?" "Good." " Oh, hi, babe." " Hi." "It's 1 P.M., so that's actually afternoon." "Oh, good afternoon." "All right." "What's the plan?" "What are we doing?" "Hey." "Just doing a crossword." "What do you need, a four-letter word for sitting around on your ass on a beautiful day?" "Just relax, okay." "Have a little breakfast." "Relax?" "No, come on." "I wanna go down to the beach." "Mm-mm." "It's way too cold to go to the beach today." "I got some herb if anybody wants some." " Really, you got weed?" " Yeah." "Wait." "Seriously, we're not going to the beach at all while we're here?" " No." "We are going to the beach." " Just relax." "You and I, we're going to the beach." "Enjoy the herb." "I will." "Come on, last chance." "Have a good time." "I'll see you when you get back." "Okay." "Hi." "Hey." " Where you been?" " I was down at the pub." "That was fun last night." "Yeah." "I guess." "Been a while." "Yeah." "Actually, it's been about three months." "Yeah." "Well, I've got things on my mind." "You know howl remembered?" "'Cause it was so special?" "Yeah, it was." "You're not gonna believe it." "And I didn't want to tell you 'cause I know you're scared, but it's gonna be okay." "No." "What are you talking about?" "I missed a couple of periods." " You what?" " And I took a pregnancy test." " And guess what?" " No, no, no, no, Connie, do not say that." " Oh, JJ, it's a good thing." " Do not say this." " It's a good thing." " No, no, no." "This is not a good thing." "This is a goddamn disaster." "How could you let this happen?" "How the hell could you let this happen?" "We can't afford this." "It's gonna be fine because you're gonna find something soon." "And we can ask my brothers for help." "No, no, no, no." "I don't want any favors from your brothers." " Shit." "This is a nightmare." " Oh, JJ." "JJ." "Once it settles in, you're gonna see it." " Why didn't you take the pill like I asked you to?" " This is a blessing." " JJ, we're gonna have a family." " A blessing?" "Yeah." "Oh, come on." "Just get out of my way." "Hey." "You better get your ass out of here right now" " before I kick your..." " Piss off, Richie." "Get your ass out of here." " Are you okay?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I'm okay." "What are you doing with this guy?" "He's a total scumbag." "No, no." "It's not like that." "He's just having a hard time." "He's out of work and..." "Bullshit." "I've heard what goes on over here." "Look." "I'll call Gerry, okay?" "He'll know what to do." "Please, just..." "It's fine." "It's fine." "Thank you." "Father, not a word of this to anyone." "Agreed." "Confidential." "And now, I want to ask something of you." "Anything you want, Father." "James was in to see me this afternoon." "Was he, really?" "I am forbidden to break the seal of confession but I want you to know that he is deeply sorry for the wrongs he committed in the past, particularly to you and the children." "I'm glad he's made his peace with you." "But I am not having him over tomorrow." "Rosie, he only has a few months left." "A few months?" "Where's he going?" "He's dying." "Is that what he told you?" "People don't lie about dying." "Then you don't know the same James that I know." "Rosie, this is it." "Now, he's going to be dead soon and I suggest, in your own best interest, that you forgive him and invite him back into the arms of his own family." "Family?" "Is that what he calls us now?" "You insisted on having this child baptized." "Yet you yourself will not follow Christ's teaching on forgiveness?" "Because he's got his whole life ahead of him." "Me?" "I figure I'm already a lost cause." "This is not the season for your jokes or for hardness of heart." "You say that as if I have a choice in the matter." "Thanks again, Father." "Hi, this is Rosie." "Leave it at the beep." "Yeah." "Hey, Mom, it's me." "Look, the whole idea of having a cell phone is that periodically you pick the thing up." "All right, look." "I just saw Dad." "He came by the restaurant." "And we need to talk." "Okay?" "So, give me a call when you get this." "Thank you very much." "Hey, Nora, it's, uh, it's Gerry." "Look, uh..." "I kinda need to talk to someone who isn't completely out of their fucking minds." "And that kinda disqualifies my entire family." "So... ls there any way I could maybe swing by, pick your brain for a little bit?" "All right." "Great." "I'll see you, 15, 20 minutes or so?" "All right." "Perfect." "I'll just pull up outside." "Cool." "Thank you." "You know he married the shiksa." "And he's celebrating his first Christmas with her and her kids." "Back up." "Your father is celebrating Christmas?" "He's making an effort." "You see." "These old geezers hook up with a younger girl, they think they're getting a free ride." "But there is no such thing." "I know." "I know, it's pathetic." " But that's not the point." " No, it's hysterical." "I would love to see the look on your father's face as he has to pretend to enjoy Christmas." "Oh, she should make him dress up as Santa." "Well, I can grant you that wish since he wants us to be there." "Absolutely not." "I'm his only kid." "This is his first Christmas." " Are you kidding me?" " No." "I'm serious." "He wants us..." "Thank you." "He wants us to drive up to Connecticut and help him do this." "No shot." "We've always done every Christmas with your family." "I mean..." "Last year." "Erin, that was awful." "I mean..." "Well, he was drunk and he apologized and he's sober now." "Okay." "Listen, I don't ask for much." "All I'm asking for is this one Christmas." "Well, it would kill my mother especially since we just blew off her birthday." "You don't even like your brothers and sisters." "Well, why not blow them off this year?" "'Cause this year's different." "I'm sorry." "End of discussion." "End of discussion?" "What--What's so different about this year?" "Just different." "Why won't you talk to me?" "Can we please just shop?" " Let's shop." " Okay." "See?" "Isn't this great?" "Yeah, it's great." "Freezing my balls off." "So, hey, you're really gonna propose to this girl?" "Yeah." "It's time." "Why?" "Why is it time?" "Why can't you give it a year, or like, at least another month." "Because I'm not getting any younger, Sharon." "And I want to have kids before I'm an old man." "Well, do you love her?" "I like her...a great deal." "She has her faults, but... she's a good kid." "She's smart, she's funny." "But you don't love her." "She comes from a very good family." "It's a shame she can't say the same thing about you." "That's another reason I gotta lock this girl down." "But you can't tell me that you love her." "You know, at my age, love is not the first priority." "I'm done looking around." "This is it." "Oh." "Richie T?" "Hey." "Rich, what's up?" "What?" "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Slow down." "Which sister?" "Is he still there?" "Okay." "I'm on my way." "What is it?" "What happened?" "JJ fucking hit Connie." " Are you kidding me?" " No, I'm not kidding you." "I gotta go deal with this." "I'll drop you off at the house." "No freaking way." "I'm coming with you." "Hi, honey." " You okay?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I'm okay." "Listen, this is fucking horrible, okay?" " No, no, no." " No, it's terrible." "Listen, you're not going back to your house." " You can stay with me" " No, you don't know the whole story" "No, listen." "You can stay with Mom or you can stay with me, but you're never going back to that house." "No, it's my house." "Yeah." "But you've got to do this now, honey." " You know, he had a hard year." " Oh, fuck that." "Fuck that." "I'm sorry." "That's what you said the last time and the time before and you keep giving him another chance," " and look what happens." " Oh, I know." "You've gotta do this." "I mean, you've got to tell him that you're leaving him." "You're gonna file for divorce and that's it." "I'm pregnant." "Oh, my God." "Oh, Connie." " Why?" " I don't know why." "It just happened." "And he knows this?" "And he still pushed you?" "I'm sorry, for the sake of this kid you've got to get him the hell out of your life." "He's an asshole." " You have to, honey." " I know." "Okay." " You think it's him?" " I don't know." "Here." "Go hide in the TV room." "Oh, my God, it's Dad." " Dad?" " Yeah." " Daddy?" " Hey, it's Christmas Eve." " What are you doing?" " I got presents." "I sot gifts." " Good to see you." " Come in." "Oh, my God." " Yeah." " What are you doing here?" "Oh, it's Christmas Eve." "Come on." "It's the best." " Baby, Connie, how are you?" " Hi, Daddy." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas, sweetie." " All right." " This is great." "The house looks fabulous." " Thank you." " Yeah." "Is it too early for wine?" "Because, you know, I could use a glass." "This is ridiculous." "I mean..." "I'm just give 'em a quick call." "Hmm." "See what's going on." "Oh, shit." " Hey." " Hey." "What's going on?" "It's like, almost two hours." "Yeah, yeah." "I know." "I should have called earlier." "I'm sorry." "But we had an emergency and so we had to go." "You had to go?" "What are you talking about?" "What kind of emergency?" "We had a family emergency, but we're taking care of it." "Well, when are you coming back here?" "And what are you talking about?" "When are you coming back here?" "I don't know." "We have to go by one of my sister's." "We don't have a fucking car here." "You're leaving me stranded here without a car?" "What are you talking about?" "I don't understand." "Are you kidding me with this?" "I'm telling you that we have a family emergency and this is how you react to that?" "Look, I can't even talk to you right now." " God, what a jerk." " What, they pissed at us?" "I don't really give a crap." "Ohh." "What's up?" "ls everything okay?" "I don't even know why I called, quite honestly, dragging you into my mess." "Don't worry about it." "What's going on?" "All right." "Well, it's..." "It's my dad." "He just told me he's got a few months to live and..." "I don't know, I'm just kind of numb," "I didn't know who else to call." "You're probably sitting here looking at me like," ""Who the fuck is this guy?" "I just met you yesterday" ""and you're dropping this shit on me?"" "No." "I'm not." " I'm not." "I'm not at all." "Yeah." " You sure?" "Don't apologize." "Oh, you know, I mean, he's dying, right?" "So, obviously I'm upset, but..." "I'm also fucking furious with him because it's the kind of bullshit he's always pulled." "You know, he only calls when he wants something from me, like everybody else in my family." "You know, they're all consumed with their own shit." "I mean, yesterday, it's my mother's birthday, and... not one of them can find time in their busy fucking schedules to come out and celebrate her day with her?" "And they get that from him because... you know, he's the most selfish son of a bitch alive." "And, you know, now, now he wants my help because... he wants to come home for Christmas." "And I'm like, "You know what, I've been helping you since you walked out on us 20 years ago."" "I mean, I raised half of his kids." "I took care of my mother when she was losing her mind those first couple of years, and he's off in Manhattan having a great time." "I even took over his father's business when his old man died." "And I didn't wanna do any of this shit." "I didn't ask for it, but I didn't have a fucking choice, you know." "And it's like..." "Do you think he ever said thank you?" "Do you think any of them ever say thank you for anything?" "No." "I'm just..." "I just..." "I'm kinda..." "I just wish I could be fucking done with them." "The whole..." "I don't know." "I don't know." "I'm sorry." "I'm just..." "No, no, no, no." "That's okay." "Is there a question in there anywhere" "OI' are we..." "I don't know." "I don't know what I'm supposed to do." " You know?" " What do you wanna do?" "I wanna wash my hands of the whole lot of them." "Just like, "You know what, why don't you guys just figure it out on your own for once?"" "So do that." "You know, have your dad figure it out, have your brothers and sisters figure it out for themselves." "Let them do it for themselves." "It might surprise you." "I seriously doubt it." "But..." "I definitely like the idea of letting them try, you know." "I think that's the hardest thing in the world, you know, for people like us." "But it sounds like it's time." "Connie went over to Dot's." "Hopefully this guy's still fucking here." " Stay here." " You kidding?" "Hey, jerk-off, what is your problem?" " Hey, douchebag!" " You can't keep your hands to yourself?" "Seriously, what is your problem?" "Do me a favor and listen real close." "You're gonna go inside, you're gonna pack up, and you're gonna get the fuck out of this house." " That's right." " And out of Queens." "I see you here past tonight, you're not going to the hospital, you're going to the fucking morgue." "And he means it." "Don't you think he doesn't." "You understand me?" "Answer me!" "I understand." "Now get the fuck out of here." "Get the fuck out of here!" "Pack your shit and go." "We'll wait till he leaves." "Hey, Rosie, we're home." "Oh, um, I'm in the TV room." "Where's Aaron?" "He's still napping." "Oh, Mom, you can't let him sleep all day." "I'll never get him to bed tonight." "It's all right." "I got him." "How was he?" "He was great." "Erin." "Could you come in here?" "I-I've got something I wanna tell you." "I talked to Gerry." "And I'm assuming that you want me to have your father over tomorrow, too." "Yeah." "Of course I do." "And you really believe this bullshit that he's dying?" "No, Mom, it's for real." "He's been sick for a while." "It wouldn't be the first time he told an elaborate lie to get what he wants." "Mom, I've been with him to the hospital and I've gone with him to see the specialist." "The why wouldn't he tell anyone before this?" "And on my birthday, too." "That's a great present." "He didn't want anyone to know." "I haven't even told Corey yet." "Why would the stubborn jackass wait and keep it a secret?" "Mom, you know Dad." "He thought he'd beat it." "Oh, he's been such a stubborn old fool." " Mom!" " Well, I don't know what to say." "If anyone deserved it, it would be him." "But there will be no tears shed for him from me." "How can you say such a thing?" "I know he hurt you but he's still our father." "The pain he's dealing with now is insignificant to the pain he's caused us." "What about me?" "What about you, your childhood, those little ones?" "Never having a father in the house." "That is real pain." "Pain you carry with you for a lifetime." "So you're gonna cause more pain for all of us and not let him come over." "When he walked out on this family 20 years ago," "I told him he would never set foot in my house again, and I am sticking to it." "You son of a bitch." "You're not gonna make me cry." "Son of a bitch!" "Oh." " Hey, Dottie, we're here." " Oh, hey." "We're in the kitchen." "Whoa!" "Dad, what are you doing here?" "And a very merry to you too." "I'm sorry." "I'm just surprised." "How you doing?" "Give me a hug." "There you go." " Sharon." " No." "I'm good." "Thanks." "Why didn't you tell us Dad's here?" "Uh..." "He just showed up." "All right." "Well, despite this pleasant surprise, we came to see Connie." "Now, before I get to the part about how you're an idiot," " are you okay?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "Okay, good, because you're a fucking idiot." " Thanks." " What are you doing with this guy?" " Sharon?" " Are you kidding me?" "Sharon, Sharon, please." "Listen, she's just upset and frankly, so am I." "I gotta find out from Richie T what's going on in your marriage?" "We just came from a little visit with your soon-to-be ex-husband." " What did you do?" " Quinn." "Quinn, what did you do?" "I just talked to the guy." "But believe me, he got the message." " What's this you're talking about?" " Nothing." "It's none of your business." "Just butt out." " Can I talk to you privately?" " Sure." "us..." " What did you do to him?" " I did not hurt him." "Not that he didn't deserve it." "But you know what?" "I got a question for you." "This is going on, you don't tell me about it?" " What's that about?" " Well, it's not like we talk a lot, Quinn." "I'm still your brother." "And if anybody hurts you ever, I wanna know about it." "And just so you know, what I did tell this prick, is he is never to go near you again," "which also means, you are never going near him again either." "You're finished with this guy." " I know, I know, I know." " Do you?" "Because if this happens again," "I will fucking kill this guy." "And doing 25 to life, for homicide, is really gonna screw up my plans for the future." "So..." "Please don't put me in that position." "Connie," "I love you." "So, Sharon, uh..." "Dad stopped by because he has some big announcement he wants to share with all of us." "Isn't that right, Daddy?" "Well, it's nothing to celebrate, really, although some of you might." "I..." "It's just something I..." "I need to discuss with you." "Can't wait." "I gotta go outside and make a phone call." "Sharon..." "Don't mind her, Daddy." "She's just a spoiled brat." "Yeah, can't blame her though." "Can't blame her." "What are you talking about, you're not coming back tonight?" "Look, we just figured, since we're already out here and you seem to be dealing with some kind of important emergency that we thought we'd just hang out a little bit." "What is this "we"?" "Me and Abbie." "Yeah, yeah, I know who." "Sharon, I don't know what you want me to say, okay?" "You and your brother seemed to think it was fine to take off and abandon us without saying anything." "I don't know what the fuck you thought was gonna happen." "Okay, I told you we had a family emergency." "Right, I don't know what you want me to say, Sharon." "Okay?" "We're hanging out, and we're kinda having a good time." "You're "kinda having a good time"?" "You know my brother is planning on proposing to her tonight!" "You have to get her back here." "You know, he may wanna check his voice-mail on that one, because she's pretty pissed off that he left without saying anything." "Let her know." "And you know what, Sharon?" "Seeing as you think this relationship has no future," "I was kinda thinking this might be a good time for us to call it quits anyhow." "Oh, my God." "You know what?" "You are a creepy old freak and the two of you deserve each other." "Yeah, whatever." " Nice." " Done." "I had no idea what to get you, so you're probably gonna hate it." "Got Ma something nice, though." "That's good." "Hey." "You know you're gonna get through this, right?" "You think so?" "Absolutely fucking certain of it." "Gerry," "I don't know what the hell to do now." "Look, you don't need to worry about that right now, all right?" "After the New Year, we'll get you hooked up with a job, or maybe, I don't know, you go back to school, maybe both." "Go back to school?" "I'm not going back to fucking school." "What the fuck job am I gonna get?" "I will find you something, all right?" "You're home now." "You're with your family." "All right?" "That's what we do." "We take care of one another." "Shit, man, I'm sorry." "Speaking of family..." "Yo, Fitzy, what you got?" "Hey, Gerry, it's Quinn." "What are you doing right now?" "No, I'm just actually sitting here with Cyril." " We're having a little talk." " Dad's here." "He just told us." "Can you fucking believe he's dying?" "Anyway, you gotta get over here." "We need to talk about Christmas." "All right, yeah." "Yeah, we'll be right over." "You think you're ready to see the old man?" "No." "No!" "So what's with her nibs?" "How does she know my Gerry?" "Oh, they met here, yesterday." "She asked about him, so I sent her up to the bar to meet him." "But don't you think she's a little old for him?" "No, I don't think so." "I think they'd make a cute couple." "Well, what's her story?" "No, rea-- Why isn't she married?" "At her age." "I'm not as nosy as you." "I didn't ask her." "She seems like a nice girl." "I thought I'd do them each a favor." "Yeah, but there must be a story." "There's always a story." "What do you want?" "Do you want him to die a bachelor?" "No kids, having a Christmas like the one that I'm gonna have tomorrow with no one by my side?" "Look, you do not have to be alone." "I want you to come over to my house." "I don't want to go to your house." "There's gonna be more drama there than my poor heart can take." "So what am I gonna do about James?" "I can't have that man in my house." "I gotta tell you something." "My Thomas, that son of a bitch, as much as I hated him with a passion, there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish that he were here." "You don't mean that." "I do." "I do mean it." "And you know what I would do?" "I would tie him up in that chair and I would pistol-whip him until he screamed for all the trouble that he caused me." "You know." "You know." "But seriously, if Deirdre were still here, and she wanted me to forgive him, she wanted me to spend Christmas with him... how could I say no?" "Well, if I do forgive him," "I might have to borrow your pistol." "I mean it." " Hey!" "Look who's back." " Cyril!" " Hey!" " Hi!" "Oh." "Missed you." "Come here." "I'm really proud of you." "How's it going, Son?" "Better than you, I hear." "Yeah, you look good." "Welcome back." "Oh, shit." "Is this allowed?" "Are we okay to drink in front of you?" "You never gave a shit about my feelings before." "Okay?" "Don't start now." "Makin' it easy." "That's a change." "Merry Christmas to you, too." "All right, so we're all here." "Let's talk about tomorrow." "No, no, no, no." "Not till Erin gets here." "And why..." "Why do I always forget her?" "Because she's a stuck-up pain in the ass." "You know, she's really not stuck-up." "She just thinks she's better than you." "Yeah, well, she's not the only one." "Where..." "Where are these comments coming from?" "I think you know where these comments are coming from." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "Yeah, we talked about this." "Let's cut all the bullshit." "Erin's been through this every step of the way with me." "She brought me to the best doctors." "She's been at my bedside all through this ordeal." "So I don't want anybody bad-mouthing her." "We can still bad-mouth you, though, right?" "Do what you must." "You know, Daddy, you should've told us about this." "We..." "We could've helped you." "That's not entirely true." "Yeah, I gotta agree with him on that." " Can't you guys just be nice?" " Who said anything about..." "Yeah, you wanna chill with the comments?" "It's Christmas." "Be jolly and merry and all that other shit." "No, no, no, no." "They're entitled." "But..." "Hey, Gerry, why don't you call and see if there's any word from Erin." "I called her on the way over." "She should be here any minute." "An angel just got their wings." "None for you, though, Pops." "I'll get the door." "God!" " What the fuck's wrong with you?" " What's wrong with you, Cyril?" " It was just a joke." " Oh, it's a joke." "Pancreatic cancer victim, Christmas, it's a joke?" "Shut up." "Just lay off him, all right?" " Lay off?" " Yes!" " You lay off!" " Give him a fucking break!" "Shh!" "Our father is dying!" "Oh, Daddy." "Nancy?" "You asleep?" "Mmm." "I'm fine." "I'm gonna go now, sweetie." "Oh..." "Okay." " Have a good Christmas." " Okay." "She's falling asleep." "Yeah, well, it's about that time." "I understand you...you met my boy." "I did." "I did." "He's very nice." "I don't need you to tell me that." "Okay." "What's your name?" "My name?" "Nora." "What's your last name?" "Daugherty." "How do you spell that?" "If you're wondering if I'm Irish, I'm not." "Then what is it?" "Scottish?" "Grandparents were English." "Merry Christmas." "Merry Christmas." "So, what are we supposed to do if Mom does not agree to have Dad over for Christmas?" "It seems clear she already said she wasn't gonna have him over." "Does she know he's dying?" "Yeah, she knows." "And she still said no?" "She's still got a lot of anger towards your dad." "But not all of it deserved." "How do you figure that?" "She and I were young." "It's never black and white as it seems." "Oh, please, Dad, don't even start with that." "I mean, you cheated on her." "How the hell is that somehow her fault?" "Can you just give him a fucking break, please?" "Look, we were kids." "When Dorothy was born, neither one of us had an education." "We weren't prepared to deal with life." "And life..." "just showed up, and we had to do the best we could." "Yeah, well, you know, for some of us," " you did a good enough job." " Mm-hmm." "Yeah, for others, you didn't do shit." "And I apologize to you, Cyril." "And you too, Sharon, and Connie, all you little ones." "I wasn't there." "It's unfortunate, for you," "and me." "All right." "So, we take a vote." "If Mom refuses to have Dad over for Christmas, then we have the holiday at Erin's and Mom is welcome to come if she wants." "Well, I just wanna say, that whatever you all decide," "I will be having Christmas with Mom." " Period." " Yeah, me too." "I don't care if Mom changes her mind, Dad, but..." "I'm with Mom." "Yeah, Dad, it wouldn't feel right to leave Mom alone on Christmas." "Okay, so, guess there's nothing else to say." "Wait, wait, wait a minute." "I had no intention of breaking this family up at Christmas." "What I wanted to do is pull you all together." "If your mother doesn't want it, she doesn't want it." "Okay?" "Let's forget about Christmas." "You're all here." "Why can't we spend tonight... together?" "It's Christmas Eve." "Oh, shit, it's Christmas Eve." "I was supposed to propose tonight." "Oh, yeah, Quinn, that's not gonna happen." "What does that mean?" "You better check your messages." "What does that..." "What do you mean?" "I'm really sorry." "I didn't wanna say it when I met her, but I knew she was a gold-digger." "Go ahead, Gerry, say it." "I know what you're thinking." "I have no clue what you're talking about." "What about the rest of you?" "You're not stealing Christmas Eve from Mom." "Yeah, look, I gotta go." "I'm gonna go help Mom get ready." "How about you?" "I should go with them, Dad." "I'm sorry." "I really wish you could be there tomorrow." "I hope Mom changes her mind." "Well, Erin?" "You're gonna stick with me, right?" "Sorry, Daddy, I should get home to Aaron, but don't worry." "Mom's gonna change her mind." "Okay." "Listen, Dad, I'm really sorry." "I..." "I have to go to a friend's house for dinner, and I'm late already." "I'm sorry." "I love you so much." "I hope I see you tomorrow, okay?" "Yeah, okay." "I guess you reap what you sow." "Yeah." "I made a lot of mistakes in my life, Gerry." "I was a bad father." "I'm not a perfect man." "But God damn it," "I should be able to spend my last fucking Christmas with my family!" "It's not right." "It's not right." "I'll talk to Mom." "Okay." "Talk to Mom." "Did you guys even know he was sick at all?" "No." "But I think it's pretty fucking weird that Erin knew for, like, a year and never said anything." "Yeah, well, Erin's fucking weird." "I think we should ask Mom to let him come for dinner." "Look, call me a cold-hearted prick." "I'm not feeling that much sympathy for him." "Why?" "What did he do that was so bad?" "He walked out on us?" "He never came to one of our birthday parties." "You know, I don't have one picture of me and him together." "Not one." "Shit, he wasn't even there the day I was born." "No, I know." "He didn't do shit for me either, but he is our father, and he's gonna be gone in a few months." "And you know..." "I feel bad for him for that, but I don't think that's a reason for me to forgive him." "Me neither." "We forgave you." "What are you talking about?" "What did I do to you?" "All the shit that you did before you went to rehab?" "Connie." " What?" " What shit did I do?" "You were that fucked up you don't--you don't remember?" "You lied to me, you stole from me." "And that's not even the worst of it!" " Connie!" " What?" "We said we weren't gonna talk about it." "Sharon, what?" "What did I do to you?" "You and your crackhead friends broke into her apartment and trashed the place." " I did not." " Yeah, you did." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "It's fine." "You were sorry right when you did it." "It's okay." "Sharon, I don't remember doing that." "I don't wanna talk about this." "We don't have to talk about it." "Cyril, you're my brother." "I love you and I forgive you." "See?" "That's all I'm saying." "You can forgive him?" "Can't we forgive our father?" "Just one day?" "Just one day." "Just one fucking normal Christmas, once in my life!" "Hey, Mom." "You said it would be okay if I spent the night?" "Of course, baby." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "I'm fine." "Okay." "Good night." "Hey, Ma, where you at?" "Oh, my God!" "I'm back!" "Oh, honey!" "Look who I brought." "My two babies!" "Come down here and give me some sugar!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Cyril." "Hi, honey!" "Oh!" "Look..." "I can't believe you're here." "What are you watching?" "Your father sent me this video." "It's the first I've seen it." "I just put the DVD in." "Is that you guys?" " Yeah?" " Really?" "Yes." "Ah!" "Look at your hair!" "You look like you guys actually liked each other." "Yeah, well, on that day, we loved one another." "Oh, my God." "Look how handsome he is." "I have to tell you guys, you know, your father wasn't always a prick." "Oh, he was charming." "Oh, my God." "We were something." "I'm glad you guys are here with me." "Me too, Mom." "Whoa." "What a night." "My girlfriend leaves me for my sister's boyfriend and..." "Dad..." "I know." "It really hasn't even sunk in yet." "He does not seem that sick." "Gerry, we gotta make this happen." "We don't have a say in this." "Did you even talk to Mom?" "Yeah, yeah, of course I did." "All right?" "And I get both of their point of views and I'm not taking sides." "Well, man, you gotta have a horse in this race." "Oh, and you think it should be Dad's?" " He deserves to be there." " Does he?" "This is a guy who walked out on his family." "His life had changed." "Overnight, he's practically a millionaire after he sells the company." "I still don't understand how that gives you an excuse to walk out on your wife and kids." "We were only gonna be holding him back." "He had a dream." "He had to go for it." "Great." "So this "dream" as you put it, can't involve us?" "You know, you say you understand both points of view." "Do you?" "He had to make a choice." "Yeah, and he made the wrong choice." "Clearly." "So, he fucked up." "He knows it." "Give him a break." "Think about how heartbreaking this must be for him." "Think about how heartbreaking this must be for Mom." "Dredging up all these old feelings again." "I feel guilty that I even brought it up." "I wish I would've just nipped it in the bud, told Dad it's not gonna happen." "No shot." "Gerry, you gotta talk to her again." "Look, it's not up to me." "This is Mom's call." "I don't understand." "When did this happen?" "Tonight at dinner." "She came over with her parents because our parents are friends." "You know, and we got to talking." "Oh, so that's it." "You got to talking and now you're back together again." "No!" "No, it's just what I told you." "It's like this little family get-together." "But this is bullshit!" "I was supposed to come to dinner with you." "Not really, no." "You kind of invited yourself." "I did not!" "Yeah." "Yeah, you did." "I just didn't know how to say no to you." "This is unbelievable." "So I can't come in for dinner with you." "She has all her nieces and nephews here." "It's a whole Christmas thing." "Look at me!" "Huh." "I'm a fucking idiot." "Johnny, what are you doing?" "Who's this you're talking to?" "Hey..." "How you doing, baby?" "Oh..." "Nobody." "It's just, uh..." "It's just..." "A lady I work for." "I'm just a lady he works for." "And I had to bring his Christmas bonus by, for being such a good boy, cutting my grass all year." "No worries, sweetheart." "Seriously?" "Teresa." "Hold on." "We're so lucky to have him." "He's the man." "You know, I know we said we'd have a few kids, but I think I'm good with this little guy." "Big families are overrated." "Especially yours." "I'm sorry I've been being such a bitch lately." "You wanna talk about it?" "It's my father." "He's been sick and he didn't want me to tell anyone." "Sick?" "How sick?" "How?" "He's only got a couple of months." " Hey..." "Hey, it's okay." " I'm so sorry I didn't..." "He made me promise not to tell anyone." "Oh." "It's okay, it's okay." "Erin, it's okay." "Hey." "So, we good?" "You gonna call Sharon?" "Yes, I will call and I will apologize and tell her I was wrong and next time I'll learn to keep my big mouth shut." "Well, you weren't wrong." "The guy is a fucking creep." "But sometimes, even when you're right, you gotta apologize." "Ah, this is me." "All right, look." "Are you okay to drive all the way back to the city?" "You didn't drink too much?" "I'm only going down the block." "Gonna stay at Mom's tonight." "I'm not going back to the city." "You wanna come with me?" "No, no, no." "I'm going to go meet this girl for a drink actually." "Ooh!" "Gonna meet this girl for a drink?" "Congratulations." "Little Yuletide booty call, is it?" "Oh, we'll see about that." "Enjoy yourself." "Come on." " Bye, brother." " All right." "Good night, man." " Okay, I'll see you tomorrow." " All right." "Hey, Santa." "Don't hurt yourself going down the chimney." "Hello?" "Hey, Sharon, it's, uh, Gerry." "Hey." "Yeah, look, I just wanted to call..." "I-I-I know you're upset with me and..." "I just wanted to say I'm sorry." "I shouldn't have said that stupid shit about your boyfriend." "So, I was totally out of line." "Yeah, well, with all the crazy shit that's going on with our family right now, that is small potatoes." "No, no, no." "It's um, I, you know, I-I-I..." "I should learn to keep my big mouth shut." "I mean, it's none of my business." "All right." "So we're good?" "Yeah." "Yeah, we're good." "All right then." "Then I guess I'll..." "I'll see you tomorrow." "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." "Merry Christmas." "Yeah." "Merry Christmas." " Hey, Gerry?" " Yeah." "I love you." "I love you, too." "Hi." "Door's okay?" "Go around." "It's open." "Okay." " Hey." "God, am I happy to see you." "How'd it go?" "It's still a mess, but..." "Thanks for doing this." "Thank you for coming." "I'm..." "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through this past year." "I promise, never again." "All right." " I'll be right back." " Good luck in there." "Thank you." "Gonna get a new boyfriend?" "Mom, Mom, take our picture." "Oh, my God, what is going on here?" "You gotta go get your pj's on." "We're taking photos." "It's gonna have to wait." "I got Aaron and Corey waiting in the car." "I just came to drop off the presents." "We're gonna drive out to Connecticut for a few hours, and spend some time with his dad and the new goy wife." "Good luck." " Yeah." " Oh, look at this!" " Erin." " Hi, Gerry!" "I got the bagels." "Bagels!" "I got the bagels." "Kris Kringle, I heard you crawled in last night at 6 A.M." "You wanna share some details, Romeo?" "Uh..." "No." "I didn't know you were seeing someone." "Well, yeah." "I kinda..." "I met somebody." "What's her name?" "We're gonna meet her today?" "You will probably meet this woman." "No, she's not coming by today." "Well!" "Merry Christmas, everybody." "I will see you later." "Well, look, look, Erin." "Before you go," "Mom has a little something she wants to talk to all of us about." "Uh, yeah." "Oh..." "Okay." "Um..." "I..." "I just..." "just wanted everybody to know that if your father survives this cancer, he will not be invited back next year." "Invited back?" "What are you talking about?" "I talked to him this morning." "He's--He's coming out on the 11 :00 train and joining us for Mass, and if he behaves himself, he can stay for dinner." "Thank you, Mom." "Oh, that's so good you're doing." "Well, look, it's a couple of hours, right?" "I mean, how bad can it be?" "You two okay with this?" "Yeah, we talked about it." "We told Mom this morning that we thought it'd be okay." "Yeah, well, Corey's waiting for you and I'm going to get the old man at the train now." " Bye." " Thank you, Gerr." "All right, guys" "This is a big day." "I'm gonna go get dressed." "And I recommend you do the same." "Get out of your Tiny Tim costume." "Look at this, look at this." "Oh, look at these buttons." "it won't button." "Wait." "No, no, no." "You can't have two bagels." " You want a bagel, Mommy?" " Yeah." "I think..." "But somebody else better cut it." "My hands are shaking too bad for it." "You want some more, Ma?" "Hey, Pops." "Hey, Gerr." "Hey, how are you?" "Merry Christmas." " Let me take that from you." " Yeah." "Yeah." " You ready to do this?" " Yeah." "Oh!" "There he is." "Merry Christmas, Dad." "Merry Christmas, Son." "Hello, Rosie." "Let me look at you, you stupid son of a bitch." "Are you truly sorry for all you've done?" "Yes, I am." "I still don't believe you." "But you are officially welcome back into this family." "Thanks, hon." "All right." "Let's all go to Mass and pray for your father."